Figure of speech, any intentional deviation from literal statement or common usage that

emphasizes, clarifies, or embellishes both written and spoken language. Forming an integral
part of language, figures of speech are found in oral literatures as well as in polished poetry
and prose and in everyday speech. Almost all the figures of speech that appear in everyday
speech may also be found in literature. In serious poetry and prose, however, their use is
more fully conscious, more artistic, and much more subtle; it thus has a
stronger intellectual and emotional impact, is more memorable, and sometimes contributes a
range and depth of association and suggestion far beyond the scope of the
casual colloquial use of imagery.
(1) figures of resemblance or relationship
(e.g., simile, metaphor, conceit, parallelism, personification, metonymy,
synecdoche, and euphemism)

Simile- a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as
(as in cheeks like roses) A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things in
an interesting way. A simile is one of the most common forms of figurative language.

Similes and metaphors are often confused with one another. The main difference between a
simile and metaphor is that a simile uses the words "like" or "as" to draw a comparison and a
metaphor simply states the comparison without using "like" or "as".

An example of a simile is: She is as innocent as an angel. An example of a metaphor is: She
is an angel. The simile makes a direct comparison, the metaphor's comparison is implied but
not stated.

Conceit
From the Latin term for “concept,” a poetic conceit is an often unconventional, logically
complex, or surprising metaphor whose delights are more intellectual than
sensual. Petrarchan (after the Italian poet Petrarch) conceits figure heavily in sonnets, and
contrast more conventional sensual imagery to describe the experience of love. In
Shakespeare’s “Sonnet XCVII: How like a Winter hath my Absence been,” for example,
“What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!” laments the lover, though his
separation. A conceit makes a comparison, but the objects are very dissimilar. This ingenious
wordplay could make you think about something in a new way.

Less conventional, more esoteric associations characterize the metaphysical conceit. John
Donne and other so-called metaphysical poets used conceits to fuse the sensory and the
abstract, trading on the element of surprise and unlikeness to hold the reader’s attention.
In “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” for instance, John Donne envisions two entwined
lovers as the points of a compass.

Parallelism means balancing two or more ideas or arguments that are equally important. In
grammar, it means using phrasing that is grammatically similar or identical in structure,
sound, meaning, or meter. As you can see from literary examples, this technique adds
symmetry, effectiveness, and balance to the written piece. The balance between clauses or
phrases makes complex thoughts easier to process while holding the reader's or listener's
attention. The balance in importance is also an essential element; each phrase or idea should
be as important as its counterpart.
Some examples of parallelism in rhetoric include the following:

 "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I
have a dream today." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
 "My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can
do for your country." -John F. Kennedy

Personification is defined as a literary device that assigns human qualities and

attributes to objects or other non-human things. Simple examples that illustrate this
definition can be found easily in our everyday speech. Many common examples of
personification are so clichéd as to be almost invisible to the naked ear. We commonly
hear these in such phrases as “the angry wind” or when we talk of “the brooding sky.”
John Donne’s Death Be Not Proud

Metonymy is the use of a linked term to stand in for an object or concept. You’ll find
examples of metonymy used frequently in both literature and everyday speech. Sometimes
metonymy is chosen because it’s a well-known characteristic of the concept. A famous
example is, "The pen is mightier than the sword," from Edward Bulwer Lytton's play
Richelieu. This sentence has two metonyms:

 "Pen" stands for "the written word."

 "Sword" stands for "military aggression."

We will swear loyalty to the crown.

The White House will be making an announcement around noon today.

I give my heart to you.

I am all ears.

Synecdoche
Here's how to pronounce synecdoche: sih-nek-duh-kee

A synecdoche occurs when a part stands in for a whole, or a whole stands in for a
part. Shakespeare's Macbeth, an angry Macbeth kicks out a servant by saying:

Take thy face hence.

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Samuel Coleridge uses synecdoche in the lines:
The western wave was all a-flame.
The day was well nigh done!
Almost upon the western wave
Rested the broad bright Sun.

Euphemism is a word or expression used in lieu of a harsh or unpleasant alternative. They

put a new spin on ordinary words and expressions and, if they’re really clever, make the
reader think. The reason for this would be for the sake of politeness, discretion, and other
means of mitigating communication. Euphemisms are used for certain abstractions such as
death, sex, aging, getting fired, bodily functions, and others.

Many of us say someone “passed away” instead of “died.”

“When my mother passed away several years ago—well, wait a minute. Actually, she didn’t
‘pass away.’ She died. Something about that verb, ‘to pass away’ always sounds to me as if
someone just drifted through the wallpaper. No, my mother did not pass away. She definitely
died.”

(2) figures of emphasis or understatement (e.g., hyperbole,

rhetorical question, antithesis,climax, bathos, paradox, oxymoron, and irony)

Hyperbole, a figure of speech that is an intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic

effect. Hyperbole is common in love poetry, in which it is used to convey the lover’s intense
admiration for his beloved.

 He's running faster than the wind.

 I am so hungry that I could eat a horse.
 She is as old as the hills.
 The shopping cost me a million dollars.
 My dad will kill me when he comes home.
 Your skin is softer than silk.

A rhetorical question is a question someone asks without expecting an answer. The question
might not have an answer, or it might have an obvious answer. So, why would you ask a
question and not expect an answer? Well, sometimes these questions are asked to punch up a
point. If the answer is glaringly obvious, it will make that answer stand out. Sometimes it’s
used to persuade someone. Other times, it’s used for literary effect.

 You didn't think I would say yes to that, did you?

 Do you want to be a failure for the rest of your life?
 How should I know?
  Could I possibly love you more?

“…O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”
-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ode to the West Wind

“If you prick us, do we not bleed?

If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?
And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
-William Shakespeare

Antithesis is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses
some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together for
contrasting effect. This is based on the logical phrase or term.
Antithesis can be defined as a figure of speech involving a seeming contradiction of ideas,
words, clauses, or sentences within a balanced grammatical structure. Parallelism of
expression serves to emphasize opposition of ideas.
An antithesis must always contain two ideas within one statement. The ideas may not be
structurally opposite, but they serve to be functionally opposite when comparing two ideas
for emphasis.

Examples:

Man proposes, God disposes.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age
of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season
of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter
of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct
to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way... (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)

A climax is a figure of speech in which words, phrases, or clauses are arranged in order of
increasing importance. Climax is frequently used in persuasion (particularly advertising) to
create false dilemmas and to focus attention on the positive aspects of the subject at hand.
successive words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are arranged in ascending order of
importance.
Climax has the effect of building excitement and anticipation.
  "I think we've reached a point of great decision, not just for our nation, not only
for all humanity, but for life upon the earth."
 Let a man acknowledge his obligations to himself, his family, his country, and
his God.

An anticlimax or anti-climax is an abrupt descent (either deliberate or unintended) on the

part of a speaker or writer from the dignity of idea which he appeared to be aiming at

The First Type of Anticlimax

In the first type, words are arranged in order of descending importance, as in:

 "For God, for Country, and for Yale." (A Yale University motto.)

 "He has seen the ravages of war, he has known natural catastrophes, he has been to

singles bars." (Woody Allen)

 "He lost his family, his job, and his house plants."

The Second Type of Anticlimax

In the second type of anticlimax, which is similar to but slightly different from the first,
words are arranged in order of ascending importance with a sudden shift at the end back to
the unimportant, as in:

 "'Oh, poor Mr. Jones,' mourned Mrs. Smith, 'Did you hear what happened to him? He

tripped at the top of the stairs, fell down the whole flight, banged his head,
and died'. 'Died?' said Mrs. Robinson, shocked. 'Died!' repeated Mrs. Smith with
emphasis. 'Broke his glasses, too.'" (Isaac Asimov)

 “Among the great achievements of Benito Mussolini's regime were the revival of a

strong national consciousness, the expansion of the Italian Empire, and the running
of the trains on time."

Anticlimax generally has a comedic effect, since it subverts the listener's expectations by
placing the least important thing at the end of the list, where they would expect to hear the
most important thing. Some examples of anticlimax are intended to be funny (like Woody
Allen's), and some are funny without intending to be (like the Yale motto).

Bathos, (from Greek bathys, “deep”), unsuccessful, and therefore ludicrous, attempt to
portray pathos in art, i.e., to evoke pity, sympathy, or sorrow. The term was first used in this
sense by Alexander Pope in his treatise Peri Bathous; or, The Art of Sinking in Poetry (1728).
Bathos may result from an inappropriately dignified treatment of the commonplace, the use
of elevated language and imagery to describe trivial subject matter, or from such an
exaggeration of pathos (emotion provoked by genuine suffering) as to become overly
sentimental or ridiculous. Bathos is the act of a writer or a poet falling into inconsequential
and absurd metaphors, descriptions, or ideas in an effort to be increasingly emotional or
passionate.
William Wordsworth’s attempt to arouse pity for the old huntsman in “Simon Lee” is
defeated by the following lines:

Few months of life has he in store

As he to you will tell,
For still, the more he works, the more
Do his weak ankles swell.

A paradox is a figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself. This type of
statement can be described as paradoxical. It is mostly used for expressing astonishment or
disbelief at something unusual or unexpected in everyday communication.

 "Some of the biggest failures I ever had were successes." -Pearl Bailey
 "The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot," (Thoreau 1854).
 "I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt,
only more love." -Mother Teresa
 "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength," (Orwell 1949).
 "Paradoxically though it may seem ... , it is none the less true that life imitates art far
more than art imitates life.” -Oscar Wilde

An oxymoron is a figure of speech containing words that seem to contradict each other. It's
often referred to as a contradiction in terms. ... A common oxymoron is the phrase "the same
difference." This phrase qualifies as an oxymoron because the words "same" and "difference"
have opposite meanings.

 Act naturally
 Alone together
 Amazingly awful
  Bittersweet
 Clearly confused
 Dark light
 Deafening silence

Irony is a figure of speech and one of the most widely- known literary devices, which is used
to express a strong emotion or raise a point. As defined, Irony is the use of words to convey a
meaning that is opposite of what is actually said. Irony is a literary device in which
contradictory statements or situations reveal a reality that is different from what appears to be
true. There are many forms of irony featured in literature. The effectiveness of irony as a
literary device depends on the reader’s expectations and understanding of the disparity
between what “should” happen and what “actually” happens in a literary work. This can be in
the form of an unforeseen outcome of an event, a character’s unanticipated behavior, or
something incongruous that is said.

 Telling a quiet group, “don’t everybody speak all at once”

 Coming home to a big mess and saying, “it’s great to be back”
 Telling a rude customer to “have a nice day”
 Walking into an empty theater and asking, “it’s too crowded”
 Stating during a thunderstorm, “beautiful weather we’re having”
 An authority figure stepping into the room saying, “don’t bother to stand or anything”
 A comedian telling an unresponsive audience, “you all are a great crowd”

There are three types of irony. They are:

1. Verbal Irony
2. Situational Irony
3. Dramatic Irony

(3) figures of sound (e.g., alliteration, repetition, and onomatopoeia)

Alliteration is a term to describe a literary device in which a series of words begin with the
same consonant sound. A classic example is _

She sells seashells by the sea-shore."

Wild west wind

 Alliteration is meant to be more than a tongue twister, though. It's used to emphasize
something important that a writer or speaker would like to express.
 Not every word in a sentence must be alliterative. You can
use prepositions, pronouns, and other parts of speech, and still maintain the overall,
alliterative effect. Often, a little alliteration goes a long way.
 Words don't have to start with the same letter to be alliterative, just the same sound,
so "Finn fell for Phoebe" is alliterative as the digraph ph makes a "fuh" sound.
  Alliteration doesn't need to be in an entire sentence to be effective. Any two-word
phrase can be alliterative.

Even some single words can be alliterative, if they have multiple syllables which begin with
the same consonant sound.

The word onomatopoeia comes from the combination of two Greek words, onoma meaning
"name" and poiein meaning "to make," so onomatopoeia literally means "to make a name (or
sound)." That is to say that the word means nothing more than the sound it makes. The
word booing, for example, is simply a sound effect, but one that is very useful in making
writing or storytelling more expressive and vivid.

Many onomatopoeic words can be verbs as well as nouns. Slap, for instance, is not only the
sound that is made by skin hitting skin but also the action of hitting someone (usually on the
face) with an open hand. Rustle is the sound of something dry, like paper, brushing together,
but it can also indicate the action of someone moving papers around and causing them to
brush together, thus making this noise.

"water plops into pond

splish-splash downhill
warbling magpies in tree
trilling, melodic thrill
whoosh, passing breeze
flags flutter and flap
frog croaks, bird whistles
babbling bubbles from tap"

(4) verbal games (word play) (e.g., pun and anagram)

A pun is a joke based on the interplay of homophones — words with the same pronunciation
but different meanings. It can also play with words that sound similar, but not exactly the
same. The joke’s humor (if any) comes from the confusion of the two meanings.
The tallest building in town is the library — it has thousands of stories!
the Railway Society reception was an informal party of people of all stations (excuse the pun) in
life"

An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase,
typically using all the original letters exactly once. SILENT LISTEN

For Prose/Play

rhyme/rhythm; plot, narrator, voice, tone, setting and character; protagonist, antagonist,
conflict, dialogue, resolution; comedy, tragedy, melodrama; monologue, soliloquy
Rhyme is the correspondence of sound between words, especially when these are used at the
ends of lines of poetry. Rhythm is the measured flow of words and phrases as measured by the
relation of long and short or stressed and unstressed syllables

Rhyme is the correspondence of sound between words, especially when these are used at the
ends of lines of poetry.
Rhythm is the measured flow of words and phrases as measured by the relation of long and
short or stressed and unstressed syllables.

Rhyme is mostly concerned with the use of words.

Rhythm is concerned with words, phrases, and lines.

Rhyme can be divided into internal and external rhyme.

Rhythm can be categorized into groups based on syllables.

Rhyme is not only a recurrence but a matching of sounds. The pleasure of pairing words to
make a kind of musical echo is as old as mankind.

One, two,
Buckle my shoe.
Three, four,
Shut the door.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November....

They even pick up bits of history by remembering such simple rhymes as:

Columbus sailed the ocean blue

In fourteen-hundred-ninety-two

Rhythm
Pulse, beat and measure
A durational pattern that synchronises with a pulse or pulses on the underlying metric
level may be called a rhythmic unit.

Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story or the main part of a
story. These events relate to each other in a pattern or a sequence. The structure of a novel
depends on the organization of events in the plot of the story

Plot is the chain of connected events that make up a narrative. It refers to what actually occurs
in a story and is one of storytelling’s major pillars. Some will say that if characters are
the who and theme is the why, then the plot is the what of the story.
A protagonist (from Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής, prōtagōnistḗs 'one who plays the first
part, chief actor')[1][2][3] is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions
that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the
character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a story contains a subplot, or is a
narrative made up of several stories, then each subplot may have its own protagonist.[4]
The protagonist is the character whose fate is most closely followed by the reader or
audience, and who is opposed by the antagonist. The antagonist will provide obstacles and
complications and create conflicts that test the protagonist, and revealing the strengths and
weaknesses of the protagonist's character. Hamartia, Fate, Situation
Hero/Heroine
In literary terms, a hero (masc) or heroine (fem) protagonist is typically admired for their
achievements and noble qualities.[13] Heroes are lauded for their strength, courage,
virtuousness, and honor, and are considered to be the “good guys” of the narrative.[14]
Examples include DC Comics' Superman and Zack Fair from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.
Antihero – villain - antagonist
An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who
lacks conventional heroic qualities and attributes such as idealism, courage, and morality.
Antiheroes are far from the role models we associate with traditional heroes, but they are
often driven by a sense of justice just the same. An antihero is a character who is deeply
flawed, conflicted, and often has a cloudy moral compass—but that’s what makes them
realistic, complex, and even likeable
Examples include Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye and A2 from Nier:
Automata.
Tragic Hero
A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy.
Examples include Oedipus from Oedipus Rex and Prince Hamlet from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Narrator

The narrator is the person who tells the story — in other words, she narrates it. In a fictional
work, the narrator is a character who relays the story from her own perspective, which is
different from the writer. If you don't trust the narrator's version of the story, you may have
encountered an "unreliable narrator." The Latin root is narrare, "to tell or relate," or literally
"to make acquainted with," from gnarus, "knowing."

A narrator is the storyteller in a book or movie. One of the most famous literary narrators is
Herman Melville's Ishmael, who tells the story of the Moby Dick.

Katha vachak

Tone of voice
The tone of voice in communication is defined as ‘the way a person speaks to someone’. It is
how you use your voice to get your point across. If you don’t do it right, there is a risk of
your point getting lost or misinterpreted.
An optimistic and positive tone of voice is always welcome. If you use a pessimistic or
accusatory tone of voice in communication, the results may be negative. One of the examples
of tones is humor. Genuine humor creates trust and hope and makes your speech memorable.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle said that you can persuade others in three ways, by
appealing to reason, emotion, or to character. Great Greek orators used a persuasive tone of
voice in communication, which was based on a problem-solution structure. This almost
always resulted in the desired results.
 Formal tone
 Informal tone
 Factual tone
 Directive tone
 Assertive tone
 Friendly tone
 Questioning tone
 Conversational tone

Comedy - a movie, play, or book that is intentionally amusing either

in its characters or its action. is a genre of fiction consisting of discourses or works intended
to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up
comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated
in Ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced
by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. Other forms of comedy
include screwball comedy, which derives its humor largely from bizarre, surprising (and
improbable) situations or characters, and black comedy, which is characterized by a form of
humor that includes darker aspects of human behavior or human nature.
Similarly scatological humor, sexual humor, and race humor create comedy by
violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways. A comedy of manners typically takes
as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper-class society) and uses humor to
parody or satirize the behavior and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a
popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms and focuses on the foibles
of those who are falling in love.

Tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful
events that befall a main character.[2] Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an
accompanying catharsis, or a "pain [that] awakens pleasure", for the audience. Aristotle
defines tragedy according to seven characteristics: (1) it is mimetic, (2) it is serious, (3) it
tells a full story of an appropriate length, (4) it contains rhythm and harmony, (5) rhythm and
harmony occur in different combinations in different parts of the tragedy, (6) it is performed
rather than narrated, .

Tragicomedy, dramatic work incorporating both tragic and comic elements. In

Roman and Greek play the word denoted a play in which gods and men, masters and
slaves reverse the roles traditionally assigned to them, gods and heroes acting in
comic burlesque and slaves adopting tragic dignity. In the Renaissance, tragicomedy
became a genre of play that mixed tragic elements into drama that was mainly
comic.
In modern usage, a melodrama is a dramatic work wherein the plot, which is typically
sensational and designed to appeal strongly to the emotions, takes precedence over detailed
characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue, which is often bombastic or
excessively sentimental, rather than action. Characters are often drawn and may
appear stereotyped. Melodramas are typically set in the private sphere of the home, focusing on
morality and family issues, love, and marriage, often with challenges from an outside source,
such as a "temptress", a scoundrel, or an aristocratic villain. A melodrama on stage, filmed, or on
television is usually accompanied by dramatic and suggestive music that offers cues to the
audience of the drama being presented.