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Brief Introduction to Figures of

Speech in English Stylistics

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Part One What is Figures of Speech? 

Figures of speech (修辞 )are ways of

maing our language figurati!e" When we

use words in other than their ordinary or

literal sense to lend force to an idea# to

heighten effect# or to create suggesti!e

imagery# we are said to $e speaing or

writing figurati!ely"

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Part %wo &etailed Introduction to Figures of

Speech

Simile

  ' figure of speech in which one thing is

lien to another# in such a way as to clarifyand enhance an image" It is an eplicit

comparison recognia$le $y the use of the

word lie or as"

( ' &ictionary of *iterary %erms)

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☺Comparative words+ lie# as

☺ Functions+ descri$ing shape# scenery,

epressing emotions, eplaining, !i!iddescription# maing easy to understand,

  creating interest"

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%as+ -an you figure out the simile

rules in the following sentences?

☺Examples:

.y lo!e is lie a red red rose"

.arriage is lie a $eleaguered fortress+ those who arewithout want to get in# and those within want to get out"

.en fear death# as children fear to go in the dar"

What salt is to food# wit and humor are to con!ersation andliterature"

 ' home without lo!e is no more than a $ody without a soul"

 ' word and stone let go cannot $e recalled"

 ' doctor must ha!e the heart of a lion and

the hand of a lady"

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Metaphor 

  ' figure of speech containing an

implied comparison# in which a word orphrase ordinarily and primarily used of one

thing is applied to another"

(We$ster/s 0ew World &ictionary)

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  1.etaphors are often easy to identify and

tae the form X is Y. Something or

someone is $eing compared to something

or someone else through a construction

using the appropriate part of the !er$ to be 

(i"e" am# are# is# was# were# will $e)"

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Examples:

2 .oney is a $ottomless sea# in whichhonor# conscience# and truth may $e

drowned"

2%he $oy wolfed down the food the momenthe gra$$ed it"

2  ' policeman wa!ed me out of the snae of

traffic"

2 Some $oos are to $e tasted# others

swallowed# and some few to $e chewed

and digested" ( Of Studies# Bacon)

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.etonymy

  ' figure of speech that consists in

using the name of one thing for that of

something else with which it is associated"

  (We$ster/s 0ew International &ictionary)

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Examples:

2 She has the eye for the fair and the$eautiful"

2 What is learned in the cradle is carried to

the gra!e"2 %he pen is mightier than the sword"

2 -hina won 3 golds and 4 sil!ers"

2 %his is the struggle $etween the imonoand the minisirt"

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Parody

  (Piece of ) writing intended to amuse $y

imitating the style of writing used $y

some$ody else"

  (Oford 'd!anced *earner/s &ictionary of

-urrent English)

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Examples:

2 I ha!e no outloo# $ut an uploo" .y place

in society was at the $ottom"

2 Where there is a will# there is a lawsuit"

2  ' hus$and in hand is worth two in the$ush"

2 5e was $orn with a -adillac in his mouth"

2 %o lie or not to lie6the doctor/s dilemma"

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Personification

  ' figure of speech in which a thing# 7uality#

or idea is represented as a person"  (We$ster/s 0ew World &ictionary)

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Examples:

2 *o!e# free as air# at sight of human ties#spreads his light wings# and in a moment

flies"

2  ' lie can tra!el half way around theworld while the truth is putting on itsshoes"

2  'ustralia is so ind that# 8ust ticle her with a hoe# and she laughs with a

har!est"

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Onomatopoeia

  -om$ination of sounds in a word that

imitating what the word refers to# lie 9hiss/or 9$oom/"

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Examples:

2 .urmur# $a$$le# swish# patter# rum$le# roll#

rustle# ip# toot# tic# tinle# screech# $ang#

$u$$le# clang# crac# splash# grum$le

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Euphemism

  %he use of pleasant# mild or indirect

words or phrases in place of more

accurate or direct ones"

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Examples: Examples: Death

2 :o west2  't rest

2  'sleep

2 ;eturn to dust

2 ;un one/s races

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5yper$ole

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Examples:

2 It/s a crime to stay inside on such a$eautiful day"

2 %he most effecti!e water power in the

world> women/s tears2 For she was $eautiful － her $eauty made

the $right world dim# and e!erything $eside

seemed lie the fleeting image of a shade"

  －

Shelly

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nderstatement

  Statement that epressed an idea# etc#

too wealy"

  ('d!anced *earner/s &ictionary)

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Examples:

2 %he well@nown Aictorian criti7ue of-leopatras $eha!ior+ CSo unlie the home

life of our own dear Dueen

2 5e is a man not without am$ition"2 .oney is a ind of tight# $ut I can manage"

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Parallelism

  %he arrangement of a num$er of related

  ideas of the same importance in a num$erof parallel or $alanced structures forms

a integrated whole# in order to intensify

  emotion and to emphasie the author/spoint"

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Examples:

2  'n Englishman thins seated,a Frenchman# standing,

an 'merican# pacing,

an Irishman# afterward"

2 ;ead not to contradict and confuse, nor to

$elie!e and tae for granted, nor to find

tal and discourse, $ut to weigh and

consider"

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-ontrast

  ' difference $etween two or more

people or things that you can see clearly

when they are compared or put close

together, the fact of comparing two or

more things in order to show the

differences $etween them"

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Examples:

2 .en always want to $e a woman/s first

lo!e, women ha!e more su$tle instinct,

what they lie is to $e a man/s last

romance"

2 *et us ne!er negotiate out of fear# $ut let

us ne!er fear to negotiate"

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 'ntithesis

  -ontrast of ideas mared $y the choice

and arrangement of words"

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Examples:

2 Gnowledge mae hum$le# ignorancemae proud"

2 *ife can only $e understood $acwards#

$ut it must $e li!ed forwards"2 %he life of the wolf is the death of the

lam$"

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Oymoron

  %he yoing together of two epressions

which are incompati$le# so that in

com$ination they ha!e no concei!a$le

literal reference to reality"

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Examples:

2 It (0ew Hor) has the poorest millionaires#the littlest great men# the haughtiest

$eggars# the plainest $eauties# the lowest

syscrapers# the dolefulest pleasures ofany town I e!er saw"

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Pun

  'n amusing use of a word or phrase that

has two meanings# or words with the same

sound $ut different meanings"

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Examples:

2 %o England will I steal# and there I/ll steal"

2 We must hang together# or we shall all

hang separately"

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eugma

  ' figure of speech in which a single

word# usually a !er$ or ad8ecti!e# is

syntactically related to two or more words#

with only one of which it seems logically

connected"

  (We$ster/s 0ew World &ictionary of the 'merican *anguage)

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Examples:

2 She opened the door and her heart to thehomeless $oy"

2 She dropped a tear and her pocet

handerchief"

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 'llusion

  'n allusion is a figure of speech that

maes a reference to# or representation of#

people# places# e!ents# literary wor#

myths# or wors of art# either directly or $y

implication"

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Examples:

2 %he heel of 'chilles

  ─ small $ut wea or !ulnera$le point# eg"

In s$/s character 

2 %ower of Ba$el

  J tower $uilt to reach hea!en

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Irony

  ' method of humorous or su$tle

sarcastic epression in which the intended

meaning of the words used is the direct

opposite of their usual sense"

  (We$ster/s 0ew World &ictionary)

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Examples: 

2 We send missionaries to -hina so the-hinese can get to hea!en# $ut we don/t

let them into our country"

2 5er capacity for family affection isetraordinary, when her third hus$and

died# her hair turned 7uite gold from grief"

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%ransferred Epithet

  ' figure of speech in which an epithet

(or ad8ecti!e) grammatically 7ualifies a

noun other than the person or thing it is

actually descri$ing"

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Examples:

2 a diy height2 a sleepless $ed

2 a icy loo

2 the happy energy

2  'fter an unthining moment# she put her

pen into her mouth"

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-lima

  ' rhetorical series of ideas# images# etc"

arranged progressi!ely so that the most forceful is last"

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Examples:

2 5e who loses wealth loses much, he wholoses a friend loses more, $ut he who

loses courage loses all"

2 Some $oos are to $e tasted# others to $eswallowed# and some few to $e chewed

and digested"

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 'nticlima

  ' rhetorical series of ideas# images# etc"

arranged progressi!ely so that the mostforceful is in front"

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Examples:

2 %his city@ 5iroshima@ is noted for its@oysters"

2 %he duties of a soldier are to protect his

country and peel potatoes"

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 'lliteration

  Occurrence of the same letter or sound

at the $eginning of two or more wordsin succession"

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Examples:

2 0et to health# heart# home# happinessfor mo$ile 'mericans depends upon the

automo$ile"

2 Pride and pre8udice

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