Lecture #4
LEXICAL STYLISTIC DEVICES
1. SIMILE |
11. OVER-STATEMENT |
2. METAPHOR |
(HYPERBOLE) |
3. PERSONIFICATION |
12. UNDER-STATEMENT |
4. ALLUSION |
(MEIOSIS) |
5. METONYMY |
13. OXYMORON |
6. SYNECHDOCHE |
14. ZEUGMA |
7. ANTONOMASIA |
15. PUN |
8. PERIPHRASIS |
16. IRONY |
9. EUPHEMISM |
17. PARADOX |
10. EPITHET |
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Lexical devices are based on the principle of analogy. A similar feature in otherwise different objects is discovered, and this similarity suggests an image of the thing that is described.
1. SIMILE
Simile is an imaginative comparison based on partial identity of two objects. In fact, the objects are not identical, they are only similar, resembling each other due to some identical features.
In simile two objects compared are always merged by a formal connective, which can be expressed by:
•conjunctions (as if, as though, such as);
•adverbs (like, unlike);
•verbs (resemble, remind of, seem);
•nouns (to have/bare a resemblance to, to have a look of);
•prefixes and suffixes (-like, -wise).
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Simile
He resembled a professor.
With ape-like fury. (From Robert Louis Stevenson) She seemed nothing more than a doll.
Darkness, when once it fell, fell like a storm.
Some similes may contain no special connector expressing comparison. For example: She climbed with the quickness of a cat.
A simile should not be mixed up with an ordinary comparison. Simile is based on comparison of things belonging to entirely different classes while comparison deals with two objects of the same class.
A great many similes lost their expressiveness because of long use. They have become trite.
Simile
She sings like a nightingale.
Our agricultural reform is as slow as a snail.
Comparison
She sings like a professional soloist.
The changes in agriculture are as slow as they were last year.
Trite simile
as mad as a March hare; as blind as a bat; to fit like a glove; to smoke like a chimney
2. METAPHOR
Metaphor is also based on analogy between two objects, but it has no formal connective. It is expressive renaming on the basis of similarity of two objects, the real object, and the one whose name is actually used.
Metaphor
A film star.
Her eyes were two gun-barrels.
He is not a man, he is just a machine.
His face was a mask that told nothing.
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We must distinguish between poetic and trite metaphors. Poetic metaphor is based on some new vivid and striking analogy between two things. It’s always individual. Trite metaphors have lost their freshness. They are frequently reproduced in everyday speech.
Trite metaphor
the path winds; time flies; to burn with desire
Metaphors can be simple, when expressed by a word or phrase, or sustained, when a broader context is required to understand it.
Sustained metaphor
The average New Yorker is caught in a machine. He whirls along, he is dizzy, he is helpless. If he resists, the machine will crush him to pieces. (W.Frank)
3. PERSONIFICATION
Personification is a variety of metaphor, attributing human properties to lifeless objects, mostly to abstract notions such as thoughts, intentions, emotions, seasons of the year, or animals.
Personification is often represented grammatically by the choice of masculine or feminine pronouns for the names of inanimate objects, or by capitalization of these words.
Personification
The sun shone brightly down on me as if she was shining for me alone.
Personifications are most often used in poetry.
Personification in poetry
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are!
(Jane Taylor)
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