Figures of Speech

Figures of speech, also referred to

as figurative language, are words or
phrases that express meanings in a nonliteral
way. These expressions are often used for
comparison and for conveying emotion.
Literary writers use figures of speech to enhance the
artistic quality of their works. Figures of speech bring
vividness and liveliness to the work, and they also
emphasize the message that the writer wants to convey.
The use of these expressions also allows readers to feel
a connection with the literary work by sparking their
imagination and arousing their emotions.
There are numerous figures of speech, and these can
be classified into different categories. Among these
categories are the following:
Figures of relationship
 Figures of emphasis
 Figures of sound
Figures of Relationship
Figures of relationship
include simile, metaphor, metony
my, and synecdoche.
 Simile
A simile compares two unlike things with a
common quality. The comparison is done
using words such as like or as.
Example:
O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June;
–from "A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns
 Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison that is
done by stating that one thing is
another in order to suggest their
similarity or shared qualities.
Example:
Trees are poems the earth writes upon
the sky.
–Khalil Gibran
 Metonymy
Metonymy refers to using a thing or idea
that is not referred to by its own name but
by a different one, a name of something
with which it is closely associated.
Example:
I’m mighty glad Georgia waited till after
Christmas before it seceded or it would
have ruined the Christmas parties.
–from Gone with the Wind by Margaret
Mitchell
 Synecdoche
A synecdoche uses a part of
something to represent the whole or
the whole to represent a part.
Example:
His eye met hers as she sat there paler and
whiter than anyone in the vast ocean of anxious
faces about her.
–from "The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank
Stockton