Figures of Speech

in Poetry

TROPES, SCHEMES, ANTHROPOMORPHISM

TROPES

Hyperbole – an exaggeration

Irony – distance between what is said & what is meant, what is expected & what happens

Metaphor – direct comparison

Simile – comparison made with “as,” “like,” or “than”

TROPES

Hyperbole – “He’s as old as the hills.”

Irony – Alanis Morissette’s song next slide

Metaphor – “Hope is a thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”

Simile – Langston Hughes’ poemnext slides

"Ironic“ by Alanis MorissetteAn old man turned ninety-eightHe won the lottery and died the next dayIt's a black fly in your ChardonnayIt's a death row pardon two minutes too lateMr. Play It Safe was afraid to flyHe packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbyeHe waited his whole damn life to take that flightAnd as the plane crashed down he thought"Well isn't this nice..."Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on youWhen you think everything's okay and everything's going rightAnd life has a funny way of helping you out whenYou think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your faceA traffic jam when you're already lateA no-smoking sign on your cigarette breakIt's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knifeIt's meeting the man of my dreamsAnd then meeting his beautiful wifeIt's like rain on your wedding dayIt's a free ride when you've already paidIt's the good advice that you just didn't take

SIMILE What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes

SCHEMES

Anaphora

Antithesis

Chiasmus

SCHEMESAnaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of lines in the poem.Creates an interesting sonic effect & rhythm.

SCHEMES

Antithesis – contrasting or combining two terms, phrases or clauses with opposite meanings

selflessness and selfishness

Love “builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair” or the antithesis, Love

“builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite.”

SCHEMES

More Antithesis from Charles Dickens:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

SCHEMES

Chiasmus – Repetition of any group of verse elements in reverse order.

“But many that are firstShall be last,

And many that are lastShall be first”

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”

More Chiasmus:SCHEMES

“Live simply so that others may simply live.”

“Ask not what your country can do for you,

ask what you can do for your country.”

“I meant what I said,and I said what I meant.”

Figures of Speech

Personification – description of a thing or a non-human form as if it were a person, attributing uniquely human actions to something non-human

Anthropomorphism – human emotions, qualities and characteristics are attributed to animals or anything non-human

PERSONIFICATION

The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky.Opportunity was knocking at her door.My alarm clock sprang to life.The tornado ran through town without a care.My life came screeching to a halt.Time creeps up on you.The news took me by surprise.The tsunami raced towards the coastline.The sky smiled, as the angry clouds raced across it.The leaves waved in the wind.The ocean sighed.The sun smiled down on me.The wind shouted and spit.The fire snarled and reared up.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM

Aesop’s Fables are full of examples. Stereotypes of the sly & clever fox, the proud lion, the greedy bird, etc. Giving human emotions to animals.Giving human characteristics to animals in literature is anthropomorphism.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM

We also anthropomorphize cars, toys, trains and other non-animals.