Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Figures of Speech

English is a language unusually rich in tropes or figures of speech—that is, expressions not meant to be taken literally, but as standing for something related in some way (the word trope comes from a Greek word meaning to twist or turn). Tropes almost invariably involve an image. The number and variety of common figures of speech make English difficult to learn as a foreign language, but also makes it a fertile ground for creative writing. (Notice that fertile ground here is a trope, specifically a metaphor in which the language is compared to soil.)
There are many different kinds of figures of speech, but there are five major tropes are usually considered to be:
Metonymy – in which one thing is represented by another thing associate with it, as in all crowns of Europe (where crowns stands for kings)
Synecdoche – in which a part stands for the whole, as in all hands on deck (where hands stands for men)
Personification – in which human characteristics are bestowed on anything non human, as in the breathing city or the gentle breeze
Metaphor – a comparison as in the woman is a rose.
Simile – a comparison as in the woman is like a rose.
Though these are five of the most frequently used figures of speech in English, you may be familiar with others, such as hyperbole, which is extreme exaggeration, and oxymoron, which links two contradictory words. And who hasn’t enjoyed groaning at a pun? In medieval and Renaissance rhetoric, dozens of tropes were identified, classified, and debate, and skill using these “ornaments” much admired.
Assignment:
Write three (3) poems of two (2) verses each in the following format: The first line consists of an abstraction, plus a verb, plus a place. The second line describes attire. The third line summarizes an action.

Beauty creeps out the window
Wearing nothing but taut bare skin
Leaving a trail of wrinkles behind her.
Hunger yells in the hallway,
Draped in cymbals;
He stomps and shouts, “Hear me now!”



Example by Carrisa Neff

1 comment:

  1. The Walking Dead
    Pain oozes out of their souls
    Wearing tattered clothes that leave them exposed
    Walking toward their death with every step

    Humanity begins to slip out of their minds
    Consumed dressed in purple bruises
    They fall to their knees, praying for relief

    The Seven Deadly Sins
    Vanity is on the bathroom wall, over the sink
    Dressed in a narcissistic smile
    Walking with noses higher than the sky

    Narcissism lies beneath the surface
    Wearing a cloak of shame
    The self-concern is beginning to emerge

    Pride
    Pride takes lives
    Wearing a crown all the time
    Running for the crowd high

    Egos walk among us
    Wearing gold and silver clothes
    Intimidating all that walk pass

    ReplyDelete