An English Language Seminar

A Figure of Speech is a
departure from the
ordinary form of
expression, or the
ordinary course of
ideas in order to
produce a greater
effect.
A figure of speech is figurative language in the
form of a single word or phrase.
It can be a special repetition, arrangement or
omission of words with literal meaning, or a
phrase with a specialized meaning not based
on the literal meaning of the words.
 A figure of speech is essentially a word or
phrase used in a non-literal sense for
rhetorical or vivid effect.

They are plainly defined as saying one thing in

terms of something else. What does that
mean? Well, it's simple, actually.

*literal - taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or exaggeration
* rhetoric- the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing
Whenever you say something, but you don't
mean it literally, you are using a figure of
speech. Let's say you are about to head out to
the store and your mother says, 'You better
take a jacket; it's raining cats and dogs out
there.
Does your mom literally mean animals are
falling from the sky?
 Those based on Construction Those based on Resemblance
Eg:- Climax, Anticlimax Eg:- Simile, Metaphor,
Personification, Apostrophe

Those based on Association Those based on Contrast

Eg:- Metonymy, Synecdoche Eg:- Antithesis, Epigram
In a simile, a comparison is made between two
objects of different kinds which have,
however, one point in common.
The simile is usually introduced be words as like,
as or so.
Eg: As the hart panteth after the water-brooks,
so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.
A metaphor is an implied simile. It does not, like
the simile, state that one thing is like another
or acts as another, but takes that for granted
and proceeds as if the two things were one.

Eg: The camel is a ship of the desert.

Note: Every simile can be compressed into a
metaphor and every metaphor can expanded
into a simile.
Thus, instead of saying:
Akash fought like a lion. (Simile)
we can say,
Akash was a lion in the fight. (Metaphor)
In Personification, inanimate objects and
abstract notions are spoken of as having life
and intelligence.
Personification occurs when the author or
speaker gives human characteristics to non-
human objects.
For example: 'The trees scream in the
raging wind.'
Can trees actually scream? No, that is a
human trait. So the use of personification
here gives a better description of the
sound trees make in strong winds.
An Apostrophe is a direct address to the dead, to
the absent, or to a personified object or idea. This
figure is a special form of Personification.
Eg: "Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all
about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush
sensation and memory; let me become as nought;
but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in
darkness."
(Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818)
In Hyperbole, a
statement is made
emphatic by
overstatement.
Eg: Ive told you a
million times
Euphemism consists in the description of a
disagreeable thing by an agreeable name.
Eg: You are telling me a fairy tale (i.e., a lie).
In antithesis, a striking opposition or contrast of
words or sentiments is made in the same
sentence. It is employed to secure emphasis.
Eg: Speech is silver, but silence is golden.
Oxymoron is a special form of Antithesis,
whereby two contradictory qualities are
predicted at once of the same thing.
Eg: "I am busy doing nothing."
An Epigram is a brief pointed
saying frequently introducing
antithetical ideas which
excite surprise and arrest
attention.
Eg: Mankind must put an end
to war, or war will put and
end to mankind. John F.
Kennedy
Live simply, so that others may
simply live. Mother Teresa
Irony is a mode of speech in which the real
meaning is exactly the opposite of that which
is literally conveyed.
Eg: For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men
The quote (spoken by Marc Antony) is reporting that Brutus (a tyrant)
is an honourable man.
However, Marc Antony does not agree and is saying that if Brutus is an
honourable man then everyone is honourable; in effect, he is no
different than anyone else (and is indeed worse).
A Pun is the use of a word in such a way that it is
capable of more than one application, the
object being to produce a ludicrous effect.

Eg: Is life worth living? It depends upon the

liver.
In Metonymy (literally, a change of name), an
object is designated to be the name of
something else which is generally associated
with it.
Eg: The Crown, for the King
In Synecdoche, (i) a part is used to designate the
whole or (ii) the whole to designate a part.

Eg: (i) Give us the day our daily bread.

(ii) England (i.e. the English cricket team) won
the first test match against Australia.
In this figure, an epithet (a word or phrase that
describes a person or thing) is transferred
from its proper word to another that is closely
associated with it in the sentence.
Eg: dreamless sleep
In Litotes, an affirmative is conveyed by negation
of the opposite, the effect being to suggest a
strong expression by means of a weaker. It is
the opposite of Hyperbole.

Eg: The man is no fool (=very clever).

AKA the Rhetorical Question!
Interrogation is the asking of a question not for
the sake of getting an answer, but to put a
point out more effectively.
In this figure, the exclamatory form is used to
draw greater attention to a point than a mere
bald or plain statement of it could do.
Eg: How sweet the moonlight on upon this
bank!
Climax is the arrangement of a series of ideas in
the order of increasing importance.

Eg: "There are three things that will endure:

faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these
is love."
Anticlimax is the opposite of Climax a sudden
descent from higher to lower. It is chiefly used
for the purpose of satire or ridicule.

Eg: He lost his family, his car and his cell phone.
Onomatopoeia is the formation of a
word from a sound associated with
what is named
E.g.: cuckoo,sizzle