Figures

of
Speech
 SIMILE
 Comparison is made between two objects of
different kinds which have however at least one
point in common. The simile is usually
introduced by such words as “like” and “as”.
 Example:

1. The righteous shall flourish as the palm tree.

2. Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart:
Thou had’st a voice whose sound was like the
sea.
METAPHOR
 It is an implied simile. It does not, state that one
thing like another or acts as another, but takes that
for granted and proceeds as if the two thing were
the same.
 Example:

1. The camel is the ship of the desert.

2. The news was a dagger to his heart.
Personification
• Inanimate objects are spoken of as having life
and intelligence.
• Example:
1. Death lays his icy hand on king.
2. Laughter holding both her sides.
 APOSTROPHE

• Direct address to the dead, to the absent, or to a personifies

address or idea.
• Example:
1. Milton! Thou should’st be living at this hour.
2. O death! Where is thy sting? O grave! Where is thy victory.
Hyperbole
• A statement is made emphatic by overstatement.
• Example:
1. Why, man, if the river were dry, I am able to fill
it with tears.
2. Here the smell of blood still; all the perfumes of
Arabia will not sweeten his little hand.
 Euphemism
 Consist in the description of the disagreeable
thing by an agreeable name.
 Example:
1. He has fallen asleep.(He is dead)
2. You are telling me a fairytale. (It is a lie)
 ANTITHESIS

Striking opposition or contrast of words or sentiments are

made in the same sentence.
Example:

1. Man proposes, God disposes.

2. Speech is silvern, but silence is golden.

OXYMORON
Special form of antithesis, two contradictory quality
are predicted at one of the same thing.
Example:
1. So innocent archer,
So cunningly simple.
2. She accepted id as the kind of cruelty of the surgeons
knife.
EPIGRAM
Brief pointed saying frequently introducing
antithetical ideas which excite, surprise and arrest
attention.
Example:
1. He makes no friend, who never made a foe.
2. The child is the father of the man.
IRONY
Mode of speech in which the real meaning is exactly
the opposite of that which is conveyed.
Example:
1. The doctor is as kind-hearted as wolf
2. A post of facebook complaining how useless
facebook is.
 PUN
 Consists in the use of a word in such a way that it is
capable of more than one application.
 Example:

1. What is the difference between a conductor and a

teacher? The conductor minds the train and the
teacher trains the mind.
2. A horse is very stable.
 METONYMY

An object that is designated by the

name of something which is generally
associated with it.
Example:
1. Red coats, for British soldiers.
2. The bench, for the judges.
 SYNECDOCHE

 It is a part used to designate the whole or the whole
to designate.
 Example:
1. All hands to the pumps. (hands- crew)
2. All the best brains in Europe could not solve the
problem. (brain- smart people)
TRANSFERRED EPITHET
• In this figure an epithet is transferred from its proper
word to another that is closely associated with it.
• Example:
1. I had a wonderful day.
 The epithet “wonderful” actually describes the kind of
day, the speaker experienced. The day is not in itself
wonderful.
LITOTES
 An affirmative is conveyed by the negation of the
opposite, the effect being to suggest a strong
expression by means of a weaker.
 Example:
1. I am not a little surprised. (greatly)
2. The man is no fool. (very clever)
INTERROGATION

 Asking of a question not for the sake of

getting an answer, but to put a point more
effectively.
 Example:
1. Am I my brother’s keeper?
 EXCLAMATION
 Exclamatory form is used to draw greater
attention to a point.
 Example:

1. What a piece of work is woman!

2. O what a fall was there, my country men!
CLIMAX
 It is an arrangement if a series of ideas in the
order of increasing important.
 Example:

1. The deaths of Romeo (who kills himself

because he thinks Juliet is dead) and Juliet
(who kills herself when she awakes and
sees that Romeo is dead)
ANTI-CLIMAX
 Itis opposite of climax. A sudden descent from
the higher to lower.
 Example:

1. Lost his family, his car and his cell phone.

2. She is a great writer, a mother and a good

humanist.
ALLITERATION
 Series of words began with the same
consonant sound.
 Example:

1. She sells seashells by the seashore.

2. Fred’s friend fried fritos for Friday’s
food.
REPETATION
 Repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an
idea clearer and more memorable.
 Example:
1. If you think you can do it, you can do it.
2. When they came out of the cinema hall they all agreed,
the film was waste of money, it was a waste of time and
energy.
ANASTROPHE(Inversion)
O When the prose order is changed to suit poetic
effect, is called anastrophe.
O Example:
1. A ghost of time to raise.
2. Barren are those mountain.
ONOMATOPOIA
• The sound of syllables bringing out the meaning
clearly or when a word is self explanatory.
• Example:
1. A bird is chirping.
2. The slow repeated tap.
TAUTOLOGY
Different words of same meaning are
used in the same line.
Example:
1. At some old ancient inn.
2. Sing of the filth and dirt.
PARADOX
• A statement that seems to be absurd or self-
contradictory.
• Example:
1. Let him be rich and weary.
2. The king was sick, his cheek was red.
 INTERNAL RHYME
 A poetic device that can be defined as metrical lines
in which its middle sounds and its end words rhyme
with each other.
 Example:
1. For the moon never beams without bringing me
dreams.
2. The stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes.