Literary Discourse: Figures of speech

Introduction Having understood some elements of Literature, we need to strengthen our understanding of and interest in Literature by learning other important ingredients of Literature. These ingredients are Figures of Speech, which are vital in all literary genres.

Learning Outcomes After going through this lecture, fellow students/readers should be able to enhance their understanding of:

Figures of Speech Significance of Figures of Speech in Literature Easy identification and use of Figures of Speech

Figures of Speech Figures of Speech are rhetorical devices – words used in distinctive styles to achieve special effects. This implies that Figures of Speech enable speakers and writers to use language in a manner that departs from conventional construction, order, or significance. Figurative language is often associated with literature, particularly poetry. But consciously or not, we use Figures of Speech every day in our writing and conversations.

For example, common expressions such as "falling in love," "racking our brains," "hitting a sales target," and "climbing the ladder of success" are all metaphors – the most pervasive figure of all (Nordquist, 2014). Likewise, we rely on similes when making explicit comparisons (light as a feather) and hyperbole to emphasize a point (I am starving!)

Synonyms of Figures of Speech include FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, FIGURES OF RHETORIC, FIGURES OF STYLE, RHETORICAL FIGURES, and SCHEMES.

Significance of Figures of Speech Using Figures of Speech in our writing and speaking is a technique of conveying deeper meanings (beyond the ordinary ones.) Figures can help readers and listeners understand better and maximize their interest in what has been written or spoken.

The views of the following experts are illustrative of this contention: "The vast pool of terms for verbal ornamentation has acted like a gene pool for the rhetorical imagination, stimulating us to look at language in another way. . . . The figures have worked historically to teach a way of seeing." – Richard Lanham.

"Ultimately, I use figures of speech to deepen the reader's subliminal understanding of the person, place, or thing that's being described. That, above everything else, validates their role as a highly effective literary device. If nothing else, they remind reader and writer alike that language is not the frosting, it's the cake." –Tom Robbins.

"The figurings of speech reveal to us the apparently limitless plasticity of language itself. We are confronted, inescapably, with the intoxicating possibility that we can make language do for us almost anything we want. Or at least a Shakespeare can." – Arthur Quinn.

"Figures of speech change ordinary language through repetition, substitution, sound, and wordplay. They mess around with words – skipping them, swapping them, and making them sound different." – Jay Heinrichs.

Generally, it is not advisable to use Figures of Speech in works intended to convey knowledge and truth. Examples are academic writings which demand objective intents and contents. To some writers, Figures of Speech are inventions, which serve only to insinuate wrong ideas, move the passions, and mislead the judgment (Hepburn, 2012).

However, Hepburn counters this argument as he states: “But instead of being inventions of art, they are the natural, and therefore necessary and universal forms, in which excited imagination and passion manifest themselves. The young and the old, the barbarous and the civilized, all employ them unconsciously.”

Justifying his counter-argument, Hepburn emphasizes that languages in their earlier state are highly figurative, and as they grow older they lose their natural picturesqueness and become collections of lifeless symbols. “These abstract forms are regarded by rhetoricians and grammarians as the natural and ordinary forms of speech, and so they describe figures as departures from the usual forms of expression”, he concludes.

A sample of Figures of Speech

Alliteration Repetition of an initial consonant sound in speech or writing. An example is: Five French Fighters Flew From France For Fun.

Anaphora Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses. Example: WE REFUSE TO BELIEVE that our country is poor. WE REFUSE TO BELIEVE that our economy is bankrupt. WE REFUSE TO BELIEVE that our resources are distributed equitably. WE REFUSE TO BELIEVE that our government is competent.

Antithesis The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. Example: Ours is UNITY NOT DIVISION; TRUTH NOT FALSEHOOD; FRIENDSHIP NOT ENMITY; LOVE NOT HATRED; OBJECTIVITY NOT SUBJECTIVITY; and EXCELLENCE NOT MEDIOCRITY.

Assonance Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighbouring words. Example: Shine, Signe.

Euphemism The substitution of an inoffensive statement for one considered offensively explicit. Example: My grandfather JOINED HIS ANCESTORS a decade ago.

Hyperbole An extravagant statement: the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. Example: He RAINS insults on his friends.

Irony The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. In other words, irony is a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea. Example: President Mugabe is an excellent DEMOCRAT.

Litotes A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. Examples: I CANNOT afford to be IRRESPONSIBLE. Azinpaga is NOT an ILLITERATE.

Metaphor An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common. In other words Metaphor is simply direct comparison of things and people. Example: The Army COMMANDER is a LION.

Onomatopoeia The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. The commencement of the coup was signalled by the BOOMING of guns.

Personification A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities. Example: When the dog SHOUTED, the hunters run away.

Simile An indirect comparison usually formed with "like" or "as" between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common. Example: Aziz is LIKE his uncle.

Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole. Example: GHANA has won the African Cup of Nation.

Sarcasm A figure of speech in which words are used to offend a person or a group of persons deliberately. Example: The colonialists are more SAVAGE then the colonised.

Anachronism This figure of speech simply indicates mistake in dating. Example: Adolf Hitler used the best COMPUTER in his era.

Conclusion Dear reader, it is important to master the Figures of Speech to maximize your ability of literary analysis and rhetorical delivery. Indeed, knowledge of Figures of Speech helps in appreciating complex texts easily and sustains interest in the study of Literature. But it is important for writers and speakers to be guided by context when using Figures of Speech. Just as they can enhance rhetorical delivery and literary efficiency, Figures of Speech are also sources of miscommunication and ridicule when employed in wrong contexts. To God is glory, and to Him belongs true knowledge of Figures of Speech.

References Heinrichs, J. (2013). Thank you for arguing. New York: Three Rivers Press. Hepburn, A. D. (2012). Manual of English rhetoric. London: The Literary World. Lanham, R. (1991). A handlist of rhetorical terms. (2nd ed.). California: University of California Press. Nordquist, R. (n.d.). Figures of speech. Retrieved January 8, 2015, from http: grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/figuresterms.htm. Quinn, A. (1995). Figures of speech: 60 ways to turn a phrase. London: Routledge Books. Robbins, T. (2005). What is the function of metaphor? Wild ducks flying backward. New York: Bantam Books.

By Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq Azindoo, Lecturer/Editor, Bilingual Free Press Email: azindoo200@gmail.com