Flashcards
Sound devices and figures of speech
Cards in this deck (22)
- 1A figure of speech is a phrase or word having different meanings than its literal meanings. It conveys meaning by identifying or comparing one thing to another, which has connotation or meaning familiar to the audience. That is why it is helpful in creating vivid rhetorical effect.Use of figures of speech
Figures of speech strengthen the creative expression and description along with making the language more graphic, pointed and vivid. - 2Allegory = abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures and eventsExamples of allegory:
"Animal Farm" by Orwell is an allegory of Russia and communism. - 3Alliteration = Repetition of the same initial soundExamples of alliteration:
blue baby bonnets
philosophy fan
sweet smell of success - 4Anaphora = a technique where several phrases or verses begin with the same word or wordsExamples of anaphora:
Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!
We laughed, we loved, we sang - 5Antithesis = juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrasesExample of antithesis:
Love is an ideal thing,
marriage a real thing - 6Apostrophe = breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality or nonexistant characterExample of apostrophe:
- 7Assonance = when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant soundsExample of assonance:
- 8Caesura = a pause, usually in the middle of a line, and generally shown by a punctuation markExample of caesura
To be, or not to be: that is the question - 9Chiasmus = words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse orderExample of chiasmus:
- 10Hyperbole = exaggeration for emphasis or effectExample of hyperbole:
I could do this forever - 11Imagery = descriptive writing that appeals to the sensesExamples of imagery:
It was dark and dim in the forest
He whiffed the aroma of brewed coffee - 12Irony = using words where the meaning is the opposite of their usual meaningExample of irony:
Naming a Chihuahua Brutus - 13Litotes = a positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite (sometimes with double negatives)Examples of litotes:
She is not unlike her mother
New York is not an ordinary city - 14Metaphor = compares two unlike things or ideasExamples of metaphor:
heart of stone
The world's a stage
Life is a broken-winged bird - 15Metonymy = one word is replaced by another with which it is closely associatedExamples of metonymy:
The pen is mightier than the sword
Let me give you a hand - 16Onomatopoeia = a word that sounds like what it is describingExamples of onomatopoeia:
Buzz
Click
Knock - 17Oxymoron = a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunctionExamples of oxymoron:
clearly confused
living death
open secret
cold fire
sweet sorrow - 18Paradox = a statement that appears to be self-contradictoryExample of paradox:
Your enemy’s friend is your enemy
“I can resist anything but temptation.”
"I must be cruel to be kind" - 19Personification = giving human qualities to non-living things or ideasExamples of personification:
The fog crept in
The wind howled - 20Pun = humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings or by exploiting similar sounding words having different meaningsExamples of pun:
A horse is a very stable animal
An elephant’s opinion carries a lot of weight - 21Simile = comparison between two unlike things using the words "like" or "as"Examples of simile:
as blind as a bat
as wise as an owl
He eats like a pig - 22Synecdoche = when a part represents the whole or the whole is represented by a partExample of synecdoche:
best "brains" in the country