RAMISA ROSE

HYPERBOLE
It is a figure in which a deliberate overstatement is made for emphasis.

It is also known as exaggeration. In this figure always something more whether in favour of or
against a person or thing is said. In it exaggeration is made for emphasis, not for deception. It is
used either for serious or comic effect.

Example
 I am tired to death
 The roof seemed to heave and sway
 Ten Thousand I saw at a glance

APOSTROPHE
It is a figure in which a short impassioned address is made to a person dead or absent or
to an abstract idea thinking as if each is present and capable of understanding.

Example
 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, How I Wonder What You Are
 England! With thy faults, I love thee still

ONOMATOPHOEIA
It is a figure in which sounds of words echo their senses

a) Words are used which can imitate sound

b) Words are used to communicate a sound, feeling or idea

Example
 With a heavy thump, a lifeless lump. They dropped one by one.
 He huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down.
RAMISA ROSE

INTEROGATION
It is a figure in which, something is strongly affirmed or denied in the form of a
question.
It is also known as erotesis or rhetorical question.

Connotation
a) The answer is implied in the question itself

Example
 “Am I my bothers keeper?”
 Am I not free to do as I Choose?

PERIPHRASIS
It is a figure in which something is stated in a roundabout way instead of being expressed
in a direct and brief manner. It is also known as Circumlocation.

Example
 The viewless couriers of the air (winds)
 The shining orbs that deck the skies (stars)

SIMILIE
It is a figure in which a likeness between two different things is stated in an explicit way.

Example

 I wandered lonely as a cloud.

 They only use me as a rung in the ladder.
RAMISA ROSE

METAPHOR
It is a figure in which a comparison between two different thing is implied but not clearly
stated.

Example

1. Noun
 He is the only hope of his family
 Revenge is a kind of wild justices
2. Verb
 He failed to bridle his passions
 The waves thundered on the shore
3. Adjective
 A dead silence prevailed there
 His rudeness is a sauce to his wit

ALLITERATION
It is a figure in which the same sound, letter or syllable is repeated in a sequence of nearby
words.

Example

 An Australian army awfully arrayed

 A field full of fair folk
RAMISA ROSE

IRONY
It is a figure in which the very opposite of what is stated is intended
(Used in an indirect sneering way)

Example
 And Brutus is an honorable man.
 With his usual punctuality the boy entered into the class after roll call.

OXYMORON
A figure in which contradictory words are placed side by side for raising a striking effect

Chief characteristics:
a) To raise a sense of contradiction of two sharply opposing terms are used in the same
situation
b) The contradictory words are set side by side
c) Such placing suggests a striking meaning and emphasis on the sense

Example
 It was a pleasing fear
 A quite noise
 Active idleness

PERSONIFICATION
It is figures in which abstract ideas are invested with personality and both inanimate
object and abstract ideas are endowed with the attributes of living beings.

Example
 Fortune is merry.
 Opportunity knocks at the door but once.
RAMISA ROSE

CLIMAX
It is a, figure in which a series of words, phrases or ideas is arranged in an ascending
order of importance or emphasis. Climax comes from a greek word meaning ladder.

Chief characteristics:

a) It consists of a series of ideas, words or phrases

b) The least significant of them comes first and the most significant one comes last.

Example
 I came, I saw, I conquered
 We dream alone, we suffer alone, we die alone

SARCASM
It is a figure in which a statement is made in such a way as to excite, contempt, ridicule or
scorn.

Example

 His bark is worse than his bite

PUN
It is a figure which rests on a duplicity of sense under a unity of sound. Puns are very
often intended humorously but not always

Example

 An ambassador is an honest man who lies abroad for the good of the country
RAMISA ROSE

METONYMY
It is a figure in which the name of one thing is substituted for that of another which which
it is loosely associated with. In it, the name of one thing is used for another.

 He is ruined by the bottle

The name of one (bottle) is substituted for that of another (drink) associated with the former.
The nature of their relation is only external for the bottle and drink can be physically separated
from each other.

 From the cradle to the grave (birth to death)

EPIGRAM
It is a brief, sharp, witty, and polished saying giving expression to a striking thought. It
may be complimentary satiric or aphoristic (something true and wise)

Connotation: It is a brief and witty expression which reveals a striking thought.

Example:
 Failures are the pillars of success
 Cowards die many times before their death

SYNEDOCHE
A figure in which the name of one thing is substituted for that of another with which it is
intimately associated.

Example
 She is a woman of eighty winters.
 He is a walking lie (liar)
RAMISA ROSE

ANTITHESIS
It is a figure in which words or ideas are placed against each other in the form of balance

Chief Characteristics:
 One word is set and contrasted with another
 Such arrangement helps to balance the other
 The conclusion of the opposite word or idea in the latter part facilities the
emphasis of the former.

Example:
 Art is long, life is short
 We live in deeds, not in years.