Figures of
Speech
(The Basics)
Whenever you see this
pencil in the corner of a
slide, that means you
should copy that entire
slide into your notes.
Idiom
An IDIOM is an expression that has a meaning
different from the usual (or literal) meaning of the
individual words within it. They are often tied to a
particular region.
EXAMPLE: My grandfather thinks he’s the boss,
but everyone knows that my Grandma really leads
him around by the nose.
TRANSLATION: The italicized words (idiom)
means “she dominates or controls him,” NOT, “she
grabs his honker and pulls him through the house
by it.”
Analogy
An ANALOGY is a comparison of the
particular resemblances of things that
are otherwise not like each other.
EXAMPLE: That street light is my
Northern star.
TRANSLATION: Both provide light at
night, both are in predictable
locations, both are overhead, and both
serve no function in the daytime.
METAPHOR
Compares two very different
things and shows an
interesting or unexpected way
that they are alike.
Examples of Metaphor:
•“The streets were a furnace, the sun an executioner.”
(Cynthia Ozick, "Rosa")
•“Men's words are bullets, that their enemies take up
and make use of against them.” (George Savile, Maxims of State)
•“The rain came down in long knitting needles.”
(Enid Bagnold, National Velvet)
•He is a pig. Thou art sunshine.
Examples taken from http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/metaphorterm.htm
SIMILE
Similes are the same as
metaphors, except they use
the words “like” or “as.”
Examples of Simile:
•“The clouds were low and hairy in the skies, like locks
blown forward in the gleam of eyes.” (Robert Frost, "Once by the Pacific“)
•His throat felt as dry as a desert.
•The scream pierced her eardrums like a rusty knife.
•As strong as a rock, the child held in her tears.
•"Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time,
and sometimes you weep.” (Carl Sandburg)
•"He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a
slice of angel food.“ (Raymond Chandler)
•Friends are like wedgies: they’re intimately close, they
know you inside and out, and it feels great when you pick
out a good one.
Examples taken from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_metaphor.html
http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/simileterm.htm
Comparison of Metaphors/Similes:
METAPHORS
SIMILES
The dog, a bolt of
lightning, pounced.
The dog pounced like a
bolt of lightning.
Her emeralds gleamed.
Her eyes gleamed as
emeralds.
His volcanic temper
erupted.
His temper erupted like
a volcano.
Glistening diamonds fell Raindrops fell as
from the sky.
glistening diamonds
from the sky.
PERSONIFICATION
Giving human traits
(qualities, feelings,
action,
or characteristics) to
non-living objects or
non-human things.
Examples of Personification:
•"Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. There was no one
there.” (proverb quoted by Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos)
•"Oreo: Milk’s favorite cookie.” (slogan on a package of Oreo cookies)
•"The only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved
your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it's time to snatch your mother
from his neon claws!” (Homer Simpson in The Simpsons)
•My computer hates me.
•The sun greeted me this morning.
•The TV sprang to life
•"Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh
strength to our people.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
•“The sweet aroma of warm cake and fresh icing greeted me as I
walked past the kitchen.” (Scott Hudson in “Sleeping Freshmen”)
•Scratching at the window with claws of pine, the wind wants in.
(Imogene Bolls, "Coyote Wind“)
Examples Taken From
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080925155925AA0OtGh
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080925155925AA0OtGh
“Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie” by David Lubar
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_metaphor.html
ONOMATOPOEIA
(Pronounced ON-a-MAT-a-PEE-a )
A word that imitates a sound
snap
zip
boo
m
shhh
whoosh
click
cru
nch
Examples:
p b
a
am
w
h
t
tick…
tock
Onomatopoeia Examples [in action]:
•“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.”
(slogan of Alka Seltzer, U.S.)
•“I'm getting married in the morning!
Ding dong! the bells are gonna chime.”
(Lerner and Loewe, "Get Me to the Church on Time," My Fair Lady)
•“Pow! Right in the kisser!”(Jackie Gleason, The Honeymooners)
•“[Aredelia] found Starling in the warm laundry
room, dozing against the slow rump-rump of a
washing machine.” (Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs)
Examples taken from http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/onomaterms.htm
Images taken from http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/ironman86/
HYPERBOLE =
Extreme exaggeration
(aka “The way of the 8th Grader”)
Examples of Hyperbole:
•“I almost died laughing!”
•“I told him a thousand times!”
•“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!”
•“I could kill him!”
•“There’s nothing to do in my house!”
•“…the shot heard around the world.”