Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

The use of figures of speech in the language reveals the plasticity and adds beauty and meaning to the language. Given here is a figures of speech list, which are easy to learn.

Adjunction: Adjunction refers to a clause or a phrase, usually a verb, that is added at the beginning of a sentence. Here are a few examples of adjunction;

• Sings the bird as we walk on by.
• Good it is that fights the master with his dark lord,

Allegory: This figure of speech is an extended metaphor where the characters or actions in a literary work have a more imaginative meaning. The examples of allegory are;

• I feel like a dog today. I rolled out of my basket and munched on some biscuit-like cereal. Scratching as I got on the train, I sniffed a passing female. Aruooo!! Down boy! - Animal Farm, George Orwell
• By this I perceive thou art one of my subjects; for all that country is mine, and I am the Prince and God of it. How is it then that thou hast run away from thy King? - The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan

Allusion: An allusion is an indirect or brief reference to a person, place or thing in a literary work. Examples of illusion -

• I doubt if Phaethon feared more - that time

  he dropped the sun-reins of his father's chariot

  and burned the streak of sky we see today -

  or if poor Icarus did - feeling his sides

  unfeathering as the wax began to melt,

  his father shouting: "Wrong, your course is wrong - Inferno, Dante

• This responsibility is too much for me. I feel as though I have an albatross around my neck. - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Alliteration: A repetition of particular consonant sound in the beginning of each word in close succession. Though alliteration is mainly consonant sounds, sometimes vowel sounds are also repeated. This figure of speech is mainly used in poetry. A few examples of alliteration:

• I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. - Acquainted with the Night, Robert Frost
• Those tidal thoroughbreds that tango through the turquoise tide. - Dancing Dolphins, Paul McCann

Antithesis: An antithesis is a figure of speech where there is a juxtaposition of two contrasting ideas in a balanced clause or sentence. Some illustrations of antithesis:

• It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. - A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
• If, as our dreaming Platonists report,

  There could be spirits of a middle sort,

  Too black for heav'n, and yet too white for hell,

  Who just dropp'd halfway down, nor lower fell. - The Hind and the Panther, John Dryden

Apostrophe: In this figure of speech, a non existent or absent person is addressed. In literary pieces, this figure of speech usually starts with an exclamation 'O'. Examples of apostrophe are:

• O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? - Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
• O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers! / Thou art the ruins of the noblest man / That ever lived in the tide of times. - Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare.

Climax: In climax, the words or clauses are arranged in ascending order of importance. These phrases have a similar theme and arranged in increasing order according to the impact they create on the reader. A few illustrations;

• Love creates happiness, happiness creates joy, joy creates enlightenment.
• We'll collect pennies in tens, hundreds and millions! Power starts small, becomes significant then becomes unstoppable.

Euphemism: A figure of speech where an offensive or rude word is substituted by a polite and gentle word. The technique is to use a neutral language so as not to sound offensive to the receiver. Like for instance:

• Differently abled instead of disabled.
• Put to sleep instead of euthanasia

Hyperbole: It is used while exaggerating something. This figure of speech is mainly used in several jokes or as a way of insult. It is to dramatize a normal situation or to make it look worse. Somehyperbole examples:

• The whole world was staring at me.
• It is going to take a zillion years to get through medical school.
• My backpack weighs a ton.

Irony: Irony is used to convey the opposite meaning of a word. It is usually used in sarcasm or in humor. It is also used to convey an ugly truth in a subtle manner. Some examples of irony are:

• "Water, water, everywhere,

  And all the boards did shrink;

  Water, water, everywhere,

  Nor any drop to drink." (Situational Irony) - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, S. T. Coleridge

• The boy is so intelligent that he failed in all the subjects. (Verbal Irony)

Metaphor: Metaphor is used for the purpose of comparison with a thing which is not applicable to it literally. It is an indirect comparison of two unrelated things. Some examples of metaphors include:

• He was a lion in the battlefield.
• He is the apple of my eye.

Metonymy: In metonymy, the name of one thing is replaced with something that is closely related to it. In common terms, it is also known as misnomer or transmutation. Here are some metonymy examples:

• The suits on Wall Street walked off with most of our savings. (Suits referring to bankers).
• The White House asked the television networks for air time on Monday night. (Here air time refers to broadcasting).

Onomatopoeia: This figure of speech imitates the sounds produced by the objects or actions. Examples of onomatopoeia:

• The buzzing of bees.
• The whirring of the washing machine.

Oxymoron: Using a contradictory term to define a situation, object or event is oxymoron. Some oxymoron examples are:

• Clearly misunderstood
• Exact estimation

Personification: Associating an inanimate object to human quality. A few personification examples are:

• The haughty lion surveyed his realm
• My car was happy to be washed.

Simile: Simile is a figure of speech where two essentially unlike things are compared with each other, using 'as', 'than' or 'like'. Simile examples are:

• O my love is like a red, red rose.
• Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.

Synecdoche: It is a part of speech similar to metonymy, where a part of a particular object is used to refer to the whole thing. Synechdoche examples are:

• The city posted a sign, where 'the city' refers to the government.
• The gray beard refers to an old man.

TOP 20 FIGURE OF SPEECH

1.ALLITERATION

Repetition of an initial consonant sound.

• A moist young moon hung above the mist of a neighboring meadow.
• Guinness is good for you.
• Good men are gruff and grumpy, cranky, crabbed, and cross."

Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.

• We shallgo on to the end.
• We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air.
• We shall depend our island.

3.ANTITHESES

The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

• Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing
• Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara Lee.
• Hillary has soldiered on, damned if she does, damned if she doesn't, like most powerful women, expected to be tough as nails and warm as toast at the same time.

4. APOSTROPHE

Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character.

• "O western wind, when wilt thou blow

  That the small rain down can rain?"

• "Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone,Without a dream in my heart,Without a love on my own."
• "Death be not proud, though some have called theeMighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me."

5.ASSONANCE

Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.

• "Those images that yet

  Fresh images beget,

  That dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea."

• "If I bleat when I speak it's because I just got . . . fleeced."

• "The spider skins lie on their sides, translucent and ragged, their legs drying in knots."

A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.

• "Nice to see you, to see you, nice!"
• "You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget."
• "In the end, the true test is not the speeches a president delivers; it's whether the president delivers on the speeches."

The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.

• We'll see you when you get back from image enhancement camp.
• You've got a prime figure. You really have, you know.

An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.

• "I was helpless. I did not know what in the world to do. I was quaking from head to foot, and could have hung my hat on my eyes, they stuck out so far."
• "He snorted and hit me in the solar plexus.
• "I bent over and took hold of the room with both hands and spun it. When I had it nicely spinning I gave it a full swing and hit myself on the back of the head with the floor."

9.IRONY

The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

• "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."
• He is as smart as a soap dish.
• I have no doubt your theatrical performance will receive the praise it so richly deserves.

10.LITOTES

A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.

• "The grave's a fine a private place,

  But none, I think, do there embrace."

11.METAPHOR

An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.

• Love is a lie.
• Life is going through time.
• You are the light in my life.

A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it.

• "Fear gives wings."
• "Detroit is still hard at work on an SUV that runs on rain forest trees and panda blood."
• "I stopped at a bar and had a couple of double Scotches. They didn't do me any good. All they did was make me think of Silver Wig, and I never saw her again."

13.ONOMATOPOEIA

The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

• "Chug, chug, chug. Puff, puff, puff. Ding-dong, ding-dong. The little train rumbled over the tracks."
• "Brrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinng!An alarm clock clanged in the dark and silent room."
• "I'm getting married in the morning!

  Ding dong! the bells are gonna chime."

14.OXYMORON

A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.

• "How is it possible to have a civil war?"
• "The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep."
• "A yawn may be defined as a silent yell."

A statement that appears to contradict itself.

• "The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot."
• "If you wish to preserve your secret, wrap it up in frankness."

A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.

• "Oreo: Milk's favorite cookie."
• "The road isn't built that can make it breathe hard!"

A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.

• A vulture boards a plane, carrying two dead possums. The attendant looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."

• Kings worry about a receding heir line.

A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.

• "Good coffee is like friendship: rich and warm and strong."
• "You know life, life is rather like opening a tin of sardines. We're all of us looking for the key."

A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (for example, ABCsfor alphabet) or the whole for a part ("Englandwon the World Cup in 1966″).

• "The sputtering economy could make the difference if you're trying to get a deal on a new set of wheels."
• General Motors announced cutbacks.

A figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

• "The grave's a fine and private place,But none,I think,do there embrace."

• "I am just going outside and may be some time."

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. [DANIEL 12:4.]

No new stories have been written since the end of Daniels prophesy. There is not one story told to day, that the likes of it was not told before the death of Daniel. These stories have been told in all languages; Acted out in history, and daily life; Written about in all the sciences of humans; They Are The Ppatterns for Life, and living.

The expression uses " to " not "from".

A polite way of asking for advice.

The main figures of speech types are: Tropes, Metaplasmic Figures, Figures of Omission, Figures of Repetition, Figures of Unusual Word Order and Figures of Thought.

1 simile

2 metaphor

3 hyperbole

4 personification

5 apostrophy

6 synecdoche

7 onomatopeia

8 alliteration

9 irony

10 analogy

11 oxymoron

12 paradox

13 metonomy

14 euphemism

15 anthitesis

Song = Hard Day's Night - The Beatles

figure of speech = simile (comparison using like or as)

metaphor = It's been a hard day's night and I've been workin' like a dog.

Song = Eight Days a Week - The Beatles

figure of speech = hyperbole (greatly exaggerating to make a point)

Eight days a week, I love you

Song = Cry a River Over You, hyperbole

Song = Rock You Like a Hurricane - The Scorpions another example of simile

Song = (Your Love is Like ) Bad Medicine - simile

Had by itself is not a figure of speech. But there are figures of speech that use had.

You've been had.

3. If you have been had, someone has tricked you, for example by selling you something at too high a price.

You've had it now, wait till Dad gets home.

4. If you say that someone has had it, you mean they are in very serious trouble or have no hope of succeeding.

I've had it, I'm going home.

5. If you say that you have had it, you mean that you are very tired of something or very annoyed about it, and do not want to continue doing it or it to continue happening. (INFORMAL)