Chapter 2: Figures of Speech

Situational Irony

"the difference between what the audience or reader expects to happen and what actually happens Examples: In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," the reader may expect the winner of the lottery to gain financially, but the so-called winner is actually stoned to death. In the movie The Sixth Sense (1999), Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who tries to help a young boy who apparently sees ghosts, is revealed at the end of the movie as a ghost himself, something he, and the audience, don't know until the point of revelation."

Irony

a contradiction between appearance or expectation and reality

Hyperbole

an exaggeration or overstatement; from "over throwing" (Greek) Examples: "Ben has the appetite of a starving lion." "You've got a million chances to get this right!"

Simile

comparing one thing to an unlike thing using like, as, or than Examples: "The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne, burned on the water." (Antony and Cleopatra, II.ii, Shakespeare) "And the muscles of his brawny arms / Are strong as iron bands." ("The Village Blacksmith," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) "In the morning the dust hung like fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood." (The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck) "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." (Muhammad Ali)

Metaphor

comparing one thing to an unlike thing without using like, as, or than composed of two parts: the tenor, which is the subject of the metaphor, and the vehicle, the object that is being compared Examples: "She is the sunshine of my life." "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:" (James 3:6) "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair." ("Mother to Son," Langston Hughes)

Dramatic Irony

dramatic irony—failure of a character to see or understand what is revealed to the audience (also referred to as tragic irony) Example: Shakespeare's Hamlet (III.iii) when Hamlet spares the life of Claudius because he thinks Claudius is praying. Hamlet believes that killing Claudius during prayers would actually reward Claudius by sending him straight to heaven. Little did Hamlet know (but the audience soon finds out), Claudius reveals that he was not able to repent and was not truly praying. HAMLET Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven; And so am I revenged. That would be scann'd: A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. --- To take him in the purging of his soul, When he is fit and season'd for his passage? No! Up, sword CLAUDIUS My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go."

Allusion

reference to a historical, mythical, or literary figure, event, or narrative Examples: "Dwayne fought with Herculean strength." (Reference to the Greek hero Hercules). "'Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered,' she went on with sudden serious sweetness, 'but nobody could ever count my love for you.'" ("The Gift of the Magi," O. Henry; Reference to Luke 12:7). "Getting him away from his friends is his Achilles heel. Without them, he isn't so tough." (Reference to the Trojan warrior Achilles's vulnerable spot.) "The more I think about it, old Billy was right / Let's kill all the lawyers, kill 'em tonight" ("Get Over It," Glenn Frey and Don Henley of The Eagles, referring to the line "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" from Henry VI, Part II, IV.ii, Shakespeare [note: Billy is a common nickname for William])"

Verbal Irony

saying the opposite of what is meant or what is expected Examples: "For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men" (Julius Caesar, III.ii, Shakespeare) [This line from Marc Antony is delivered as he turns the crowd against Brutus and the other conspirators.]