We use figures of speech to create images or mind-pictures in order to express

ourselves visually, imaginatively and powerfully.

Alliteration
Alliteration is the deliberate repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning
of words. It often highlights the expression of movement.

Working in Winter
Silently the snow settles on the scaffolding
The feathery flakes flurry and flick their fragments,
The brown bricks piled on billowing polythene
Heap their heaviness to heavenly heights.
Workmen in woolly hats whistle into the wind
Or dance in donkey jackets to hold in heat,
Their toes tingle, the tips of their fingers freeze
It’s murder, mate, this job is murder,
Roll on five o’clock!
John Mole

Allusion
An allusion is either a direct or an indirect reference to a particular aspect

Anti-climax
An anti-climax is also a build up of ideas, but the final statement is often flat
and unexpected.

 When Peter was mugged, he was forced to hand over his wallet, his watch
and a brand new pack of chewing gum.

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Antithesis
Antithesis compares and contradicts ideas or statements within a sentence.

 Don’t underestimate him; he is a mouse in stature but a lion in strength.

 She speaks like an angel and acts like the devil.

Apostrophe
The device of directly addressing an absent person or an inanimate object, to
create a sense of immediacy and a closeness of association between the
writer and the subject addressed

Oh, Mother City, your streets are your shame.

Milton! Thou should’st be living at this hour

England hath need of thee.

O, Wind
If Winter comes, can summer be far behind?

Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds in close
juxtaposition in order to achieve a particular effect or sense.

o The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shores.

Short vowel sounds may create a mood of speed, vitality, joy or suspense.
e.g Clap your hands and stamp your feet!

Long vowel sounds slow down the pace and temper the mood.
e.g. He slowly mowed the overgrown lawn.

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Climax
A climax is a build-up of ascending ideas. It reaches a peak, creating
excitement and heightening tension.

♥ Julius Caesar claimed: “I came, I saw, I conquered!”

Dramatic irony
When the audience has knowledge of something of which the actors are
unaware, this is referred to as dramatic irony. This heightens tension and
expectation.

 In The Little Shop of Horrors, the audience is aware that

the plant craves human blood. The characters, however,
are blissfully unaware of this.

Euphemism
Euphemism expresses an unpleasant or uncomfortable situation in a more
sensitive, kind and tactful manner. The purpose is to soften the blow, protect
feelings or to be politically correct.

 The camp forbids any form of chemical stimulants [drugs and alcohol]
 The tipsy lady made her way home. [drunk]
 Jack was behaviourally disadvantaged. [delinquent]
 She has a fuller figure.
 He has been sent to a house of correction.

Extended Metaphors
These are recurring metaphors or analogies. They are extended over a passage
or throughout a poem.

e.g. She was the bud blooming into womanhood. She was the petal, colourful
and fragile. A flower in the making.

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Hyperbole
A deliberate exaggeration or overstatement used either for emphasis or ironic
effect. As the hyperbole is an over-exaggeration it is not meant to be taken
literally. It aims to create humour or to emphasize a point.

o At the end of Tessa’s performance the applause brought the house down.
o Courtney invited the whole town to her wedding.
o I’ve asked you a million times not to exaggerate.

Innuendo
An Innuendo is a disapproving remark that hints at something without stating
it directly.

 What do you think of this artist’s paintings?

Well, I love the frames.
 What a coincidence. You’re wearing exactly the same kind of watch as
the one I lost last week.

Litotes
Litotes uses a negative and an apposite to understate what is meant.
The effect is to heighten the pathos or tragedy of an event by the simplicity of
understatement

 My science mark proves that I’m no Einstein.

 The gruesome sight was far from pretty.
 My new car is no Ferrari but it will do!

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Irony
Irony implies the opposite of what is said. The intention is for the opposite to
be understood. It is the tone that tempers or conveys this meaning.

 I can’t wait for my detention on Friday afternoon.

 Homework is so exciting.
 It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a
good fortune must be in want of a wife. (Jane Austen)
 War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.

Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison without the use of as or like. A metaphor refers to
one person or object (as) being (like) another. The comparison is implied rather
than stated directly.

Mower
Horned beast
Savage mouth
Tungsten steel teeth
Shirring shearing
Sneering across the lawn
Flower heads flying.

Sweet smell of cut grass

Green spray over a prow
And a wash of trimmed topped leaves,
An inner wake, a wave of guilt.
Memories of petalled foam
Of flowers heads flying.
Catherine Benson

The Wind
The wind is a dog
flattening all this tall grass
before lying down.
Kevin Hart

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Mixed Metaphors
These are incongruous terms used to describe the same object or event. Mixed
metaphors should be avoided as they contradict one another.

◊ Mountains of strawberries and cream were consumed during

the titanic battle at Wimbledon.

◊ The hand that rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket.

Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia uses words that imitate and reproduce real-life sounds and
actions. The sound effect heightens the visual effect.

Supermarket
Slam
Clatter
Rattle
Crash
Thump bang
Thump bang
Trolley trauma

Oxymoron
An oxymoron places two seemingly contradictory words next to each other.
This evokes a powerful image.

e.g. The mother waved her son off to war with painful pride.
The accused felt angry relief when she was proved innocent.
It is an open secret that she will be the next head girl.

 Legally Drunk
 Act naturally
 Alone together
 Pretty ugly
 Sweet sorrow
 Clearly misunderstood
 Exact estimate

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Paradox
A paradox is a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement which, when
analysed, is found to be true. It is an extended oxymoron. The opposites are
not found next to each other, but are found in the same sentence.

o You will kill him with your kindness.

o She is only happy when she has something to worry about.
o You have to be cruel to be kind.
o One short sleep past, we wake eternally

Personification
Personification gives human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
Personification and metaphors are similar in that they are both indirect
comparisons.

Wasp
The wasp is quite a handsome fellow
In his shirt of black and yellow.
I watch him as he gaily zooms
In and out of all my rooms
Inspecting them all one by one…
Now where’s he gone
I wonder…OUCH
We both sat down upon the couch.
Harry Ellwood

Pun
A play on two words, identical or similar in sound but different in meaning. A pun
is most often used for comic effect.

o Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. (Romeo and Juliet)
o To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
o When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
o A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
o Maths teachers have a lot of problems.

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Rhyme
Rhyme depends on sound, rather than on the written word. It is used for effect.

Mustard
I’m mad about mustard –
Even on custard.
Ogden Nash

Sarcasm
Sarcasm is not a synonym for irony; it is destructive and is intended to wound.
Sarcasm occurs when one thing is said, but something else is intended or
understood It is used with the express purpose of hurting, insulting or
humiliating.

 You must have worked really hard to be bottom of the class!

 Are you always the heart and soul of the party?

Satire
Satire is sharp wit, irony or satire used to highlight, expose or ridicule
human, social or political weaknesses or stupidities.

∆ Madam and Eve cartoons by Zapiro

The aim of the satirist is to change the situation, educate and entertain through
humour. This ploy allows one to express oneself in a way that would normally be
construed as libelous.

Simile
A simile is a direct comparison that always contains the word ‘as’ or ‘like’.

Grandpa
Grandpa’s hands are as rough as garden sacks
And as warm as pockets.
His skin is crushed paper round his eyes
Wrapping up their secrets
Berlie Doherty

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 Sunshine
The rays of the sun
are like a pair of scissors
cutting the blanket
of dawn from the sky

Synecdoche
A synecdoche occurs when a part is used for a whole.

The All Blacks played the Springboks in an

exciting test match.

St Mary’s beat Roedean in a debate.