Figures of Speech

Question 1

Comparisons and associations

Answer 1

One thing is compared to or given the attributes /qualities of another.

Question 2

Simile

Answer 2

Two objects are compared using “like” or “as”.

Question 3

Metaphor

Answer 3

Two objects are compared directly.

Question 4

Mixed Metaphor

Answer 4

Comparisons are made between a number of very different things within a single sentence or paragraph.
e.g. We must take the bull by the horns and leave no stone unterned until we have dotted all our i’s and crossed our bridges in our attempt to bring the matter to heel.

Question 5

Extended or Sustained Metaphor

Answer 5

A metaphor that continues across several lines, or thought the entire poem, novel, film etc.

Question 6

Personification

Answer 6

Human qualities are given to non-human things.

Question 7

Transferred Epithet

Answer 7

A particular emotion has been transferred from a person to something else.

Question 8

Synecdoche

Answer 8

A part is used to represent the whole, or the whole is used to represent a part.
e.g. All hands on deck.
“hands” represent the sailors.
Give us this day our daily bread.
“bread” represents everything that we need to get through the day.

Question 9

Metonymy

Answer 9

An object is represented by something closely related to it.
e.g. The pen is mightier than the sword.
= The writer (pen) wields more power than the soldier (sword).
The kettle is boiling.
= The water inside the kettle is boiling.

Question 10

Apostrophe

Answer 10

A direct appeal or address is made to an absent person or a concept.

Question 11

Allusion

Answer 11

Either a direct or indirect referral to a particular aspect. Often religious in nature.

Question 12

Alliteration

Sounds

Answer 12

The repetition of a consonant sound, usually at the beginning of a word.

Question 13

Assonance

Sounds

Answer 13

The repetition or rhyming of vowe sounds within two or more words

a, e, i, o, u,
Must be colse enough to create the effect

Question 14

Onomatoppeia

Sounds

Answer 14

The use of words to recreate the sounds they describe.

e.g. Woof, meow, moo etc

Question 15

Pun

Sounds

Answer 15

Humorous use of the fact that a word can have two meanings, or because two destinct words have the same sound.

Shoplifters get court. Dentistry is boring but fulfilling.

Question 16

Malapropism

Sounds

Answer 16

Ununtentional choice of an incorrect word because it sounds similar.

Question 17

Spoonerism

Sounds

Answer 17

The transition or mixing up of initial sounds of spoken words.

e.g. He hissed the mistory lesson and so has tasted a whole werm.

hissed= missed mistory= history tasted= wasted werm= term

Question 18

Hyperbole

Answer 18

The use of exaggeration for emphasis.

Question 19

Euphemism

Answer 19

An indirect, or deliberately pleasant, way of referring to something unpleasant. Most frequently used for death.
e.g. She passed away.
We put the dog to sleep.

Question 20

Innuendo

Answer 20

Conveying meaning by hinting or suggesting.

Question 21

Oxymoron

Answer 21

A contraction in terms. Two words opposite in meaning are placed directly next to each other.

Question 22

Juxtaposition

Answer 22

The process of two things being seen or placed close together to highlight their difference.
e.g. You can see the light of the stars at night because of the darkness of space.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Question 23

Paradox

Answer 23

A statement which, on the surface, seems to be contradictory or absurd, but in fact turns out to be truthful and sensible.
e.g. The child is the father of a man.
More haste, less speed.
To die is to begin to live.

Question 24

Irony

Answer 24

There is a difference between what is stated and what is intended.

Question 25

Verbal Irony

Answer 25

The reversal of the surface statement.
Saying one thing but meaning the opposite.

Question 26

Dramatic Irony

Answer 26

When something is said or done by someone who is unaware that the opposite of what he expects will happen.
Requires that the audience/readers know what the speaker does not.

Question 27

Sarcasm

Answer 27

A cruel form of verbal irony.
Deliberately intended to hurt.

Question 28

Tone

Answer 28

The general character or attitude of a place, pace of writing, situation etc.
This is the way the writer/poet/speaker ‘says’ something.

Question 29

Mood

Answer 29

An emotional reaction evoked in a reader/audience, often by the word choice, subject matter, and the author’s tone.
This is how you as a reader/audience experience the piece.

Question 30

Climax

Answer 30

When a series of statements gathers in importance until the last which is the most impressive.

Question 31

Anticlimax

Answer 31

Deliberately or carelessly spoiling the effect of the climax by putting something unsuitable or unimportant at the end of the series.

Question 32

Bathos

Answer 32

A form of anticlimax.
Requires a change in style of writing.