what is onomatoepeia and oxymoron
describe clearly
Answers
Answer:
Definition of Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is one way a poet can create sounds in a poem. An onomatopoeia is a word that actually looks like the sound it makes, and we can almost hear those sounds as we read.
Here are some words that are used as examples of onomatopoeia: slam, splash, bam, babble, warble, gurgle, mumble, and belch. But there are hundreds of such words!
Examples
We'll take a look at how onomatopoeia is actually used in poems. The first poem is 'The Bells,' by Edgar Allen Poe. Poe begins the poem with a benign look at bells and how sweetly they can sound, but in Poe fashion, he moves to a darker, more sinister role that bells play in life. Here is one stanza from the poem:
'How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear it fully knows,
By the twanging
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows;
Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling
And the wrangling,
How the danger sinks and swells, -
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells,
Of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells -
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!'
Let's look at the onomatopoeia in the poem. When Poe uses words like, clang, clash, roar, jangling, clamor and clangor, we hear the discordant noise of the bells, not a sweet sound. It reminds us of a fire alarm - something that jars the senses. This is the exact effect that Poe is hoping to produce. Also, even though the word 'bells,' itself, is not usually considered onomatopoeia, by repeating it as he does, we hear the consistent ringing. By choosing these types of words, Poe creates a dark, frightening mood.
Oxymoron
Definition of Oxymoron
Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect. The common oxymoron phrase is a combination of an adjective proceeded by a noun with contrasting meanings, such as “cruel kindness,” or “living death”.
However, the contrasting words/phrases are not always glued together. The contrasting ideas may be spaced out in a sentence, such as, “In order to lead, you must walk behind.”
Short Examples of Oxymoron in Speech
There was a love-hate relationship between the two neighbouring states.
The professor was giving a lecture on virtual reality.
Paid volunteers were working for the company.
The channel was repeating the old news again and again.
The contractor was asked to give the exact estimate of the project.
A lot of soldiers have been killed in friendly fire.
The doctor was absolutely unsure of the nature of his illness.
All the politicians agreed to disagree.
There was an employee in the office who was regularly irregular.
The hero of the play was so dejected that he was the perfect embodiment of being alone in a crowd.
The heads of state gathered to determine an approximate solution to the crisis.
The green pasture surrounded by hills was teeming with a deafening silence.
The political scientist was asked to give his unbiased opinion on the current issue.
The CEO of a multinational company said, “We have been awfully lucky to have survived the disastrous effects of the recent economic recession.”
The program was not liked by the people, for a lot of unpopular celebrities were invited.
Examples of Oxymoron in Literature
Example #1: Romeo and Juliet (By William Shakespeare)
Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O anything, of nothing first create!
O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!
Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!
This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
Dost thou not laugh?
We notice a series of oxymora being employed when Romeo confronts the love of an inaccessible woman. An intense emotional effect is produced, to highlight his mental conflict by the use of contradictory pairs of words, such as “hating love,” “heavy lightness,” “bright smoke,” “cold fire,” and “sick health”.
Example #2: Lancelot and Elaine (By Alfred Lord Tennyson)
The shackles of love straiten’d him
His honour rooted in dishonoured stood
And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true
We clearly notice the use of oxymoron in the phrases “shackles… straiten’d,” “honour… dishonor,” “faith unfaithful,” and “falsely true”.