FIGURES OF SPEECH

Prepared by:
ESTELLA B. BARBOSA
Elements of Poetry Defined
 Elements of poetry can be defined as a set of
instruments used to create a poem.

 Many of these were created thousands of

years ago and have been linked to ancient
story telling.

 They help bring imagery and emotion to

poetry, stories, and dramas.
SIMILE
A comparison using the words like or as.

 “O, my love is like a red red rose.”

 The pain of longing is as painful as the

stinging coldness.

 “Loving him is like driving a new Maserati

down a dead-end street.
METAPHOR
A comparison which does not use the words
like or as.

 She is a night owl.

 Children are little treasures.

 Time is money.

 Love is a fragile little flame it could burn out.

PERSONIFICATION
Giving humanly attributes/characteristics to an
abstract idea, animals or inanimate objects.

 My alarm clock yells at me every morning.

 Opportunity knocks only once.

 “My little horse must think it queer to stop

without a farmhouse near.”
 “Your eyes whispered, "Have we met?/
'Cross the room your silhouette/
Starts to make its way to me”.
HYPERBOLE
Exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect.

 There is no life without you.

 “Susungkitin mga bituin para lang

makahiling, na sana’y maging akin puso mo’t
damdamin.”

“I'll spend forever wondering if you knew/

was enchanted to meet you.”
SYNECDOCHE
 A part represents the whole or the whole is
represented by a part.

 Those wheels are awesome!

 Gusto nang hingiin ni Leon ang kamay ni

Leah sa kaniyang mga magulang.

 The company needs to hire ten new hands.

METONYMY
 Replacing the name of a thing with the name
of something else with which it is closely
associated.

 Married men should stop chasing skirts.

 Let me give you a hand.

 “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

ANTONOMASIA
 The substitution of an epithet or title for a
proper name; a descriptive phrase replacing a
person’s name.

 Pacman is one of the greatest boxers in the

world.

 star for all seasons; The Bard of Avon

ALLUSION
 Reference to some historical, biblical, sociopolitical
and literary event, place or person that has striking
resemblance to the subject under discussion.

 When he met her, he met his waterloo.

 A Moses has come to save us.

 “Little did I know/That you were Romeo, you were

throwin' pebbles/And my daddy said, "Stay away
from Juliet.”
LITOTES
 Understatement by using double negatives to
express a positive idea or statement.

 The ice cream was not too bad.

 Your apartment is not unclean.

 Your comments on politics are not useless.

IRONY
Contrast between what is said and what is meant, or
between appearance and reality (used as a technique for
humor, satire, or contrast).

 Ang ganda naman ng gupit mo. Sino’ng barbero, halika

patayin natin.

 The Titanic was said to be unsinkable but sank on its first

voyage

 The thieves robbed the police station.

 “And he's long gone when he's next to me.”

OXYMORON
 Two (2) contradictory terms used together.

 The contractor was asked to give the exact

estimate of the project.

 Paid volunteers were working for the

company.

 Our past relationship had a lot of bittersweet

memories.
PARADOX
 Self-contradictory statement or proposition that
when investigated or explained may prove to be
well-founded or true.

 We must destroy in order to build.

 Here are the rules: Ignore the rules.

 There is grief in happiness.

 “You gave me everything and nothing.”

ANTITHESIS
 Juxtaposition of opposing or contradicting ideas;
contrast in ideas by an obvious contrast in
words, clauses or sentences within parallel
grammatical structure.

 Man proposes, God disposes.

 Speech is silver, but silence is gold.

 It was the best of times, it was the worst of

times.
APOSTROPHE
 Speaking directly to someone who is not
present or is dead, or speaks to an abstract
idea or inanimate object.

 Hello darkness, my old friend. I’ve come to

talk with you again.

 O, sleep, you are indeed the prisoner’s

release!
ASSONANCE
 The repetition of vowel sounds in words that are
close together.

 “For the rare and radiant maiden whom the

angels named Lenore.”

 Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee.

 You got that James Dean daydream look in your

eye/ And I got that red lip classic thing that you
like
ALLITERATION
 Repetition of consonant sounds in two or
more neighboring words.

 Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever

dared to dream before.

 Walter wondered where Winnie was.

 “I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday night.”

ONOMATOPOEIA
 A word that sounds like what it is describing.

 Tick tock…tick tock.. The sound of the clock

was all that could be heard in the hospital
room.

 The pitter-patter of raindrops on the roof.

ACTIVITY ALERT!
 Identify the figure of speech used in each of
the sentences. Write your answer on a ½
sheet of paper.

“I'm a crumpled up piece of

paper lying here
'Cause I remember it all, all, all
Too well.”
“You, with your words like knives
And swords and weapons that you
use against me.”
“My thoughts will echo your
name, until I see you again.”
 “And the saddest fear
Comes creepin' in
That you never loved me
Or her
Or anyone
Or anything
Yeah.”
“Love’s a game, wanna play?”
“I can read you like a
magazine.”
“So it's gonna be forever
Or it's gonna go down in
flames…”
“Someday when you leave me
I bet these memories
Follow you around.”
“You were Romeo, I was a
scarlet letter.”
“That magic's not here no
more.”
“And I might be okay, but I'm
not fine at all.”
ACTIVITY ALERT!
 WRITE FIGURES OF SPEECH USING THE FF.
WORDS:
1. USM Auditorium– Simile
2. Kabacan River-Metaphor
3. USM Avenue- Personification
4. Pasiklaban- Hyperbole
5. College Life-Litotes
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