In his book Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay, Prof. Robert DiYanni of New York University wrote: “Rhetoricians have cataloged more than 250 different figures of speech, expressions, or ways of using words in a non-literal sense.”
In that vein, let’s wander into the wonderful world of words for a while. Ranging from the familiar to the more obscure, we’ll explore some of the terms for the literary devices that make prose and poetry dance off the page.
To begin with, the adverb “literally” means “actually.” It is used when we want others to know we’re serious, not exaggerating or being metaphorical, such as “At the demonstration, there were literally thousands of people.” However, the term is often misused for emphasis as in “He was so angry, he literally bit my head off.” But as a poet once said, “A metaphor walks on three legs.” So one is allowed poetic license, which is what these devices are all about.
Metaphorically speaking
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. Familiar examples are Shakespeare’s “all the world’s a stage” and Robert Frost’s “the road less traveled.”
Metonymy is often treated as a subtype of metaphor. Metonymy is the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing that is designated; for example, “suit” for business executive; “the track” for horse racing; and “the crown” for a monarch.
While a metaphor is based on perceived similarity between things, metonymy is based on the relationship within things themselves. In the well-known phrase “The pen is mightier than the sword,” “the pen” stands in for writing, and “the sword” stands in for physical power. The implication is that the written word is more effective than violence as a means of social or political change. The expression was coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his 1839 play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.
A simile is a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic, such as Robert Burns’s “My love is like a red, red, rose” or William Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud.”
Figures of speech are widely used in songs and common parlance, as well as in advertising campaigns. A memorable simile was used by the Florida Citrus Commission, whose slogan asserted that “Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
In another form of comparison, personification is the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human or the representation of an abstract quality in human form. Examples abound in expressions such as love is blind, the walls have ears, and the sea was angry.
Anthropomorphism is similar to personification. It is a device whereby human characteristics, emotions, or intentions are attributed to non-human entities or objects. For example, Mother Nature, Father Time, Old Man Winter, and Uncle Sam (who embodies the US).
In literature, the animals in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book have their own personalities, thoughts, and emotions, not to mention the creatures in George Orwell’s novella Animal Farm, where the sheep chant, “Four legs good, two legs bad.” The term is derived from the Greek words anthropos, which means “human,” and morphe, which means “form.”
The difference between the two devices is that personification occurs when something non-human is described with human characteristics, while anthropomorphism refers to a non-human entity consciously behaving like a human. The two terms walk a fine line.
A palindrome
And when it comes to cleverly crafted fine lines in prose or poetry, a palindrome is a word, phrase, or sequence of words that reads the same backward as forward. Examples are “Madam, I’m Adam” and “Was it a cat I saw?” (which works just as well with “bat,” “hat,” or “rat” instead of “cat”).
But the mother of all palindromes, so to speak, is this one, devised by British wordplay and recreational mathematics expert Leigh Mercer: “A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.” It was published in the November 13, 1948, issue of the scholarly quarterly journal Notes & Queries.
The word “palindrome” was introduced by English poet and writer Henry Peacham in 1638. It is derived from the Greek word palindromes, which means “running back again.” It is formed from the words palin (“again”) and drom (from the verb dramein, meaning “to run”).
Tongue twisters
Similarly challenging to create, let alone pronounce, is a tongue twister. It is a sequence of words or sounds, typically of an alliterative kind, that are difficult to say quickly and correctly. Examples are the classic “She sells seashells by the seashore” and the adorable “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” But try this one on for size: "A tutor who tutored the flute tried to tutor two tooters to toot. Said the two to the tutor: 'Is it harder to toot or to tutor two tooters to toot?'"
In the realm of sound, onomatopoeia is a literary device in which a word phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Some examples are hissing snake, buzzing bees, sizzling steak, babbling brook, meowing cat, chirping birds, clanking chains, and rustling leaves.
In that context, as a lover of words, it brings to mind one of my favorite jokes. At a gathering of international linguists, each was trying to top the others in regard to how light and lovely the word for “butterfly” was in his native language. “Papillon,” said the Frenchman proudly. “Farfalla,” followed the Italian. “Mariposa,” murmured the Spaniard. “Parpar,” proffered the Israeli. “Babushka,” said the Russian reverently. Finally, the German chimed in and said, “And what’s wrong with Schmetterling?”
It still makes me laugh.
And speaking of laughing, comedian George Carlin used the device of the oxymoron to great advantage in one of his famous routines. An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction, such as “deafening silence” and “controlled chaos.” The term is derived from the Greek word oxumoros, meaning “pointedly foolish.” It is formed from the words oxus, meaning “sharp,” and moros, meaning “foolish.” Some of the terms Carlin culled from common parlance that he deemed contradictory were jumbo shrimp, military intelligence, found missing, act naturally, small crowd, genuine imitation, plastic glasses, exact estimate, and working vacation.
When it comes to poetic license, writers hit the heights with the use of hyperbole. This is a figure of speech in which something is exaggerated beyond all proportions. It is used to represent something as being larger, better, or worse than it really is. The term is derived from the Greek words huper, which means “above, beyond,” and ballo, which means “throw.” A good example of hyperbole is the last line of the 1918 song “My Mammy,” famously sung by Al Jolson in the first talkie film, The Jazz Singer, in 1927: “I’d walk a million miles for one of your smiles, my Mammy!”
Zeugma device
To end on what may be a very obscure note (to me, anyway), zeugma is a literary device in which a word that has more than one meaning is used with one meaning in one part of a sentence, and with a different meaning in another part of the sentence, often to produce a humorous effect. For example, “She broke his camera and his heart.” “He fished for trout and compliments.” Or as Jane Austen wrote in Pride and Prejudice, “Time and her aunt moved slowly.”
These are just a few of the many figures of speech and literary devices that are used to enhance and enrich our language. There are hundreds of them – literally.