Figure of Speech

LITERARY DEVICES
• A Figure of speech is a word or group of words used to give particular

emphasis to an idea or sentiment.
• Figurative locutions have been extensively employed by orators and
writers to strengthen and embellish their styles of speech and
composition.
Personification Hyperbole
I have no I am king of
Simlie …as preconception kings…..
Like….
Metaphor
I am ….
Repetition
Oxymoron …. All I did was
Dark day…… smile smilie …
Alliteration Onomatopoeia Refrain..
sss ppp…. Buzz of bees
SIMLIE and
METAPHOR
• SIMLIE – A Simile is a specific comparison between two kinds of ideas or
objects using the words
• ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Eg:- - “I looked again at her, wan, pale
as a late winter’s moon…..”
“She entered the thickness of tree as sleek as lizard.”
METAPHOR – A metaphor is a comparison between two concepts ,tightened

by the
omission of any adjoining words / or it is an implied simile.
Eg:- ” Run naked into books the white and green leaves”
“She enters the thickness and a machine starts up”
ALLITERATION and
PERSONIFICATION
• ALLITERATION –Alliteration is the repetition of the initial letter (generally a consonant) or first
sound of several words ,marking the stressed syllables in a line of poetry.
or
• Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound at the start of two or more consecutive words.
• Eg:- “ Peter Piper Picked a peck of Pickled peppers”.
• “ All three stood still to smile through their hair”.
• “ dearth of noble nature”…
• PERSONIFICATION – Personification endows animals ,ideas or inanimate objects with human

traits or abilities .It is a description of a non human object or its actions giving it human
characteristic .
• Eg:- “ …Trees sprinting ,the merry children spilling…”
• “where did my childhood go ?
It went to some forgotten place”.
IMAGERY
• Imagery – Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any
combination of senses.
or
• Word or phrases that produce picture or images in the
minds of people reading or listening are said to make
imagery
• Eg:- “…Tree old , and young,”
• “….hot season..”, “shady boon”
• “The laburnum top is silent , quite still”
• “ A few leaves yellowing ,all its seed fallen..’’
HYPERBOLE, ONOMATOPOEIA and OXYMORON
• Hyperbole – It is a Greek word meaning “overcasting ”. The use of
exaggeration to lay emphasis.
• eg:- “ My name is Ozymandias , king of kings”
• “victory with no survivors”
• Onomatopoeia – Usage of sound words to create a dramatic effect.

• eg:- “once upon a time a frog croaked away in single bog”.
• “I chatter over my stony waves”
• “I babble on the pebbles”.
• Oxymoron –Apparently contradictory terms appear in conjuction
• eg:- “Laboured ease of loss.” , “mighty dead”
•
TRANSFERRED EPITHET
• Transferred epithet – An adjective used with a noun refers to another
noun.
• eg:- “washed their terribly transient feet”
• “barred face identity mask”.
• Symbolism – It is a representative of other aspects ,concepts or traits

than those visible in literal translation.
• Eg:-”The Laburnum Top is silent” (the laburnum tree is symbol of life)
• My heart leaps up when I behold
• A rainbow in the sky. ( rainbow is symbolizes wordsworth’s childish
wonder and hope )
• Wedding band
REPETITION and REFRAIN
• Repetition – Poets often repeat words ,phrases , lines or stanzas to
create a musical effect ,to emphasize a point ,to draw attention to a
point or to lend unity to a piece.
• Eg:- “…All I did was smile and smile and smile….”
• “…. Water water every where not a water to drink..”
• “Break O break open ‘till they break the town.”
Refrain – A refrain is a verse ,a line, a set or a group of lines that

repeats ,at regular intervals ,in different stanzas.
Eg:- “…. When did my childhood go?...was that the day?

“….life may come life may go but I remain forever…”
IRONY
IRONY – Irony is a dryly humorous or lightly sarcastic mode of speech ,
in which words are used to convey a meaning contrary to their
literal sense.
Eg:- “The seed I spent or sown it where

The land is his and none of mine?”
-”Surely ,Shakespeare is wicked ,and the map a bad example”
- Saheb-e-Alam , has a name which means

‘Lord of the Universe’but his life is that of a ragpicker
which is in utter contrast to his name.
ALLUSION
ALLUSION:- A reference or suggestion to a historical or well known
person, place or thing.
Example- cardboard shows me how it was

Cardboard lack of durability hints at the lack of permanence of
life.
- “so,till the judgement that yourself arise,you live in this ,and dwell
in lover’s eyes”.
ASSONANCE and ASYNDETON
Assonance – This is the repetition of identical or similar vowel sound with in
a
sentence .
Eg:- clap your hands and stamp your feet.
- The rain in spain falls mainly in the plains
- All the world’s a stage
- “And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and entrances”.
Asyndeton – A writing style in which conjunctions are omitted

between words ,phrases or clauses.
eg:- I slip,I slide ,Igloom ,I glance

“not move our arms so much”
ANAPHORA and ANTITHESIS
• Anaphora – The repeated use of a word at the start of two
or more consecutive lines.
• Eg:-Far too nervous ,far too tense .
Far too prone to influence
Antithesis – use of opposite words in close placement.

eg:- Every night from dusk to dawn
- The voice of thunder declares my arrival
The rainbow announces my departure.
“wars/walk about with their brothers in shade”
CONSONANCE and ENJAMBMENT
• Consonance- The repetition of a consonant sound in a sentence.
• eg:-Than unswept stone ,besmear’d with sluttish time.(s,t sound)
• -” Still treads the shadow of his foe .” (s,t sound)
• - I met a traveller from an antique land who said :Two vast and
• trunkless legs of stone. (t,l,d sound)
• Enjambment – When a sentence continues into two or more lines in

• a poem.
• eg:- “Once upon a time a frog
• croaked away in Bingle Bog
• Every night from dusk to dawn
INVERSION and SYMBOLS
Inversion – It is also known as ‘anastrophe ’ ,the normal order of
words is reversed .In order to achieve a particular effect of emphasis .
eg:- “The sun came up upon the left,
out of the sea came he !”
“On a hot hot day ,and I in pyjamas for the heat ,To drink
there.”
Synecdote-A word or phrase in which a part of something is used to
refer to the whole of it.
eg:- “The hand that mocked them ,
and the heart that fed”.
(hand –Sculptor ,heart - king )
“not move our arms so much”
ALLEGORY
• Allegory – An allegory is work of art , such as a story or painting ,in
which the characters ,images and /or events act as symbols.
• or
• An extended metaphor in which the characters ,places and objects
in a narrative carry figurative meaning .often an allegory’s meaning
is religious ,moral or historical in nature.
• Eg:- Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is a spiritual allegory.It tells

the story of a man’s journey from the city of Destruction to the
Celestial City , representative of the journey to Heaven.
• The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe is an allegory for
death . The moral is no man escape death.

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LITERARY DEVICES

• A Figure of speech is a word or group of words used to give particular

“She entered the thickness of tree as sleek as lizard.”

METAPHOR – A metaphor is a comparison between two concepts ,tightened

• PERSONIFICATION – Personification endows animals ,ideas or inanimate objects with human

• Onomatopoeia – Usage of sound words to create a dramatic effect.

• Symbolism – It is a representative of other aspects ,concepts or traits

Refrain – A refrain is a verse ,a line, a set or a group of lines that

Eg:- “…. When did my childhood go?...was that the day?

Eg:- “The seed I spent or sown it where

-”Surely ,Shakespeare is wicked ,and the map a bad example”

- Saheb-e-Alam , has a name which means

Example- cardboard shows me how it was

Asyndeton – A writing style in which conjunctions are omitted

eg:- I slip,I slide ,Igloom ,I glance

Antithesis – use of opposite words in close placement.

• Enjambment – When a sentence continues into two or more lines in

• Eg:- Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is a spiritual allegory.It tells

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