Figures of Speech Flashcards
Comparisons and associations
One thing is compared to or given the attributes /qualities of another.
Simile
Two objects are compared using “like” or “as”.
Metaphor
Two objects are compared directly.
Mixed Metaphor
Comparisons are made between a number of very different things within a single sentence or paragraph.
e.g. We must take the bull by the horns and leave no stone unterned until we have dotted all our i’s and crossed our bridges in our attempt to bring the matter to heel.
Extended or Sustained Metaphor
A metaphor that continues across several lines, or thought the entire poem, novel, film etc.
Personification
Human qualities are given to non-human things.
Transferred Epithet
A particular emotion has been transferred from a person to something else.
Synecdoche
A part is used to represent the whole, or the whole is used to represent a part.
e.g. All hands on deck.
“hands” represent the sailors.
Give us this day our daily bread.
“bread” represents everything that we need to get through the day.
Metonymy
An object is represented by something closely related to it.
e.g. The pen is mightier than the sword.
= The writer (pen) wields more power than the soldier (sword).
The kettle is boiling.
= The water inside the kettle is boiling.
Apostrophe
A direct appeal or address is made to an absent person or a concept.
Allusion
Either a direct or indirect referral to a particular aspect. Often religious in nature.
Alliteration
Sounds
The repetition of a consonant sound, usually at the beginning of a word.
Assonance
Sounds
The repetition or rhyming of vowe sounds within two or more words
a, e, i, o, u,
Must be colse enough to create the effect
Onomatoppeia
Sounds
The use of words to recreate the sounds they describe.
e.g. Woof, meow, moo etc
Pun
Sounds
Humorous use of the fact that a word can have two meanings, or because two destinct words have the same sound.
Shoplifters get court. Dentistry is boring but fulfilling.
Malapropism
Sounds
Ununtentional choice of an incorrect word because it sounds similar.
Spoonerism
Sounds
The transition or mixing up of initial sounds of spoken words.
e.g. He hissed the mistory lesson and so has tasted a whole werm.
hissed= missed mistory= history tasted= wasted werm= term
Hyperbole
The use of exaggeration for emphasis.
Euphemism
An indirect, or deliberately pleasant, way of referring to something unpleasant. Most frequently used for death.
e.g. She passed away.
We put the dog to sleep.
Innuendo
Conveying meaning by hinting or suggesting.
Oxymoron
A contraction in terms. Two words opposite in meaning are placed directly next to each other.
Juxtaposition
The process of two things being seen or placed close together to highlight their difference.
e.g. You can see the light of the stars at night because of the darkness of space.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Paradox
A statement which, on the surface, seems to be contradictory or absurd, but in fact turns out to be truthful and sensible.
e.g. The child is the father of a man.
More haste, less speed.
To die is to begin to live.
Irony
There is a difference between what is stated and what is intended.
Verbal Irony
The reversal of the surface statement.
Saying one thing but meaning the opposite.
Dramatic Irony
When something is said or done by someone who is unaware that the opposite of what he expects will happen.
Requires that the audience/readers know what the speaker does not.
Sarcasm
A cruel form of verbal irony.
Deliberately intended to hurt.
Tone
The general character or attitude of a place, pace of writing, situation etc.
This is the way the writer/poet/speaker ‘says’ something.
Mood
An emotional reaction evoked in a reader/audience, often by the word choice, subject matter, and the author’s tone.
This is how you as a reader/audience experience the piece.
Climax
When a series of statements gathers in importance until the last which is the most impressive.
Anticlimax
Deliberately or carelessly spoiling the effect of the climax by putting something unsuitable or unimportant at the end of the series.
Bathos
A form of anticlimax.
Requires a change in style of writing.
