Figures of Speech

Figures of speech lend themselves particularly well to literature and poetry. They
also pack a punch in speeches and movie lines. Indeed, these tools abound in
nearly every corner of life. Let's start with one of the more lyrical devices,
alliteration.

Hyperbole
Hyperbole uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect.
Examples include:
 I've told you to stop a thousand times.

Irony
Irony occurs when there's a marked contrast between what is said and what is
meant, or between appearance and reality.
Examples include:
 "How nice!" she said, when I told her I had to work all weekend. (Verbal
irony)
 A traffic cop gets suspended for not paying his parking tickets. (Situational
irony)

Metaphor
A metaphor makes a comparison between two unlike things or ideas.
Examples include:
 Heart of stone
 Time is money

Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is the term for a word that sounds like what it is describing.
Examples include:
 Whoosh
 Splat
Personification
Personification gives human qualities to non-living things or ideas.
Examples include:
 The flowers nodded.
 The snowflakes danced.

Simile
A simile is a comparison between two unlike things using the words "like" or "as."
Examples include:
 As slippery as an eel

Synecdoche
Synecdoche occurs when a part is represented by the whole or, conversely, the
whole is represented by the part.
Examples include:
 Wheels - a car
 The police - one policeman
Antithesis
Antithesis is a figure of speech which refers to the juxtaposition of opposing or
contrasting ideas. It involves the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an
obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences, within a parallel grammatical
structure.

Examples:
These are examples of antithesis:

 "Man proposes, God disposes." - Source unknown.

 "Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." - Goethe.
 "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." - Neil
Armstrong.
 "To err is human; to forgive divine." - Alexander Pope.
 "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." - William Shakespeare.
Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is not called by its

own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or
concept.

Examples:
Here are some examples of metonymy:

 Crown. (For the power of a king.)

 The White House. (Referring to the American administration.)
 Dish. (To refer an entire plate of food.)
 The Pentagon. (For the Department of Defense and the offices of the U.S.
Armed Forces.)
 Pen. (For the written word.)

Apostrophe
Apostrophe is a figure of speech sometimes represented by an exclamation, such
as “Oh.” A writer or speaker, using apostrophe, speaks directly to someone who is
not present or is dead, or speaks to an inanimate object.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.”