NOTES, CLASS 6, SUBJECT: ENGLISH

FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE: Is one of the most common figures of speech. When using it, the speaker or writer describes
something by comparing it with something else with the help of the word like or as. A simile is an
obvious or open comparison, not hidden.

Examples -

1. This bread is as dry as dust!

2. I wandered lonely as a cloud.
3. The little boy ran like the wind.

Similes make descriptions lively and vivid, and they help readers visualize those descriptions.
Writings that use similes make a strong impression upon the imagination of readers and remain
in their memory longer.

PERSONIFICATION: Gives human qualities to something that is not human – an object, an idea or an
animal. For example, in one of her short stories, the author Katherine Mansfield writes:

It was the early afternoon of a sunshiny day with little

winds playing hide-and-seek in it.

The author describes the wind in such a way that we feel as if the “little winds” are little children playing
hide and seek in the afternoon. Personification helps to bring inanimate objects to life and makes their
descriptions very lifelike. Here are a few more examples.

The moonlight danced on the dark lake.

My dog looked at me full of suspicion in its eyes.
The angry sea threatened to destroy the ship.

Alliteration is based upon the repetition of sounds. In alliteration a series of words – usually two or
more neighbouring words – have the same first consonant sound. Repetition of same sounds is used to
create rhythm and bring focus to a line or sentence in a text. Alliteration is primarily used in poetry but
can be used in any piece of writing. For alliteration to work best, the reader is expected to read the lines
aloud.

Examples –
1. The big brown bear was busy eating berries in the bushes. (The sound of consonant ‘b’ is
repeated to increase the poetic effect)
2. Could Peter please pay for the pens I bought?
3. The brave girl grabbed the golden egg that the ogre guarded.
4. Did you hear of naughty Neville who never knew an answer?
Repetition is the simple repeating of a word, within a short space of words, with no particular
placement of the words to secure emphasis.
Repetition is often used in poetry or song and it is used to create rhythm and bring attention to an idea.

Examples –
1. ‘A horse is a horse, of course, of course.
2. The big stairs led up to a big house with a big front door.
3. Home sweet home.

Onomatopoeia: Refers to a word that phonetically mimics or resembles the sound of the thing it
describes. For example, the words we use to describe the noises that animals make are all
onomatopoetic, such as a dog’s “bark,” a cat’s “meow”, or a cow’s” moo.”Thus an onomatopoetic word
is the sound that the thing being described makes.

Example –

1. I heard a fly buzz.

Practice Work:

1.Match the following:

Column A Column B
1.   It was difficult to forget his face which was full
of fear. A. Repetition

2.   The angry customer erupted like a volcano. B. Personification

3.   I had not done my assignment and my
notebook looked at me accusingly. C. Onomatopoeia

4.   Ticktock, ... the sound of the clock was all that
could be heard in the hospital waiting room. D. Simile

5.   Rain rain go away. E. Alliteration

Answers:

Column A Column B
 1.   It was difficult to forget his face which
was full of fear. E. Alliteration
2.   The angry customer erupted like a D. Simile
volcano.
3.   I had not done my assignment and my
notebook looked at me accusingly. B. Personification
4.   Ticktock…. the sound of the clock was
all that could be heard in the hospital waiting
room. E. Onomatopoeia

5.   Rain rain go away. A. Repetition