DPS TAPI
CLASS-IX-A
ENGLISH
A figure of speech is a word or phrase that has a meaning something different than its literal
meaning. It can be a metaphor or simile that is designed to further explain a concept. Or, it
can be a different way of pronouncing a word or phrase such as with alliteration to give
further meaning or a different sound.
 Examples of Figures of Speech
 Using Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of beginning sounds. Examples are:





Sally sells seashells.
Walter wondered where Winnie was.
Blue baby bonnets
Nick needed notebooks.
Fred fried frogs.
 Using Hyperbole
Hyperbole uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect. Examples are:





I’ve told you a hundred times
It cost a billion dollars
I could do this forever
She is older than dirt
Everybody knows that
 Using Irony
Irony is using words where the meaning is the opposite of their usual meaning. Examples are:





After begging for a cat and finally getting one, she found out she was allergic.
A traffic cop gets suspended for not paying his parking tickets.
The Titanic was said to be unsinkable.
Dramatic irony is knowing the killer is hiding in a closet in a scary movie.
Naming a Chihuahua Brutus
 Using Metaphor
Metaphor compares two unlike things or ideas. Examples are:





Heart of stone
Time is money
The world is a stage
She is a night owl
He is an ogre
 Using Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like what it is describing. Examples are:


Whoosh
Splat



Buzz
Click
Oink
 Using Oxymoron
Oxymoron is two contradictory terms used together. Examples are:





Peace force
Kosher ham
Jumbo shrimp
Small crowd
Free market
 Using Personification
Personification is giving human qualities to non-living things or ideas. Examples are:





The flowers nodded
Snowflakes danced
Thunder grumbled
Fog crept in
The wind howled
 Using Simile
Simile is a comparison between two unlike things. Examples are:





As slippery as an eel
Like peas in a pod
As blind as a bat
Eats like a pig
As wise as an owl
THE BROOK
Personification is the main figure of speech used
Other figure of speech are:
1.onomatopoeia in "i bubble into eddying bays"
"i babble on the pabble"
2.alliteration in "sudden sally"
"twenty thorpes"
"fairy foreland"
"chatter chatter"
"foamy fiake" etc
3.rhythm in "i come from haunt..............to bicker down a valley"
4.refrain "for men may come or men may go but i go on for ever"
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
 In the first line, the poet used assonance. Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound within
a line of poetry. In the first line
 Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, the "o" sound is repeated in "roads" and
"yellow."
 In the eighth line,
 Because it was grassy and wanted wear, the author uses personification.
Personification is the giving of human characteristics to non-human/non-living things.
In this line, the path wanted wear. A path cannot want. Only humans can want. This
qualifies as personification.
The poem as a whole is a metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or
phrase is applied to a person, idea, or object to which it is not literally applicable.
The poet is, therefore, comparing the paths in life to the choices one must make when
reaching a crossroads. The poem speaks of the actual choices in life as roads one must choose
to take. Metaphorically, the roads simply represent choices in life.
In this line, the path wanted wear. A path cannot want. Only humans can want. This qualifies
as personification.
THE SOLITARY REAPER
William Wordsworth is the author of 'The Solitary Reaper', a ballad by the English poet
which is probably one of the most famous works in English Literature.
A figure of speech, or figurative language, occurs when words or phrases are used in an
unusual way to provide a different meaning to the one they usually would. Some figures of
speech become so well known that we barely realize that the words deviate from their usual
meaning but when figurative language is first developed, it can be poignant and fresh and
ensure the reader sees something with a new perspective or heightened senses due to the
usual nature of the words.
'The Solitary Reaper' describes Wordsworth's intrigue at a Scottish Highlands girl who sings
as she reaps grain in a field. The girl is 'solitary' in a positive way. She is at one with nature
and is compared to 'nightingales' and 'cuckoo birds' as though she almost IS nature and fits in
with her surroundings. Wordsworth declares that she is more enchanting than the birds,
suggesting she is more than nature 'with a voice so thrilling'.
Wordsworth is impatient to know what she is singing but does not hear human music in the
song, he hears the music of nature which to him is more beautiful.
He praises the beauty of music and the magical expression of the self through song and
poetry. He sees the words of a song as poetry which is why he is so enchanted by the woman.
The language of the poem imitates nature in the fact that it flows easily and is set in a simple,
rustic environment and praises the beauty around him.
The poem acknowledges other popular and respected works of literature, through the
comparison to a 'nightingale', Wordsworth creatively links it to Keats' famous work, 'Ode to
a Nightingale', therefore creating a link to the theme of beauty and nature.
FROM: SANDHYA PATEL