Analyse the effects of figures of speech on meaning and tone
Figures of speech are words or phrases that use language in a non-literal or unusual way.
An allusion is a brief reference to something or someone well known, often from history or literature.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
—Robert Frost, ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’
Hyperbole is an obvious exaggeration that is not meant to be taken literally.
There did not seem to be brains enough in the entire nursery, so to speak, to bait a fish-hook with.
—Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
Personification is giving human characteristics to non-human things.
April is the cruellest month.
—T. S. Eliot, ‘The Waste Land’
A simile uses like or as to compare two things.
No, no, we are not satisfied and will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.
—Martin Luther King, Jr, ‘I Have a Dream’
A metaphor compares two things that are not actually alike without using like or as.
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
—William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Learn with an example
🔥Read the text. The figure of speech is shown in bold.
The lawn in front of Chief Mulligan’s house was always the best tended on the street and the two small mulberry trees on each side of the stoop were always well trimmed. They were two soldiers, chests thrust out sternly, on guard day and night for the chief of police.
From Eleanor Estes, The Moffats. Copyright 1941 by Eleanor Estes
🔥What does this example of personification tell you?
- It suggests that the chief’s house seems protected.
- It suggests that there are watchmen in the trees.
Two soldiers guarding a house means that it is a closely watched place. Comparing the trees to soldiers means the house seems protected. So, this example of personification suggests that the chief’s house seems protected.
🔥Read the text. The figure of speech is shown in bold.
They lay there in silence for what seemed like a long time, listening to the machine gun rhythm of rain on the ancient slate roof.
Griffin stared up at a gaping hole in the ceiling that had once held a chandelier.
From Gordan Korman, Swindle. Copyright 2008 by Gordan Korman
🔥What does this metaphor tell you?
- It shows that the raindrops are fast and steady.
- It shows that the raindrops woke up the characters.
A firing machine gun has a fast, even rhythm. So, this metaphor shows that the raindrops are fast and steady.
🔥Read the text. The figure of speech is shown in bold.
I didn’t feel that way really. We’d lived in New York State for three months so far and it already felt like a hundred years to me, but I had to try to talk her out of this idea any way I could.
From Ellen Airgood, Prairie Evers. Copyright 2012 by Ellen Airgood
🔥What does this example of hyperbole tell you?
- It shows that time seems to pass very slowly.
- It shows that there are no calendars in the house.
The character would not know what a hundred years truly feels like. The exaggeration explains that three months has felt like a very long time. So, this example of hyperbole shows that time seems to pass very slowly.
let’s practice!
