Figures of Speech in Poetry TROPES, SCHEMES, ANTHROPOMORPHISM

TROPES Hyperbole – an exaggeration Irony – distance between what is said & what is meant, what is expected & what happens Metaphor – direct comparison Simile – comparison made with “as,” “like,” or “than”

TROPES Hyperbole – “He’s as old as the hills.” Irony – Alanis Morissette’s song next slide Metaphor – “Hope is a thing with feathers that perches in the soul.” Simile – Langston Hughes’ poemnext slides

"Ironic“ by Alanis Morissette An old man turned ninety-eight He won the lottery and died the next day It's a black fly in your Chardonnay It's a death row pardon two minutes too late Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye He waited his whole damn life to take that flight And as the plane crashed down he thought "Well isn't this nice..." Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you When you think everything's okay and everything's going right And life has a funny way of helping you out when You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your face A traffic jam when you're already late A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife It's meeting the man of my dreams And then meeting his beautiful wife It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take

SIMILE 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?

SCHEMES Anaphora Antithesis Chiasmus

SCHEMES Anaphora Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of lines in the poem. Creates an interesting sonic effect & rhythm.

SCHEMES Antithesis – contrasting or combining two terms, phrases or clauses with opposite meanings selflessness and selfishness Love “builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair” or the antithesis, Love “builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite.”

SCHEMES More Antithesis from Charles Dickens: “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.”

SCHEMES Chiasmus – Repetition of any group of verse elements in reverse order. “But many that are first Shall be last, And many that are last Shall be first” “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”

More Chiasmus:SCHEMES “Live simply so that others may simply live.” “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.”

Figures of Speech Personification – description of a thing or a non-human form as if it were a person, attributing uniquely human actions to something non-human Anthropomorphism – human emotions, qualities and characteristics are attributed to animals or anything non- human

PERSONIFICATION The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky. Opportunity was knocking at her door. My alarm clock sprang to life. The tornado ran through town without a care. My life came screeching to a halt. Time creeps up on you. The news took me by surprise. The tsunami raced towards the coastline. The sky smiled, as the angry clouds raced across it. The leaves waved in the wind. The ocean sighed. The sun smiled down on me. The wind shouted and spit. The fire snarled and reared up.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM Aesop’s Fables are full of examples. Stereotypes of the sly & clever fox, the proud lion, the greedy bird, etc. Giving human emotions to animals. Giving human characteristics to animals in literature is anthropomorphism.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM We also anthropomorphize cars, toys, trains and other non-animals.