Syed Israr Ali Naqvi

Bs English linguistics 3rd year.

Institute of English language & literature

University of Sindh Jamshoro.

 A figure of speech is a form of expression. It
is a remarkable way of saying something and
is used to add color to language.
 Resemblance
 Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Apostrophe
 Association

 Metonymy, Synecdoche
 Sound effects
 Onomatopoeia , Alliteration, Assonance
 Contrast / Opposite ideas
 Irony, Hyperbole, Understatement, Anaphora, and
Epistrophe.
 Simile
 Metaphor
 Personification
 Apostrophe

 Let us have a look at Similes

The word Simile means likeness

A simile is a definite or direct expression of a likeness

between two different things.
 He cried like a baby.
 He is as big as an Elephant.
 You are as brave as lion.

 Remember: Similes use words such as “like”

and “as” in order to make comparison.
 A metaphor contains an implied comparison in which
a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one
thing is applied to another.

 Although Similes and Metaphor both compare unlike

things, however, Metaphor does not use the words
“like” or “as”.

 For example: He is like a pig. ( simile )

He is a pig. ( Metaphor )
 Sometimes Similes and Metaphor are used to convey
the same meaning.

 For example: In the battle, he fought bravely like a

lion. (simile)
 He was a lion in the battle. (metaphor)
 In a personification, a thing, an idea or an animal is
given human attributes. The non-human objects are
portrayed in such a away that we feel they have the
ability to act like human beings.

 For example: The sky weeps.

 When we say “ the sky weeps” we are giving the sky

the ability to cry, which is a human ability. Thus, we
can say that the sky is personified in the given
sentence.
 The flowers are dancing in the gentle breeze.

 My house is a friend who protects me.

 The moon played hide and seek with the clouds.

 My flowers were begging for water.

 Etc …..
 When a character in a literary work speaks to an object,
an idea, or someone who does not exist as if it is a living
person. This is done to produce dramatic effect and to
show the importance of the object or idea.

 For instance: Oh, rose, how sweet you smell and how
bright you look.

 Oh, tress, how majestic you are as you throw down your
leaves.
 Oh, liberty, what things are done in your name.
 Metonymy
 Synecdoche
Let us have a look at them.

 Metonymy:- is a part of speech in which a thing or a concept

is not called by its own name, but by the name of something
associated with that thing or concept.

 For instance: crown. ( For the power of a king)

 The white house. ( Referring to the American administration.
 The white house has decided to crack down on the terrorist.
 In synecdoche a part of something is used to represent
the whole or a whole is used to represent the part.

 For example: I have bought a set of wheels to travel

to work everyday. (part for whole)

 Pakistan won the world cup of 1992. (whole for part)

 Metonymy:- in metonymy the thing that is used
to represent the whole is not a part of the whole.
 Exp: The white house has decided to crack down on
the terrorist. ( not part of whole)
 Synecdoche:- in synecdoche the part that is used
to represent the whole is actually a part of the whole.

 Exp:I have bought a set of wheels to travel to work

everyday. (part for whole)
 Onomatopoeia
 Alliteration
 Assonance

let us discuss them in details.

Onomatopoeia:- It occurs when a word’s pronunciation

imitates its sound.

Exp: It is not unusual for dog to bark when visitors arrive.

 Silence your cell phone so that is does not beep in the
class.

 The large dog said, “Bow-wow”

 Nothing annoys me more than rapidly clicking your

pen.
 The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the
beginning of the sounds.

 The word alliteration is derived from the Latin word

“Latira” it means letters of alphabet.

 For example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled

papers.
 She sells seashells down by the seashore.
 Don’t drink and drive.
 The green grass grew in the garden.
 Assonance is a figurative term used to refer to the
repetition of a vowel sounds in a line of text or poetry.

 Note:- Although they start with a consonant letters

yet they give the sound of vowel.

 For example: The fat cat had a snack. (repetition of

ash sound)
 Exp : He meets me. ( repetition of the long i: sound)
 A pun, also called paronomasia, involves a word play
which suggests two or more meanings.

 A pun can use multiple meanings of the same word or

different meanings of a similar sound.

 Example: A bicycle can not stand on its own because

it is two-tired.
 A cobbler said, “I’m a mender of bad soles”. Etc…
 Antithesis
 Irony
 Hyperbole
 Understatement
 Anaphora
 Epistrophe.
 Antithesis:- It is a rhetorical device in which two
opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to
achieve a contrasting effect.

 For example: Setting foot on the moon may be a small

step for a man but a giant step for mankind.

 The opening lines of Charles Dickens’ novel “ A Tale

of Two Cities” provides an unforgettable antithesis
example, which is:
 “ It was the best of time, it was the worst of time, 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 lights, 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.

 An other exp: “ Better to reign in hell than to serve in

heaven”.
 A situation that is strange or funny because things
happen in a way that seems to be the opposite of what
you expected.

 There are three types of irony.

1. Verbal Irony
2. Dramatic Irony
3. Situational Irony
 It is contrast between what is said and what is meant.

 For example: Oh, Great! You have broken my watch.

 One got in a car accident an said, “Lucky me”.
 He is as nice as lion to his prey.

 Dramatic Irony: It occurs when the audience or the

reader knows more than the character about events.

 For example: in a scary movie, the character walks into a

house and the audience knows the killer is in the house.
 This refer to the contrast between the actual result of
a situation and what was intended or expected to
happen.

 For example: My English teacher doesn’t know how

to speak English.

 The doctor is afraid of injection in the hospital.

 You don’t like to be injured, but injure others.
 The police station gets robbed.
 Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical
device of figure of speech. It may be used to evoke
strong feelings or to create strong impression, but is
not mean to be taken literary. Hyperboles are
exaggeration to create emphasis or effect.

 For example: I was so hungry; I could eat a horse.

 I could sleep for a year; I was too tired.
 He is filthy rich. He has got tons of money.
 I had told you a million times not to walk with these
guys.
 It is used by writers or speakers to deliberately make a
situation seem less important or serious than it really
is.

 For example: Having your leg broken is somewhat

painful.
 Bill Gates is financially secure.
 An atomic blast is somewhat noisy.
 In writing or speech, the deliberate repetition of the
first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic
effect is known as anaphora.

 For example: “ It was the best of time, it was the

worst of time, 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 lights, it was
the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it
was the winter of despair……
 Epistrophe involves the repetition of a word or a
phrase at the end of the successive clause or sentence.

 The word epistrophe comes from the Greek for

“return”.

 For example: When I was a kid, I thought as a kid, I

understood as a kid, I spoke as a kid.
 Any question please.