32. Antonomasia. Personification

A rhetorical term for the substitution of a title, epithet, or descriptive phrase for a proper name (or of a personal name for a common name) to designate a member of a group or class.

From the Greek, "instead of" plus "name"

Examples and Observations:

Calling a lover Casanova, an office worker Dilbert, Elvis Presley the King, Bill Clinton the Comeback Kid, or Horace Rumpole's wife She Who Must Be Obeyed

"When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always."

"I told you we could count on Mr. Old-Time Rock and Roll!"

"I'm a myth. I'm Beowulf. I'm Grendel."

Antonomasia. This trope is of the same nature as metonymy, although it can not be said to exhibit the idea more vividly. It consists in putting in place of a proper name, another notion which may be either in apposition to it or predicated of it. Its principal use is to avoid the repetition of the same name, and the too frequent use of the pronoun. The most frequent forms of it are, naming a person from his parentage or country; as, Achilles is called Pelides; Napoleon Bonaparte, the Corsican: or naming him from some of his deeds; as, instead of Scipio, the destroyer of Carthage; instead of Wellington, the hero of Waterloo. In making use of this trope such designations should be selected as are well known, or can be easily understood from the connection, and free from ambiguity--that is, are not equally applicable to other well-known persons."

Personification

Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. The non-human objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act like human beings. For example, when we say, “The sky weeps” we are giving the sky the ability to cry, which is a human quality. Thus, we can say that the sky has been personified in the given sentence.

Common Examples of Personification

Look at my car. She is a beauty, isn’t it so?

The wind whispered through dry grass.

The flowers danced in the gentle breeze.

Time and tide waits for none.

The fire swallowed the entire forest.

We see from the above examples of personification that this literary device helps us relate actions of inanimate objects to our own emotions.

Function of Personification

Personification is not merely a decorative device but it serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to literary texts. It adds vividness to expressions as we always look at the world from a human perspective. Writers and poets rely on personification to bring inanimate things to life, so that their nature and actions are understood in a better way. Because it is easier for us to relate to something that is human or that possesses human traits. Its use encourages us to develop a perspective that is new as well as creative.

33. Asyndeton. Polysyndeton. Other peculiarities of the connectives.

 Asyndeton a figure of speechin which one or severalconjunctionsare omitted from a series of related clauses. (Examples areveni, vidi, viciand its English translation"I came, I saw, I conquered".)

The connection of sentences, phrases or words without any conjunctions is called asyndentic.

Asyndeton helps the author to make each phrase or word sound independent and significant.

Asyndeton generally creates an effect that the enumeration is not completed.

Asyndeton also creates a certain rhythmical arrangement, usually making the narrative measured and energetic.

e.g. She watched them go; she said nothing; it was not to begin then.

Polysyndeton is the connection of sentences, phrases or words based on the repetition of conjunctions or prepositions.

The repetition of the conjunction “and” before each word or phrase stresses these enumerated words or phrases.

Polysyndeton is sometimes used to retard the action and to create the stylistic effect of suspense.

Besides, polysyndeton is one of the means used to create a certain rhythmical effect.

e.g. He put on his coat and found his mug and plate and knife and went outside.

There is a one more peculiar type of connection of sentences which for want of a term we shall call the gap-sentence link (GSL). GSL is a way of connecting two sentences seemingly unconnected and leaving it to the reader's perspicacity to grasp the idea implied, but not worded. Every detail of the situa­tion need not be stated. Some must remain for the reader to divine.

The device of GSL is deeply rowed in the norms of the spoken language. The intonation helps in deciphering the communication.

"She says nothing, but it is clear that she is harping on this en­gagement, and—goodness knows what." (Galsworthy)

The gap-sentence link requires a certain mental effort to embrace the unexpressed additional information.

The gap-sentence link is indicated by and or but. The gap-sentence link as a stylistic device is based on the peculiarities of the spoken language and is used in represented speech.The gap-sentence link serves to signal the introduction of inner represented speech; it may be used to indicate a subjective evaluation of the facts; it may introduce an effect resulting from a cause which has already had verbal expression. In all these functions GSL displays an unexpected coupling of ideas. GSL aims at stirring up in the reader's mind the suppositions, associations and conditions under which the sentence uttered can really exist.

34. Zeugma and pun

Zeugma, from Greek “yoking” or “bonding”, is a figure of speech in which a word, usually a verb or an adjective, applies to more than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically different ideas.

For instance, in a sentence “John lost his coat and his temper”, the verb “lost” applies to both noun “coat” and “temper”. Losing a coat and losing temper are logically and grammatically different ideas that are brought together in the above-mentioned sentence. Zeugma, when used skillfully, produces a unique artistic effect making the literary works more interesting and effective as it serves to adorn expressions, and to add emphasis to ideas in impressive style.

A pun is a play on words in which a humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings or by exploiting similar sounding words having different meanings.

Humorous effects created by puns depend upon the ambiguities words entail. The ambiguities arise mostly in homophones and homonyms. For instance, in a sentence “A happy life depends on a liver”, liver can refer to the organ liver or simply the person who lives. Similarly, in a famous saying “Atheism is a non-prophet institution” the word “prophet” is used instead of “profit” to produce a humorous effect.