FIGURES OF SPEECH

We use Figures of Speech to creote imoges or mind-pictures in order

to express ourselves visuolly, imoginotively ond powerfully.
Longuoge moy be used either in o literol or figurotive sense.
Literql or denototive longuoge is foctuol.
Nicky's boyfriend broke his leg. (The occident literally/acluollyoccurred.)

Figurotive or connototive longuoge mokes use of comporisons qnd suggestive ideos.

Nicky's boyfriend broke her heort. {This is figurotive lcnguage, suggesting *[rat she is hecrtbroken"]
FIGURES OF SPEECH ARE COMMONLY CLASSIFIED AS FOLTOWS:

These ore used to compore two obiecfs (onimote or inonimote) in direct or indirect woys.
Often on expressive phrose reploces o simple odiective or odverb.

o.

SIMILE

A simile is o direct comporison thot

olwoys contoins ihe words os or like.

He is os weolthy qs Bill Gotes.

Her personolity is like o bubble in o bottle of

chompogne.

b. METAPHOR

A metophor is o comporison without the

use of os or like.
. A metophor refers to one person or
obiect (os) being (like) onother.
. The comporison is implied rother thon
stoted directly.

He is o Bill Gotes. {They cr* both rieh.i

She is o bubble in o bottle of chompogne.
{$he hcs personolity"}

The lieutenont roored his commonds.

{We ore implying thcl the lieulenont is aggressive.}

Extended Metophors
ore recurring metophors or onologies. She wos the bud blooming into womonhood.
She wos lhe petol, colourful ond fragile.
They ore extended over o possoge or
A flower in the moking!
throughout o poem.
These

Mixed Metophors
These ore incongruous ond incompotible
terms used to describe the some obiect or
event.
Mixed Metophors should be ovoided os
they controdict one onother.
c.

Mountoins of strowberries ond creom were

consumed during the titonic bottle ot Wimbledon.
{We ore cnecting c confusing image of tennis, slrcwberries"
mountoins, gionts cnd wcr!!

PERSONIFICATION

Personificotion gives humon quolities to

inqnimqte obiects or obstroct ideos.
Personificotion ond metophors ore similor
in thot they ore both indirect comporisons.

Autumn orrived in his coot of oronge, red ond gold.

The clouds looked down ond wept on the droughtstricken eorth.
Pride embroced her os she went up to receive her

o*ord.
d. APOSTROPHE
An qbstroct ideo, on inqnimote obiect or
o person who is no longer living is
oddressed or spoken to os if it were humon.
e.

"Lody [uck, pleose be there when I throw the dice!"

"Oh Shokespeqre, if you could see your Globe
Theotre rebuilt!"

ArrusroN
This is ei*rer o direct or on indirect referrol to Milton's epic poem, 'Porqdise [ost', deols with the
o porticulor ospeci. Mony poets ollude to Bible biblicol themes of the Temptotion ond the Foll of Mon.
stories like the Creotion or Follin their poems.
4O

q.

ALLITERATION

Alliterotion is the repetition of consonanf Boby bounces the boll.

sounds ot the beginning of words. lt often Cothy, the kitten, cotches the cotton reel.
highlights the expression of movement.
b. ASSONANCE

c.

Assononce is the repetition of vowel

sounds.
Short vowel sounds moy creole o mood of
speed, vitdlity, ioy or suspense.

The eccentric Esther enthused her listeners.

Long vowel sounds slow down the poce

ond temper the mood.

Girls in curls swirled oround ihe stoge.

He slowly mowed the overgrown lown.

Clop your honds ond stomp your feet!

ONOMATOPOEIA
Onomotopoeio uses words thot imitote
The sky exploded with o crosh, bong ond
ond reproduce reol-life sounds ond qctions. o hissing of fireworks.
The sound effect heightens the visuol effect. The tronquility of the scene wos enhonced by the
rustling of the reeds ond the whistling of the wind.

d. RHYME
Rhyme depends on sound, rother thon on
the written word. lt is used for effect.

I om cerlain lhal this curtain

Wos domoged in the roin ogoin.
You will not lough
lf you only get half!

These

q.

ore Figures of Speech fhot oppeor to contoin conflicting or opposing ideos.

ANTITHESIS

Antithesis compores qnd controdicts ideos

or stqtements within o senlence.
i

b.

OXYMORON

An oxymoron ploces two seemingly

controdictory words next to eoch other.
On onolysis, these words evoke o
powerful imoge.

c.

Don't underestimote him; he's o mouse in stoture,

o lion in strength.
The lnternet is o moster of technology ond o
thief of time.
The mother woved her son off to wor with pcinful

pride.
The occused felt ongry relief when she wos
proved innocent.
The litter wos o pretty ugly sight.

PARADOX

A porodox is o seemingly obsurd or

controdictory slotemenl which, when
onolysed, is found to be true.
It is, in foct, on extended oxymoron.
The opposites ore not next to eoch other,
but ore found in the some sentence.
d. IRONY
lrony implies ihe opposite of whot is said.
The intention is for the opposite to be
understood. lt is the tone which tempers or
conveys this meoning.

"You

will kill him with your kindness."

{Youn kind deeds sre dcing mcre hcrm than good.}

She is only hoppy when she hos something to

worry obout.

{A hnppy worrier.i

"l con'I wailfor

41

my detention on Fridoy oflernoon."

@ Berlut Books

200r'

Situotionol lrony
Here the opposite of whot is expected occurs. A detective who is employed to cotch o thief, might
himself be orrested for dishonesiy.
A teocher moy well find herself leorning from her students.

Dromotic lrony
When the oudience hos knowledge of
something of which lhe octors ore unowore,
this is referred to os dromotic irony. This
technique heightens tension ond expectotion.

ln the ploy/film The Little Shop of Horrors, the

oudience is owore thot the plont croves humon blood.
The chqrqclers, however, ore blissfully unowore of this.

e. SARCASM

Sorcosm, like irony, occurs when one thing

is sqid, but somelhing else is intended or
understood. However, sorcosm is used with
the express purpose of hurting, insulting
or humilioting.

f.

"You must hove worked very hord to be bottom of

lhe clossl"
"Are you olwoys the heort ond soul of the porty?"

SATIRE

Sotire is shorp wif, irony or sorcosm used to Roy & H.G. use sotire os o tool ogoinst certoin ospects
highlight, expose or ridicule humon, sociol of Austrolion life e.g. politics, sport ond the medio.
or politicol weoknesses or stupidities.
The oim of the sotirist is to chonge the

situotion, educote ond entertoin ihrough

Jonothon Swift sotirised the times in which he lived

in his novel, Gulliver's Trovels.

humour.
This ploy ollows one to express oneself

o
g.

in o woy thot would normolly be

construed os libellous.
Sotire is used in ploys, cortoons ond
comic strips.
Coricotures in cortoons ore often the
vehicles for sotire.

PARODY
This is the imitotion

This is 'THE HOUSE'

ond/or exoggerotion of

other lext types, e.g. poems, in order to

sqtirise or creote humour.
Porody is often used in cortoons or comedy.
It is ossumed thot ihe reqder is fomilior with
the originol work.

fiot mon built,

And this is the Flog of the Womqn's Fronchise,

Which is moking our Minisiers open their eyes:
Fighting with grit to the front bit by bit;
Determined in Porlioment one doy to sit,
The bold Suffrogette who is sure to get yet
lnto 'THE HOUSE' thqt mqn built.
(Token from the Good Weekend Mogozine, Sydney Morning Herold, Morch 8, 2003)

h.

APPROPRTATTON (BORROWTNG)

This is similor to porody in thot ports of on

originol text ore used in o different context

for o differenl oudience. e.g. foiry toles ond
myths ore borrowed ond reconstructed.

i.

EPIGRAM

An epigrom is q brief ond pointed slotement

which often contoins humour or irony. There
is usuolly o deeper underlying meoning.

o.

Roold Dohl mokes use of this in his book,

'Revolting Rhymes'.

'Friendship is whot one expects from others.'

'lf you think educotion is expensive, try illiterocy!'
'Employ o leenoger while he/she still knows everything!'

HYPERBOIE

An Hyperbole is on over-exqggerotion,
not meont to be token literolly. lt oims to
creote humour or to emphosise o point.

The teocher comploined thot she hod hod

hundreds of interruptions thot doy.

She prepored enough food to feed on ormy.

b. UToTES
Litotes uses o negotive + on opposite to
understote whot is intended.

::- -'5@k5 luu4

He is no Einstein. iHe is ocodernicolly weok.)

The gruesome sight wos for from

42

pretty.

{lt was ugly.}

c. EUPHEMISM

Euphemism expresses on unpleosont or

unlomfortoble'situotion in o more sensitive,
kind ond toctful monner. The ouroose is to
soften the blow, protect feelinjs o'r to be

The comp forbids ony form of chemicol sfimulonts

{drargs cnd oieCIhol}

He possed owoy. {}'{* died.}

politicolly .orr".i.
d. INNUENDO
An innuendo is o disopproving remork
which hints ot something, without stoting
it directly.

A. 'How did vou like mv oroduction?'

A. 'The sets w"re beoriiful.'
{This sugges?s fhst the productien wss nol
pcrtieulcrly inrpressive")

a.
e. CTIMAX

fThiJ iffiplies thcr you iook scruffy.I

A climox is o build-up of oscending ideos.

It r.eoches o peck, creoting excitement ond

'l sow, I stored, I screqmedl'

He stood on the choir, looked oround, stuck his hond

herghtenrng tensron.

in the cookie ior ond wos cought red-honded!

f. ANT|-CUMAX (BATHOS)
An onti-climox is olso o build-up of ideos,
but the finol stotement is often flot ond
unexpected.

o.

Do vou oossess o clothes-brush?

The room wos luxuriously furnished, beoutifully

pointed, tostefully decoroted - ond crowling with

cockrooches!

PUNS

A Pun is o clever ploy on words, olike in

sound but differenl in meqning. The double
meoning is used to convey humour.
. Heodlines moke use o[ puns in order to
grob ottention.
o Puns ore often used in iokes or riddles.

One of the most fomous puns obout weddings ond

morrioge is: Aisle oltor hymn.
Cricket Coptoin stumped!

a.

A.

Why did the tennis ployer hove insomniq?

There wos o rocquet trqcketl in the room.

b. RHETORICAL QUESTIONS

A rhetoricol question expects no onswer.

LLSes if to moke his point ond
to strengthen his orgument.
. lt is J po*erful tJol thot ollows the
r."od"l or oudience to focus on ond

The speoker

'Why ore we ollowing stress to become on

invisible enemy?'
The speoker then eloborotes, stoting his opinions
ond solutions.

consider the posed question.

Public speokers often moke effective use
of this device.

SYNECDOCHE

In synecdoche, o port is used for o whole,

or o whole is used for o port.

My heort grieved when my puppy died.

{All of me wcs scd, nof only my heari.}

Austrolio won the cricket.

{lf wqs the tecm, nsf the counlry thst wsn the e rieket.}

d. METONYMY
ln metonymy, something ossocioted with
the obiect represents the obieci.

Thot hotel hos on excellent toble.

iThe $osd is very good.|

e. MALAPROPISM

A molopropism is the unintentionol use of

incorrect, similor sounding words.

The connonbolls ote the missionories. {esnnibols}

The speoker often uses longuoge obove his

or her understonding in order to impress.

I con ensure you thot this is correct. {cssure}

f. SPOONERISM
A spoonerism is the tronsposition or mixing
up of the initiql sounds of spoken words.

He hissed the mistory lesson.

{Fie missed the l'ristory lesson.}

43

@ Berlut Books 2004