Synecdoche

2. Synecdoche • Synecdoche: A whole is represented by naming one of its parts (genus named for species), or vice versa (species named for genus). • The rustler bragged he'd absconded with five hundred head of longhorns.Both "head" and "longhorns" are parts of cattle that represent them as wholes • Listen, you've got to come take a look at my new set of wheels.One refers to a vehicle in terms of some of its parts, "wheels" • "He shall think differently," the musketeer threatened, "when he feels the point of my steel."A sword, the species, is represented by referring to its genus, "steel" • http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/S/synecdoche.htm • "Land ho! All hands on deck!"(Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island) • "General Motors announced four major plant closings, triggering fears of growing unemployment."(Adam Winkler, Gunfight. W.W. Norton, 2011) • "Take thy face hence."(William Shakespeare, Macbeth) • "Synecdoches are ways in which we construct our understanding of the whole, although we only have access to the part. Synecdoches are part of our general cultural heritage and exist in literature as well as science. Archetypes, mythic characters, gods and goddesses have all been viewed as synecdochical, as have some literary characters, such as Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Desdemona, Romeo, Juliet, Jane Eyre, and Willy Loman."Within science writing, synecdoches are common as well. For example, DNA is a synecdoche for life, the test tube for experiment, the statistical test for proof, and Tally's corner for a kind of social organization."(Laurel Richardson, Writing Strategies: Reaching Diverse Audiences. Sage, 1990) • http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/synecdocheterm.htm