STYLISTIC DEVICES (RHETORICAL DEVICES, FIGURES OF SPEECH)

Stylistic devices

• In this section, we will learn some of the most important stylistic devices (also called rhetorical devices or figures of speech)
• Stylistic devices make poem:
• more interesting and lively; and
• help you to get and keep reader’s / listener’s attention.
• Some of these stylistic devices include:
• Alliteration
• Allusion
• Anaphora
• Antithesis
• Hyperbole
• Hypophora
• Litotes
• Metaphor
• Metonymy
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Parenthesis
• Personification
• Points of view
• Repetition
• Rhetorical Question
• Simile
• Synecdoche
• Understatement

Stylistic devices can be grouped as:

• Figures of speech, such as,
• Synecdoche
• Metonymy
• Similes
• Metaphors
• Apostrophe, etc
• Sound devices/techniques, such as:
• Alliteration
• Assonance
• Consonance
• Repetition

Figurative language

A figure of speech is any way of saying something other than the ordinary way. Figurative language is language using figures of speech. Irony- a subtle of meaning

Synecdoche

Synecdoche is a literary device that refers to a whole as one of its parts. For example, someone might refer to her car as her “wheels,” or a teacher might ask his class to put their eyes on him as he explains something. Or Workers can be referred to as ‘pairs of hands’, a vehicle as one′s ‘wheels’

Metonymy

Definition of Metonymy

• Metonymy is a figure of speech in which something is called by a new name that is related in meaning to the original thing or concept. Common Examples of Metonymy

Examples In Regular Language

• “He writes a fine hand.” – This means that the person writes neatly or has good handwriting.
• The big house—Refers to prison
• “The pen is mightier than the sword.” – This only means that words spoken well are mightier than military force.
• “We have always remained loyal to the crown.” – The crown here stands to symbolize the king of a particular country. This metonymy is used commonly when talking or writing.
• “The House was called to order.” – This means that the ‘members’ of a House, assuming that it’s a House of Parliament, were called to order.
• ‘He is a man of cloth’ – This only means to say that the man who the sentence is talking about is a man who belongs to a religious sect; cloth signifies that ‘robes’ worn by religious men.
• ‘She works with a newspaper’ – Newspaper  stands to represent a group of journalists and editors working together to churn out news items.

Consider the poem below:

We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess, in the Ring

We passed the fields of Gazing Grain

We passed the Setting Sun

 Or rather, He passed Us

The Dews drew quivering and chill

For only Gossamer, my Gown

My Tippet, only Tulle

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground

The Roof was scarcely visible

The Cornice in the Ground Since then ’tis

Centuries, and yet Feels shorter than the

Day I first surmised the Horses’ Heads

Were toward Eternity 

Because I Could Not Stop For Death –

Emily Dickinson

At a quick look, it may be difficult to find out the use of metonymies in the poem above. However, when you take a deeper look at the poem and are better acquainted with a metonymy as a figure of speech, the whole process should be a breeze.

 Look at the first line in the first poem: “We passed the School, where Children strove”. The word ‘school’ represents a building, but then school also stands to represent the children studying in that particular school.

Difference Between Metonymy and Synecdoche

• Metonymy and synecdoche are very similar figures of speech, and some consider synecdoche to be a specific type of metonymy.
• Synecdoche occurs when the name of a part is used to refer to the whole, such as in “There are hungry mouths to feed.” The mouths stand in for the hungry people. The definition of metonymy is more expansive, including concepts that are merely associated in meaning and not necessarily parts of the original thing or concept.

Function of Metonymy

Poets use metonymy:

1. to address something in a more poetic and unique way.
2.  to make statements more concise.

Apostrophe

Similar to ‘personification’ but indirect. The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, or addresses an inanimate or abstract object as if it were human.

Sample Apostrophe Poem

DEATH BE NOT PROUD

JOHN DONNE (England)

Death be not proud, though some have called thee

Might and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure- then from thee much more must flow;

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones and soul’s delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well,

And better than thy stroke. Why swell’st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Explanation

The poet addresses death but death does not respond. Eg he says ‘poor death’ which is an embarrassing way to talk to someone who considers himself tough.

Anaphora

• This is where successive clauses or sentences start with the same word(s)
• The same word or phrase is used to begin successive clauses or sentences.
• This makes the reader’s / listener’s attention to be drawn directly to the message of the sentence.
• The most common examples in prose are:

• Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American.
• The beginning of wisdom is silence. The second step is listening. (unknown)
• A man without ambition is dead. A man with ambition but no love is dead. A man with ambition and love for his blessings here on earth is ever so alive. (Pearl Bailey)

Sample Anaphora Poem

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain – and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Robert Frost

• You realize there is realize that the phrase “I have” is the same in:

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

Antithesis

Examples:

• That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. (Neil Armstrong)
• To err is human; to forgive, divine. (Pope)
• It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father. (Pope)
• Antithesis is a figure of speech which refers to the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas.
• Antithesis emphasises the opposition between two ideas.
• The structure of the phrases / clauses is usually similar in order to draw the reader’s / listener’s attention directly to the contrast.
• It involves the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an apparent contrast in the words, phrases, clauses, or sentences, within a parallel grammatical structure.

Examples:

These are the common examples of antithesis:

• “Man proposes, God disposes.”
• “To err is human, to forgive, divine”
• “Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.”
• “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
• It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father.
• “Many are called, but few are chosen.”

Sample Antithesis Poem

Read the part of John Donne’s poem “Community”

“Good we must love, and must hate ill,
For ill is ill, and good good still;
But there are things indifferent,
Which we may neither hate, nor love,
But one, and then another prove,
As we shall find our fancy bent.”

• Two contrasting words “love” and “hate” are combined in the above lines. It emphasizes that we love good because it is always good and we hate bad because it is always bad. It is a matter of choice to love or hate things which are neither good nor bad.

Function of Antithesis

•  When contrasting ideas are brought together, the idea is expressed more emphatically.
• It helps bring forth a judgment on either the pros or the cons. This is after we examine the contrasting ideas.

Hyperbole

Ø It refers to a deliberate exaggeration

• It draws the attention to a message that the poet wants to emphasise.

Example:I was so hungry, I could eat an elephant.

• Do not confuse it with understatement.

Sample Hyperbole Poems

Appetite

In a house the size of a postage stamp
lived a man as big as a barge.
His mouth could drink the entire river
You could say it was rather large
For dinner he would eat a trillion beans
And a silo full of grain,
Washed it down with a tanker of milk
As if he were a drain.

What Am I?

I’m bigger than the entire earth
More powerful than the sea
Though a million, billion have tried
Not one could ever stop me.
I control each person with my hand
and hold up fleets of ships.
I can make them bend to my will
with one word from my lips.
I’m the greatest power in the world
in this entire nation.
No one should ever try to stop
a child’s imagination.

My Dog

His bark breaks the sound barrier
His nose is as cold as an ice box.
A wag of his tail causes hurricanes
His jumping causes falling rocks.
He eats a mountain of dog food
And drinks a water fall dry.
But though he breaks the bank
He’s the apple of my eye.

Poetry by Sharon Hendricks

Understatement

• A statement is deliberately weakened to sound ironical or softened to sound more polite.

Examples are:

• I know a little about running a company. (a successful businessman might modestly say.)
• I think we have slightly different opinions on this topic. (instead of: I don’t agree with you at all.)
•  “It is just a little cool today” – when the temperature outside is 5° below zero.
• “The food was tolerable” – on the food that was prepared by the best chef in the world.
•   “It was ok” – when a top ranker was asked about his exam results.
• “I wouldn’t say he was thin” – describing a very obese person.
• “He is a little on the old side” – describing a very old person.
•  “I wouldn’t say it tasted great” – on terrible food.

Sample Understatement Poem

Fire and Ice

By Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Consider: I think I know enough of hate, to say that for destruction ice, is also great, and would suffice’

Rhetorical Questions

• The author speaker raises a question that doesn’t need a direct answer.
• The answer is seen  as obvious.
• Rhetorical questions are used to provoke, emphasise or argue.
• The line following the rhetorical question is not answer to it.

Sample Rhetorical Questons Poems

 What happens to a dream deferred?
 
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
 
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
 
Or does it explode?

How will i die

The more i think about it the more I wonder

will i die in a deep slumber?, or will the heavens send a angel for me.

will a car come from around the corner and hit me 

will a robber stick me up at gun point......will he squeeze the trigger and will the bullet land in my skull and then i die

will i die of cancer or some unknown bacteria 

will i die of an heart attack 

will i get food poising from my favorite dishes 

will i die from a lack of sleep 

will i die at the hands of mercy 

or at the hand the hands of my greatest enemy

will i be pushed from a tall mountain peek

oh how frustrating will i die not knowing how i will die 

should i treat this question as a rhetorical question

oh how will i die urggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!! 

Terrica Richards

 Hypophora

• Hypophora is a figure of speech in which a writer raises a question and then immediately provides an answer to that question.
• The speaker asks a question and answers it.
•  Hypophora is used to get the audience’s attention and make them curious.
• The question is often raised at the beginning of a stanza and answered in the course of that stanza.
• This kind of question can also be used to introduce a new topic of discussion.

Examples are:

• Why is it better to love than be loved? It is surer.
• How many countries have actually hit the targets set at Rio, or in Kyoto in 1998, for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions? Precious few.
• Should not be confused with rhetorical questions.

Difference between Hypophora and Rhetorical Question

The basic difference between hypophora and a rhetorical question is that in a rhetorical question the answer is not provided by the writer since it does not require an answer.

However, in hypophora, the writer first poses a question and then answers that question immediately.

Functions of Hypophora

• The major purpose of using hypophora is to create curiosity among the readers.
•  It helps to capture the attention of the audience.
• However, hypophora can also be employed to introduce new discussions or topics of importance about which the readers might not have information.
•  It can also be used as a directional device to change the topic.

Litotes

Litotes is a form of understatement which uses the denied opposite of a word to weaken or soften a message.

Examples:

• That’s not bad. (instead of: That’s good/great.)
• Money isn’t easy to find . (instead of: Money is  hard/difficult to find.)

·  They aren’t the happiest couple around.

·  He’s not the ugliest fellow around!

·  She’s not the brightest girl in the class.

·  The food is not bad.

·  It is no ordinary city.

·  That sword was not useless to the warrior now.

·  He was not unfamiliar with the works of Dickens.

·  She is not as young as she was.

·  You are not wrong.

·  Einstein is not a bad mathematician.

·  Heat waves are not rare in the summer.

·  It won’t be easy to find crocodiles in the dark.

·  He is not unlike his dad.

·  That’s no small accomplishment.

·  He is not the kindest person I’ve met.

·  That is no ordinary boy.

·  He is not unaware of what you said behind his back.

·  This is no minor matter.

·  The weather is not unpleasant at all.

·  She’s no doll.

·  That was no small issue.

·  The city is not unclean.

·  Rap videos with dancers in them are not uncommon

·  Running a marathon in under two hours is no small accomplishment.

·  She’s no idiot.

·  That’s not a meager sum.

·  You’re not doing badly.

·  That’s no mean feat.

Simile

Two things are compared directly by using ‘like’ , ‘as’, ‘similar to’etc.

Sample Simile Poems

Berkley

Black as midnight,
Bad as the devil
With eyes like pieces of dark chocolate,
He thinks he’s king of the world,
My dog Berkley.
He’s very much like a pig
With his pudgy stomach and all.
Like a leech, he’s always attached
To his next meal.

Even though he’s as bad as the devil,
Berkley is my best fellow.

Stars

They are like flashlights in the night sky;
God’s little helpers guiding us on our journeys.
Stars are as bright as a lighthouse on an icy, ocean night;
they are like guardians committed to bringing you home.

Birds

Chirping non-stop, like a machine in the trees,
Building their nest like little worker bees.
They sing their songs, like chatter-boxes.
As regular as alarm clocks,
Waking people up each day.
They are silent at night,
Like snakes advancing on prey.

My Cat

Eyes like a green-yellow crayon,
Almost as bright as a ripe orange.
My cat rules my heart and my actions.
I am as a puppet on strings
When he purrs against me
Like I am a warm blanket heating him in the cold.

My Friend

She is as crazy as a rooster;
Still I love her like a sister.
Her hair is black and dark
Like the color of the midnight sky.
Her skin is as pale as flour
Placing her among the Twilight vampires.

Metaphor

Metaphor is a figure of speech where two things are compared in a figurative sense. Unlike in a simile (A is like B.), “like” is not used in metaphor (A is B.).

Example:

• Truths are first clouds, then rain, then harvest and food. (Henry Ward Beecher)
• Through much of the last century, America’s faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.

Sample Metaphor Poem

A Broken Family Tree

Lori McBride

Published on February 2006

I am one of many
Small branches of a broken tree,
Always looking to the ones above
For guidance, strength and security.
One little branch trying
To keep the others from breaking away.
Who will fall?
And who will stay?
Now I stand alone,
Looking at the earth through the rain,
And I see the broken branches I knew
Scattered about me in pain.
There are those who have taken an ax
To the root of our very foundation
And who have passed this destruction
Down to every new generation.
If I could take that ax,
I would toss it deep into the sea,
Never to return again
To harm the generations that follow me.
I am one of many,
But alone I will go
And plant the new seeds
Where a beautiful tree will grow.

 Onomatopoeia

The pronounciation of the word imitates a sound. Onomatopoeia is used because it’s often difficult to describe sounds. Furthermore, a story becomes more lively and interesting by the use of onomatopoeia.

Examples:

• The lion roared.
• The steaks sizzled in the pan.
• The bomb went off with a bang.
• My son swooshed the basketball into the net.
•  Please do not whisper in the examination hall.
•  The owl hooted as it sat in the tree.
•  Boo. I scared you.
•  Meow, where’s my milk, cried the cat.
•  The jangle of her bracelets caught his attention.
• Click, click. She made a sound with her tongue to show her displeasure.
• The birds like to tweet outside my window.
• Drip, drip, drip, went the faucet all day long.
• Grandma loves to hear the pitter-patter of little feet around the house.

Sample Poems with Onomatopoeia

When The Lights Go Out

The door went creak
In the still of the night
The floor went bump
Oh what a fright
All of a sudden, we heard a chime
The grandfather clock was keeping good time
We turned down a hallway and heard a loud crash
It seems that someone had dropped all the trash
So many sounds when the lights go out
It’s enough to make you scream and shout!

Keys

I went for a ride with my Uncle Jay
He slammed the door shut and we were on our way
Then he revved the gas pedal, which was on the floor
What a lovely day, could I ask for more?
I wanted a hot dog so he slammed on the brake
It belched out a screech, for goodness sake
We finished our hot dogs in record time
We were out of that place by half past nine
He misplaced his keys
We were in a mess
I must admit, he started to stress
He picked up his soda started to sip
Eager to resume our wonderful trip
From inside the cup he felt something shake
A closer look he surely did take
His keys had fallen into that refreshing soft drink
And we figured it out when we heard the clink

The Precocious Teapot

The teapot whistled at the lovely young pot
She came to a boil at this unfortunate shot
When the pan saw what happened, he began to sizzle
The pot was his cousin and it made him grizzle
The faucet joined in with a whoosh of its water
It seems that the pot was his only daughter
The teapot was humbled and expressed his regret
It was an unfortunate gaffe he’d rather forget

The Construction Site

On my way home from school today
I stopped for sweets along the way
When I heard a thud that made me jump
It seems that a wrecking ball was in a dump
Bu this wasn’t a dump, I am not a fool
It was a construction site and it was so cool
I was startled by the rat-tat-tat of a loud jackhammer
It caused me to stumble and even to stammer
Then all of a sudden, I heard some loud taps
A hammer was banging
A new building perhaps?
One of the men had a brand new drill
It buzzed as it drilled; it was such a big thrill
Then I heard the beep beeping of a truck in reverse
What a great afternoon, I could sure have done worse!

City Street

Beep beep goes the taxi as the light turns green
He is in a hurry so he makes a huge scene
The police car let out a mighty wail
‘Honking your horn sir can land you in jail!’
Well that is not entirely true
But it can surely get you into a mighty big stew
A bus goes by with a mighty roar
With a sleeping passenger who started to snore
A traffic policeman whistled his whistle
The sound of that whistle made everyone bristle
It is true that the city is a busy, busy place
But said another way, It’s just a faster pace

Poetry by Alan Loren

Parallelism

• Successive clauses or sentences are similarly structured.
•  This similarity makes it easier for the reader / listener to concentrate on the message.
• The normal progression of a sentence is interrupted by extra information or explanations enclosed in commas, brackets or dashes.
• The extra information can be a single word, a phrase or even a sentence.

Examples of Parallelism:

• The mediocre teacher tells, The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
• The mistakes of the fool are known to the world, but not to himself. The mistakes of the wise man are known to himself, but not to the world.
• Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn.
• We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interest, and teach us what it means to be citizens.
• Like father, like son.
• Parallelism is a useful device for instructions. Due to the parallel structure, the reader can concentrate on the message and will immediately know what to do.

Sample Parallelism Poem

The Tyger

By William Blake

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, 

In the forests of the night; 

What immortal hand or eye, 

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies. 

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain, 

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp, 

Dare its deadly terrors clasp! 

When the stars threw down their spears 

And water’d heaven with their tears: 

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright, 

In the forests of the night: 

What immortal hand or eye,

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Personification

• Animals, inanimate objects or abstractions are given attributes of human beings.
• Such attributes could be behaviour, feelings, character etc.
•  Personification can make a poem more interesting and lively.

Examples:

• Why these two countries would remain at each other’s throat for so long. ⁽³⁾
• I closed the door, and my stubborn car refused to open it again.
• The flowers nodded their heads as if to greet us.
• The frogs began their concert.
• Every morning my alarm clock springs to life; I hate it when that happens.
• The peaceful and fun loving town close to the coast was swallowed by an angry tsunami.
• The picture in that magazine shouted for attention.
• With a lot of anger, the lighting lashed out from the skies.
• Art is a jealous mistress. Money is a bad master.
•  All of a sudden, the radio stopped singing and started to stare at me. It was hard to believe.

Sample Personification Poems

Dinnertime Chorus

The teapot sang as the water boiled
The ice cubes cackled in their glass
the teacups chattered to one another.
While the chairs were passing gas
The gravy gurgled merrily
As the oil danced in a pan.
Oh my dinnertime chorus
What a lovely, lovely clan!

My Town

The leaves on the ground danced in the wind
The brook sang merrily as it went on its way.
The fence posts gossiped and watched cars go by
which winked at each other just to say hi.
The traffic lights yelled, ”Stop, slow, go!”
The tires gripped the road as if clinging to life.
Stars in the sky blinked and winked out
While the hail was as sharp as a knife.

Nature’s Chorus

Willows bend to their partners
while the spruces curtsey in response.
Cherry trees form a circle
and the oaks dance just like debutantes
of woodpeckers tapping on their trunks
and squirrels chattering in the boughs.
Listen to the sounds of nature’s chorus
What fun it does arouse!

Games

Chipmunks chatter and scurry,
Blue jays scream and scold.
Robins talk and gossip
demanding their story to be told.
Squirrels skip and box one another
and rabbits play hop scotch.
The games they play, the sounds they make
Really are top notch.

The Gastronomic Gym

Pasta twirling and spinning,
peas do vertical jumps
mashed potatoes swimming.
meat doing bench press and pumps.
Food has begun to exercise
but it’s not in any gym.
My brother said its happening
right inside of him.

Repetition

Words or phrases are repeated throughout the text to emphasise certain facts or ideas.

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms.

Examples:

An oxymoron can be made of an adjective and a noun:

• Dark light
• Deafening silence
• Living dead
• Open secret
• Virtual reality

Oxymoron can also be a combination of a noun and a verb.

• The silence whistles

Sample Oxymora Poem

Read the poem below by Christopher and identify the use of oxymora.

A blind man looks back

Into the future with the

Ear-splitting whispers of

Unconcealed ghosts

Thundering silently.

~~~~

A wealthy peasant marches

Weakly across a blazing glacier

As the stars in the cloudy sky

Glisten grimly.

~~~~ A hateful saint drowns afloat

Into the dismal heaven of peaceful war.

~~~~

Solid water surges down a

Minuscule mountain into

A celestial hell.

~~~~

A colossal dinghy raises

Its feather-light anchor

With vicious doves circling

In the bright winter sky.