FIGURES OF SPEECH
Edward S. Rodriguez
SIMILE
a stated comparison between
two unlike things or persons
that have something in common
using like or as
Edward S. Rodrigu
SIMILE
Example:
The man tore through the building
like a tornado.
Edward S. Rodrigu
METAPHOR
an implied comparison between
two persons or things that are
unlike in most respects
Edward S. Rodrigu
METAPHOR
Example:
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
Edward S. Rodrigu
PERSONIFICATION
giving human quality to
inanimate objects or abstract
things
Edward S. Rodrigu
PERSONIFICATION
Example:
The flowers dance in the garden.
Edward S. Rodrigu
SYNECDOCHE
substituting a part for a whole,
an individual for a class or a
material for the thing
Edward S. Rodrigu
SYNECHDOCHE
Example:
Many squatters dream of roofs
over their heads.
Edward S. Rodrigu
HYPERBOLE
an exaggeration used for
artistic effect
Edward S. Rodrigu
HYPERBOLE
Example:
He drank his tea in oceans.
Edward S. Rodrigu
LITOTES
a deliberate understatement
used to affirm by negating its
opposite
Edward S. Rodrigu
LITOTES
Example:
He is never unkind to me.
Edward S. Rodrigu
IRONY
the use of a word to signify the
opposite of its literal meaning
IRONY
Example:
You’re so beautiful; you look like a
Christmas tree
OXYMORON
putting together in one
statement two contradictory
terms
OXYMORON
Example:
I had a sweet nightmare last
night.
PERIPHRASIS
the substitution of a
descriptive phrase for a name or
vice-versa
PERIPHRASIS
Example:
The sleeping Giant has broken
ties with its neighbors.
APOSTROPHE
an address to a (a) dead person as
though he were alive; (b) an
absent person as though he were
present, (c) an inanimate object as
though it were animate
APOSTROPHE
Example:
Ninoy, you are not alone!
CLIMAX
the arrangement of words or
ideas according to their degree
of importance; thus, the last set
appears most valuable
CLIMAX
Example:
I came, I saw, I conquered!
ANTI-CLIMAX
a real apparent or ludicrous
decrease in the importance or
impressiveness of what is said
ANTI-CLIMAX
Example:
He lost his wife, his job, and his
pet dog.
ANTI-THESIS
equating or balancing two
opposing ideas
ANTI-THESIS
Example:
There is time to sow and there is
time to reap.
PUN
a play on words with humorous,
witty effects
PUN
Example:
House’s everything for all
Filipinos.
PARADOX
a seemingly, contradictory but
true example
PARADOX
Example:
There’s grief in happiness.
ALLITERATION
the use of repetition of a
succession of initial consonant
sounds
ALLITERATION
Example:
She sells sea shell on the
seashore.
ASSONANCE
resemblance in sound;
specifically in prosody
correspondence of the
accented vowels, but not of the
consonants
ASSONANCE
Example:
“Alone, alone, all, all alone
Alone on a wide, wide sea
And never a soul took pity on
My soul on agony.” – Coleridge
ANAPHORA
repeating a word or phrase in
the beginning of several
successive verses, clauses or
sentences
ANAPHORA
Example:
“Love is real, real is love.
Love is wanting, to be loved.
Love is searching, searching love.”
ONOMATOPOEIA
imitation of the sounds to
produce the desired effect
ONOMATOPOEIA
Example:
The cat meows in the dark.
ALLUSION
a literary device which is
unimplied or indirect reference
to biblical, literary or historical
characters or events
ALLUSION
Example:
His youngest son turned out to be
a Cain.
