Tropes Flashcards
A hippo saying ‘hippo-critical’’. ‘Kwame had been accused of being the beggest ‘cheetah’ in Chana, but ‘safaris’ anyone knew, no ‘fowl’ play was involved’.
Paronomasis
is a form of a ‘pun’=play on words: similar sounds, but different meanings
‘the breakfast was not that bad’.
‘Dick was awake. He was rather more than that: he and Inez were making love’
‘It is not very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain’.
Litotes
say what you mean by saying the opposite or understatement.
The ground thirsts for rain.
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed, against the earth’s sweet-flowing breasts.
Personification (prosopoeia)
attributing human instincts/qualities/abilities to objects. Should be reserved for passages designed to stir the emotions
‘john is as slow as a snail’ ‘he had a posture like a question-mark’.
‘like an arrow, the prosecutor went directly to the point’. ‘silence settled down over the audience like a block of granite’.
Simile
an explicit comparison between two things of unlike nature that yet have something in common. Show similarities between things. Note that there is often the word ‘like’ between the two things that are compared. Metaphors and similes are very similar. Whereas a metaphor says ‘David was a lion in battle’, simile says ‘David was like a lion in battle’.
‘let’s movie’
Anthimeria
you bend word if other words are not available. Only if it fits the message.
Pale young men with larded and ‘Valentino-black’ side whiskers.
Periphrasis (antonomasia)
long/difficult words. Substitute of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name. or a proper name for a quality associated with the name. Resemble the type of thing that you want to describe? Expressing familiar ideas in uncommon ways. They can add grace to our writings when used in a fresh, inventiveness way (instead of tiresome clichés, as often used on the sports page).
‘Iris is as friendly as a rattle snake’.
‘I am simply overjoyed at the thought of having to leave my guy and return to school for finals’.
Irony
saying the opposite of what you mean. Use of a word in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning of the word. Irony is a highly sophisticated device that must be used with great caution. If you misjudge the intelligence of your audience, you may find that your audience is taking your words in their literal sense rather than in the intended opposite sense.
‘art is a form of lying in order to tell the truth’,
‘ the less we copy the renowned ancients, the more we shall resemble them’.
‘too funny not to be taken seriously’.
Paradox
apparent contradiction that contains a sense of truth. ‘the beginning of the end’. Similar to oxymoron: both are built on contradictories, but paradox may not be a trope at all, because it involves not so much a ‘turn’ of meaning in compared words as a ‘turn’ of meaning in the whole statement.
‘love-hate-relationships’. ‘business casual’.
Sweet pain. Cruel kindness, cheerful pessimist.
Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love.
Oxymoron
combine 2 opposites that are clearly contradictory, to make a contradiction. Only when it makes sense. Writers use oxymorons to seem witty, if done well. Ability to see similarities.
The sheep went, “Baa.”
The best part about music class is that you can bang on the drum.
It is not unusual for a dog to bark when visitors arrive.
Silence your cellphone so that it does not beep during the movie.
Dad released a belch from the pit of his stomach.
Onomatopoeia
I will buy ANYTHING that is on sale.
I have millions of grey hairs.
Or a lawyer referring to a scratch on the arm as a ‘wound’ to impress the jury.
Hyperbole
exaggeration to emphasize. Hyperboles can be a serviceable figure of speech if we learn to use it with restraint and for a thoughtful effect. Often slips our naturally under the stress of emotion. If used right (fresh, inventive), it can produce the right note of emphasis or humour.
‘assignment was a breeze’.
‘on the final examination, several students went down in flames’.
‘as fast as the headlines could record them, demonstrations exploded all over the country’
Metaphor
an implied comparison between two things of unlike nature that yet have something in common. Comparing 2 things that are not alike
hold your breath and(hold) the door.
There is a certain type of women who’d rather ‘press’ grapes than clothes.
Syllepsis
same word is used in different way
If we don’t hang together, we’ll hang separately.
You may not find this Scotch as smooth as Barrymore, of course, but then Barrymore wasn’t Scotch (ad for whisky)
The long cigarette that’s long flavour.
Antanaclasis
is a form of a ‘pun’=play on words: repetition of words that has different meaning every time in two different sentences.
How can the poor feel they have a stake in a system which says that the rich may have due process but the poor may not?
How can you possibly make good wine from poor grapes?
Rhetorical Question (erotema)
Crown could stand for royalty, but is not part of the king/queen.
Or ‘helping a hand’, ‘wealth’ for rich people, bottle for wine, pen for writers.
Metonymy
expression of attribute (substitution) to explain what it stands for. Metonymy is very close to the trope synecdoche(my new wheels).
The word “sails” is often used to refer to a whole ship.
The phrase “hired hands” can be used to refer to workers.
The word “head” can refer to counting cattle or people.
The word “bread” can be used to represent food in general or money (e.g. he is the breadwinner; music is my bread and butter).
Synecdoche
