Does the poem ' going down the hill on a bicycle ' convey a message beyond its literal meaning?
Answers
We use figures of speech in "figurative language" to add colour and interest, and to awaken the imagination.
Figurative language is everywhere, from classical works like Shakespeare or the Bible, to everyday speech, pop music and television commercials.
It makes the reader or listener use their imagination and understand much more than the plain words.
Figurative language is the opposite of literal language.
Literal language means exactly what it says.
Figurative language means something different to (and usually more than) what it says on the surface:
EXAMPLE-
· He ran fast. (literal)
· He ran like the wind. (figurative)
Here "like the wind" is a figure of speech (in this case, a simile).
In some respects, they are the foundation of communication.
Figures of Speech are a set of tools essential for all writers.
Conveying a complex idea can be virtually impossible without an IMAGE or analogy.
FIGURES of SPEECH serve two roles:
(A) DECORATION:
We all love to decorate our home.
What would your home be like without them?
They give beauty and variety to what we wish to show
Same way- ‘Figures of Speech’ are decorations we use for our writing. Without them our writing would be boring.
(B) CLARITY:
A complex subject can best be conveyed imaginatively and captivatingly
The purpose of learning Figures of Speech is to make you aware, as writers, of the power and degrees of choice you have when using it in English.
Commonly used FIGURES OF SPEECH:
1. SIMILE-
A Simile shows a likeness or comparison between two objects or events. A simile is usually introduced with the words- like, as, as……..so.
Examples:
I. She is as pretty as a picture.
II. The story was as dull as ditch water.
III. He is as sober as a judge.
2. METAPHOR-
A Metaphor is like a simile. Two objects are compared, without the words ‘as or like’. It is an implied simile.
Examples:
I. He was a lion in the battlefield
II. Variety is he spice of life
III. She was a tower of strength in their trouble.
Difference between Metaphor and Simile:
Both similes and metaphors link one thing to another. A simile usually uses "as" or "like". A metaphor is a condensed simile, a shortcut to meaning, which omits "as" or "like." A metaphor creates a relationship directly and leaves more to the imagination.
With simile A is like B.
With metaphor A is B.
Simile
Metaphor
Your eyes are like the sun.
You are my sunshine.
He eats like a pig.
He is a pig.
CAUTION: THE METAPHOR needs to be used carefully.
THEREFORE, do not get too far-fetched; otherwise, the images you conjure up may be confusing or foolish.
Do not OVERUSE or sustain beyond the point of interest.
Avoid MIXED METAPHORS "He put his foot down with a firm hand".
3. PERSONIFICATION-
In Personification non-living objects, abstract ideas or qualities are spoken of as persons or human-beings.
Examples:
I. Necessity knows no law.
II. Hope springs eternal
III. Let the floods clap their hands.
IV. I kissed the hand of death.
NOTE-
We frequently use personification - whether we know it or not - when we describe
- a promising morning
- a treacherous sea
- a thankless task
4. APOSTROPHE-
An Apostrophe is a development of personification in which the writer addresses absent or inanimate objects, concept or ideas as if they were alive and could reply.
Examples:
I. “Fair daffodils, we weep to see you haste away so soon”.
II. “O wind, where have you been?”
III. Lead, Kindly light, amid the encircling gloom.
5. OXYMORON-
An Oxymoron is when two terms or words are used together in a sentence but they seem to contradict each-other. Oxymoron is a statement which, on the surface, seems to contradict itself - a kind of crisp contradiction. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that deliberately uses two differing ideas. This contradiction creates a paradoxical image in the reader or listener's mind that generates a new concept or meaning for the whole.
Examples:
I. Life is bitter sweet.
II. He is the wisest fool of them all.
III. He was condemned to a living death.
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Ever noticed that it's simply impossible to find seriously funny oxymoron? The only choice is to ask one of those paid volunteers at the library – the ones in the long-sleeved T-shirts – for an original copy of some obviously obscure documents that were found missing amongst some paperwork almost exactly one hundred years ago.
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