20. Lexical and lexical-syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices (allegory, metaphor, personification, zeugma).

Allegory (аллегория) is a device by which the names of objects or characters of a story are used in a figurative sense, representing more general things or qualities. Allegory is often found in fables and parables. The most obvious use of allegory is work-length narratives such as W. Langland's «Piers Plowman» or Bunyan's «Pilgrim's Progress». Proverbs also often contain allegories.

E.g. There is no rose without a thorn.

Metaphor (метафора) is a stylistic device based on the transference of some quality from one object to another based on resemblance. It is sometimes called a covert comparison. Metaphor becomes a stylistic device when two different phenomena are simultaneously brought to mind by the imposition of some of the inherent properties of one object on the other which by nature is deprived of these properties.  It happens when the creator of the metaphor finds in the two corresponding objects certain features, which to their eye have something in common. I. Richards distinguished three components in a metaphor: the tenor (agent)(содержание), the vehicle (referent) (оболочка), the ground (основание). According to Richards, the meaning of a metaphor is the result of interaction of the tenor and the vehicle. Together they give a much richer unity than each of them.

 Metaphors, which are absolutely unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors.

E.g. My own house was an eyesore. … [F.S. Fitzgerald].

E.g. L`Ocean was white too: a sparkling low fortress set on a black bastion of rock overhanging the sea… [H. E. Bates].

 In the examples the house of the character resembles an eyesore and the restaurant resembles a fortress. We get the impression, which the characters have, seeing everything as they see it.

 Metaphors, commonly used in speech and fixed in dictionaries are called trite (застывшая) or dead. E.g. a ray of hope, floods of tears.

When one metaphorical statement creating an image is followed by another linked to the previous one, metaphors are called sustained, prolonged or extended.

 E.g. The gloom of the night was funereal. All nature seemed to be clothed in crape [Th. Hardy].

Metaphor is considered to be the soul of poetry, it may be the most expressive of all expressive means.

Personification (олицетворение) is also a kind of metaphor in its essence. It attributes human properties to lifeless objects.

E.g. How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, stol`n on his wing my three and twentieth year Milton).

E.g. Then Night… gently lays her hand at our fevered head (Jerome K. Jerome).

Zeugma  (зевгма) is a stylistic device which consists in the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relations to two adjacent words in the context, the semantic relations being, on the one hand, literal, and, on the other, transferred. Usually the words are a noun and a verb. Zeugma often gives a humorous effect.

E.g. We`ll give him a welcome and some cocoa-nut cakes.[ E. Gaskell].

E.g. She possessed two false teeth and a sympathetic heart [O. Henry].

Zeugma is close to pun, but the latter is more independent and is understandable from the context. A good example is the title of the play by O. Wilde «The Importance of being Earnest». The word «earnest» has the meaning «serious» and is used as a proper name.

21. Lexical and lexical-syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices (metonymy, synecdoche, irony.).

Metonymy (метонимия) is a device based on relation between the dictionary and the contextual meanings. This relation is also based on contiguity as an association connecting the two concepts, which these meanings represent. As well as metaphor metonymy is a transfer of meaning in polysemy and with its help words develop new meanings in language. The transfer may be condi­tioned by spatial, temporal, causal, symbolic, instrumental, functional and of other types.

Spatial relations are present when the name of the place is used for the people occupying it. The chair may mean the chair­man, the bar may mean the lawyers, the pulpit may mean the priests. The word town may denote the inhabitants of a town and the word house the members of the House of Commons or of Lords. States and properties serve as names for objects and people possessing them: youth, age, authorities, forces. Emotions may be named by the movements that accompany them: to frown, to start. Symbols may be mentioned for things symbol­ized: the crown for monarchy. The name of an instrument can be used for the product: hand for handwriting. The material from which an article is made is used for the article itself: glass, iron, copper, nickel. Common names may be derived from proper names also metonymically, as in mackintosh. The place of some establishment is used not only for the establishment itself or its staff but also for its policy: the White House, the Pentagon, Wall Street, Downing Street, Fleet Street. Examples of geographic names turning into common nouns to name the goods exported or originating there are exceedingly numerous: china, tweed.

In stylistic use metonymy can be found in more complicated cases, though the main types of associations are still there.

E.g. «Don`t ask me», said Owl Eyes, washing his hands of the whole matter …[ F.S. Fitzgerald]. «Owl Eyes» are the glasses the man was wearing. So in this example the name of an accessory is used as the name of a person.

Synecdoche is a kind of metonymy which is based on transference by contiguity in which a part is used instead of a whole.

E.g. I am all ears.

E.g. He was followed into the room by a pair of heavy boots.

Irony (ирония)is a stylistic device based on the simultaneous realization of two logical meanings – direct and contextual, but these meanings are in opposition to each other. Usually the direct meaning expresses a positive evaluation, the context, on the other hand, contains the negative evaluation. The word containing the irony is strongly marked by intonation. It has аn emphatic stress and is generally supplied with a special melody design. The function of irony does not consist in producing only a humorous effect. It also expresses a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret.

E.g. He looked very amused. He turned to Mrs. Danvers ``Now isn't that a charming invitation?»,he said, «I`ve been asked to stay for tea. By heaven, Danny, I`ve a good mind to».[D. du Maurier].

E.g. I don`t consult physicians, for I hope to die without their help [W. Temple]