FIGURES OF SPEECH

SIMILE
- A comparison using “like” or “as”
Example:
She was as smart as an owl.
My bag was like a bag of bricks

METAPHOR
- A figure of speech stating two things are similar
Example:
The strawberry was a fresh summer day
The rain came down in full cold buckets

PERSONIFICATION
- Giving human qualities to things and ideas
Example:
The tree leaves danced in the wind.
The chair stood up straight and tall.

HYPERBOLE
- A extravagant exaggeration

Example:
The walk was a million miles long
I ate five-thousand pancakes for breakfast

ONOMATOPEIA
- Words whose sound suggests its meaning

Example:
The bees buzzed by flying back to their hive
Click the button to take the picture
ALLITERATION
- It is the duplication of a specific consonant sound at the start of each word
and in a quick succession
- It is often used in advertising slogans to create something catchy that more
people will remember

EXAMPLE:
Dunkin’ Donuts
Spongebob Squarepants
Silent Sea
Guinness is good for you
Ah, what a delicious day!
Sally sells seashells by the seashore

ANAPHORA
- It is the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to
achieve an artistic effect
- It uses a specific word or phrase at the beginning of each sentence or
point to make a statement

EXAMPLE:
“Good night and good luck”
"Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!”
He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me.

ASSONANCE
- It is a figure of speech that focuses on the repetition of vowel sounds in a
phrase over and over

EXAMPLE:
Brush your teeth before you go to sleep.
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Strips of tinfoil winking like people.
I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless.
CONSONANCE
- It refers to repetitive sounds produced by consonants with a sentence or
phrase

EXAMPLE:
Chuckling, he continued kicking his fickle brother.
She will never treat you better if you belonged in the ghetto.
She sat silently on the shore, waiting for the ship to come.
He has been through hell selling bells to earn money.
A time will come when the prodigal son will finally come home to his father.

IRONY
- It is used to stress on the opposite meaning of a word. When people are
looking to be sarcastic, they employ irony

EXAMPLE:
He was so intelligent that he failed all his tests.
She is so beautiful that no one dares to look at her.
It was very nice of you to open my letter. Thank you very much!

METONYMY
- A name of a particular thing is substituted with the name of a thing that is
closely related to it

EXAMPLE:
We have always remained loyal to the crown.
The White House has made its decision.

SYNECDOCHE
- This is a figure of speech in which one thing is meant to represent the
whole.

EXAMPLE:
If I had some wheels, I'd put on my best threads and ask for Jane's hand in
marriage.
It is sure hard to earn a dollar these days.
PARADOX
- This figure of speech completely contradicts itself in the same sentence

EXAMPLE:
“War is peace. Ignorance is strength. Freedom is slavery”.

EUPHEMISM
- An offensive word or expression is replaced with a polite word.

EXAMPLE:
passed away
(Euphemism for has died.)
between jobs
(Euphemism for unemployed.)
a little thin on top
(Euphemism for losing hair.)
special child
(Euphemism for disabled.)
in the family way
(Euphemism for pregnant.)
Sanitary engineer
(Euphemism for Janitor.)

OXYMORON
- It involves the usage of contradictory terms to describe an object, situation,
or incident

EXAMPLE:
Open secret
Tragic comedy
Exact estimate
Original copies
Bittersweet existence
Silent yell
Deafening silence
APOSTROPHE
- This is about addressing some absent person or thing, some abstract
quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character

EXAMPLE:
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.”

Oh, rose, how sweet you smell and how bright you look!
Car, please get me to work today.
Oh, trees, how majestic you are as you throw down your golden leaves.
Feet, don’t fall me now.

ALLUSION
- It is an indirect or subtle reference made about a person, place, or thing in
a work of literature.

EXAMPLE:
He was a real Romeo with the ladies.
I was surprised that his nose was not growing like Pinocchio’s.
I am not Rizal!
She transformed her backyard into a Garden of Eden.
You are a Solomon when it comes to making decisions.

UNDERSTATEMENT
- It deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is, either
for ironic emphasis or for politeness

EXAMPLE:
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake interrupted business somewhat in the
downtown area.

You know I would be a little disappointed if you were to be hit by a drunk driver at
two a.m., so I hope you will be home early.
The sleeping cat was disturbed when the earthquake hit Bohol.

ANTICLIMAX
- It deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is, either
for ironic emphasis or for politeness. It is the arrangement of a series of
words, phrases, or clauses in order of decreasing importance.

EXAMPLE:
She is a great writer, a mother and a good humorist.

He lost his family, his car and his cell phone.

LITOTES
- It employs an understatement by using double negatives or, in other
words, positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite
expressions.

EXAMPLE:
“not too bad” for “very good” is an understatement as well as a double negative
statement that confirms a positive idea by negating the opposite.

“She is not a beauty queen,” means “She is ugly”

“I am not as young as I used to be” in order to avoid saying “I am old”.

CLIMAX
- It refers to a figure of speech in which words, phrases, or clauses are
arranged in order of increasing importance

EXAMPLE:
"There are three things that will endure: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of
these is love."
PUN
- It is a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact
that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

EXAMPLE:
“You can tune a guitar, but you can’t tuna fish. Unless of course, you play bass” -
Douglas Adams
“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana” - Groucho Marx

ASYNDETON
- It consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses

EXAMPLE:
On his return he received medals, honors, treasures, titles, fame.

She likes pickles, olives, raisins, dates, pretzels.

They spent the day wondering, searching, thinking, understanding.

POLYSYNDETON
- IT is the use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or clause, and is
thus structurally the opposite of asyndeton

EXAMPLE:
They read and studied and wrote and drilled. I laughed and played and talked
and flunked.

We have not power, nor influence, nor money, nor authority; but a willingness to
persevere, and the hope that we shall conquer soon.

ANTITHESIS
- It is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a
sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. This is a contradiction that pits
two ideas against each other in a balanced way.
EXAMPLE:
“You’re easy on the eyes, hard on the heart.”

“Man proposes, God disposes.”

To err is human; to forgive, divine.”