Overview
This lecture introduces the top 20 figures of speech, defining each and providing examples to illustrate how they enrich writing and everyday language.
Importance of Figures of Speech
- Figures of speech use language in creative ways to produce special effects or emphasize ideas.
- They help make writing more vivid, interesting, and memorable.
- Using figurative language enhances clarity and adds depth to expression.
Top 20 Figures of Speech with Examples
- Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds (e.g., "She sells seashells").
- Anaphora: Repetition at the start of successive clauses (e.g., "wrong place at the wrong time").
- Antithesis: Contrasting ideas in balanced phrases (e.g., "no vices have very few virtues").
- Apostrophe: Addressing non-existent persons or objects (e.g., "Oh, you stupid car").
- Assonance: Similar vowel sounds in nearby words (e.g., "How now, brown cow?").
- Chiasmus: Reversed structure in successive phrases (e.g., "live to eat, not eat to live").
- Euphemism: Mild term substituted for a harsh one (e.g., "go potty" for use the toilet).
- Hyperbole: Exaggeration for emphasis (e.g., "a ton of things to do").
- Irony: Words that mean the opposite of their literal sense (e.g., penny pincher loving to spend).
- Litotes: Understatement using double negatives (e.g., "no small chunk of change").
- Metaphor: Implied comparison between unlike things (e.g., "All the world's a stage").
- Metonymy: Something referred to by a related concept (e.g., "stuffed suit" for a businessman).
- Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sounds (e.g., "bang").
- Oxymoron: Contradictory terms together (e.g., "jumbo shrimp").
- Paradox: Contradictory statement with possible truth (e.g., "the beginning of the end").
- Personification: Giving human traits to nonhumans (e.g., knife takes a bite).
- Pun: Word play with similar words or meanings (e.g., "a boiled egg is hard to beat").
- Simile: Comparison using "like" or "as" (e.g., "white as a sheet").
- Synecdoche: Part representing the whole (e.g., "learning her ABCs").
- Understatement: Deliberately making a situation seem less important (e.g., "Babe Ruth was a decent ballplayer").
Key Terms & Definitions
- Figure of Speech — A rhetorical device using language in a special way for effect.
- Alliteration — Repetition of initial consonant sounds.
- Anaphora — Repetition at the start of sentences or clauses.
- Antithesis — Contrasting ideas in parallel structure.
- Apostrophe — Addressing absent or nonhuman things.
- Assonance — Similar vowel sounds in close words.
- Chiasmus — Reversed grammatical structure.
- Euphemism — Mild or indirect word replacing a harsh one.
- Hyperbole — Extreme exaggeration.
- Irony — Saying one thing but meaning another.
- Litotes — Understatement using negatives.
- Metaphor — Direct comparison without "like" or "as."
- Metonymy — Substitution using related terms.
- Onomatopoeia — Words imitating natural sounds.
- Oxymoron — Juxtaposed contradictory terms.
- Paradox — Contradictory but possibly true statement.
- Personification — Giving human qualities to objects.
- Pun — Humorous wordplay.
- Simile — Comparison using "like" or "as."
- Synecdoche — Part standing for the whole.
- Understatement — Downplaying the significance.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review and memorize definitions and examples of all 20 figures of speech.
- Look for and identify figures of speech in literature or everyday speech.
- Practice creating your own examples for each figure of speech.