Review figures of speech Metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, understatement

Some other kinds of figures of speech Apostrophe Symbol allegory Paradox Synecdoche allusion

Aposthrope A rhetorical device in which the poet speaks to a personified abstraction or to an absent person: example: Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour England hath need of thee…….

Symbol In the broadest usage, a symbol is any thing that stands for something else The term “symbol’ can then be reserved for an object, an action, a situation, a verbal formula that represents the complexity of an abstraction, an unseen object, an unfamiliar object, any phenomenon so vast or complex that it cannot be dealt with directly or literally

Symbol Example: The cross was the object actually used for the crucifixion of Christ, and it has come to symbolize all things related to Christianity, not only the suffering of Christ, but also the history of the religion, the company of believers, and the doctrines of Christianity.

Allegory Closely akin to symbolism, allegory is a description– usually narrative– in which persons, places, and things are employed in a continuous system of equivalents. example: parables

Paradox A paradox is a statement which is either apparently self-contradictory or at odds with ordinary experience, and yet reveals a truth normally hidden example: Parting is such sweet sorrow (Shakespeare)

Synecdoche Synecdoche is so nearly like metonymy that most of our comments on that figure apply here as well. Synecdoche substitutes a significant part of something for the thing itself, as when Shirley uses “blood” to stand for lineage or race. Similarly, “farm hands” or “loud mouths” are whole people.

Allusion Another aspect of the content of poems is allusion, which may be defined as reference, without lengthy explanation, to literature, history, or current events The effect of allusion is to reinforce and illustrate the writer’s point. An allusion may, like a metaphor or simile, clarify the new and unfamiliar by relating to something already present in the reader’s experience