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A ROUGH NOTE ON TEACHING FIGURES OF SPEECH

A ROUGH NOTE ON TEACHING FIGURES OF SPEECH. FIGURES OF SPEECH BASED ON SOUND. Alliteration: repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning or end of a series of words placed close to one other (e.g. S eason of mi s t s and mellow fruitfulne ss )

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A ROUGH NOTE ON TEACHING FIGURES OF SPEECH

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  1. A ROUGH NOTE ON TEACHING FIGURES OF SPEECH

  2. FIGURES OF SPEECH BASED ON SOUND • Alliteration: repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning or end of a series of words placed close to one other (e.g. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness) • It is important to note that alliteration is about the sounds of words, not the letters; therefore, the letter ‘k’ and ‘c’ can be used alliteratively (as in  kitchen and cookie), as well as the letter ‘s’ and ‘c’ (as in sparkle and  cycle).  Also, the words do not need to be directly next to each other in the sentence or stanza to be considered alliterative (although they often are).

  3. FIGURES OF SPEECH BASED ON SOUND • Assonance: repetition of the same vowel sound in a series of words placed close to one another (e.g. Hear the mellow wedding bells) • The same point made about alliteration above applies here. • Onomatopoeia: a word which itself sounds like the sound to which it refers (e.g. hiss – the sound a snake makes)

  4. FIGURES OF SPEECH BASED ON MEANING • In addition to figures of speech based on SOUND, we have figures of speech based on MEANING. • Many of these are based on FIGURATIVE COMPARISONS. • Figurative comparison: where two things which are of a different class are compared (e.g. a person and a pig). (So comparing two desks is a literal comparison, not a figurative comparison.)

  5. FIGURATIVE COMPARISONS • Simile – two things compared using ‘like’ or ‘as’ (e.g. He is like a pig.) • Metaphor – two things compared without using ‘like’ or ‘as’ – presents one thing as if it were the other thing (e.g. He is a pig). • Personification – a type of metaphor in which a non-person is compared to a person (e.g. The sun smiled.) • By the way: Do all metaphors use the verb be? • No: metaphors do not always take the form of nouns / pronouns joined by the verb be. Sometimes they are disguised as verbs, adjectives or adverbs. In the following examples, notice how the verb be is absent: • The sun fired upthe sky with dazzling colours. (verb) • After a heated argument with his roommates, he stormed out of the house. (adjective and verb) • The Red River loopssnakily through the valley. (verb and adverb)

  6. BASED ON MEANING • Not all figures of speech based on meaning consist of figurative comparisons. • Some are based on oppositemeanings.

  7. BASED ON OPPOSITE MEANING • There are two types here: • (1) PARADOX: This involves an apparent contradiction – i.e. looks like a contradiction - but on closer examination it is not. • E.g. Being cruel to be kind

  8. (2) OXYMORON: This is like a condensed paradox – the apparent contradiction does not take the form of a statement but of two (contradictory) words. • E.g. A bitter-sweet experience

  9. Based on meaning • Two discussed to so far: • Based on figurativE COMPARED MEANING • Based on OPPOSITE MEANING • There is a third group: • Based on ‘tonED’ meaning

  10. FIGures of speech based on ‘tonED ‘MEANING • Here the meaning is ‘toned’ up or down. There are four of them: • (1) INNUENDO: A figure of speech which merely hints at something without saying it directly – i.e. it is an indirect or a subtle observation about a thing or a person. It is generally critical, disparaging or salacious in nature, and its use is almost always derogatory. E.g. A: How do you like my painting? B: I think the frame is beautiful.

  11. (2) EUPHEMISM • ‘eu’ – means pleasant (e.g. euphonious = pleasant-sounding; eulogy = pleasant words praising someone) • So EUPHEMISM: A figure of speech which softens something harsh or rude, which puts a bad thing in a pleasant way • E.g. He passed away last night.

  12. (3) UNDERSTATEMENT • UNDERSTATEMENT: A deliberate representation of something as being much less than it really is. For example, you win 10 million dollars in a lottery. When you tell a news reporter ‘I am delighted’, you are making an understatement. Similarly, suppose a team loses to its opponent 50 to 0 in a soccer match and the captain of the team says in a post-match ceremony says, We did not do well’, it is an understatement because he is trying to decrease the intensity of the loss.

  13. (4) HYPERBOLE • [pronounced hyPERbolee]: A deliberate and extravagant exaggeration for effect. • E.g.: I told you a thousand times not to do that! • Compare: I told you five times to do it! • This could also involves exaggeration – might have told him three times only. But this is not a hyperbole. - So not all exaggerations are hyperboles: - It has to be a gross exaggeration; and it has to be deliberate and for effect, for it to be a hyperbole.

  14. TO SUM UP: • Figures of speech may be based on SOUND or MEANING. • Those based on sound = alliteration; assonance; onomatopoeia. • Those based on meaning may be based on: • - Figurative compared meaning (simile; metaphor; personification) • - Opposite meaning (paradox; oxymoron) • - ‘Toned’ meaning (innuendo; euphemism; understatement; hyperbole)

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