Figurative Language/Expressions
- Figures of speech aim at structuring an argument for the purpose of moving the emotions of the audience
- Figures of speech as an art of literacy composition derive their creativity from the following strategies:
Figures of Similarity
- Simile: A simile shows a comparison between two entities or events which may not be related
- The main aim of this comparison is to make the hearer or reader to identify the similarity in a given quality or characteristic of the events or entities being compared
- This comparison is introduced with the words ‘like’ and ‘as’. For example:
- As white as snow
- As gentle as a dove
- As wise as Solomon
- As bright as the sun
- As sharp as a two-edged sword, etc
- Metaphor: Just like the simile, the metaphor expresses the comparison between entities and events
- However, while the comparison in simile is overly stated, that of the metaphor is implied.
- For simile, the expression of comparison is usually ‘a is like b’, and for the metaphor, it is ‘a is b’. For example:
- Obi is a lion (He is brave)
- I am the squirrel teeth
- Yetunde is a raw gold (Yetunde is a pure talent)
- Allegory: This is an extended comparison in which one subject is described in great detail, while another is assumed to be understood.
- Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is an allegory that shows a man’s personal encounter with the aim of exposing his inadequacies
Figures of Analogy (Imagination)
- Apostrophe: This is similar to personification. The only major difference is that it addresses abstraction; the dead or absence of an imaginary person as if present and can understand what is being said. For example:
- O wild, wild, west, thou breath of autumn’s being
- Africa, tell me Africa
- Are you back on that bend?
- Hyperbole: This is a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement of events and ideas with the aim of giving emphasis or creating comic, satirical or dramatic effect. For example:
- She has faith that can move mountains
- All the perfumes of Arabia cannot cover the stench of his deeds
- The entire would rose to the defense of the priest
- Auntie wept gallons of tears at grandpa’s funeral
- The girl is three centuries old
- Litotes: This is a presentation of understatement in an ironical manner. The aim is to convey the opposite of what is overly expressed. For example:
- He is a citizen of no mean country
- It is not an uninspiring experience
- Personification: This is the attribution of qualities of life to inanimate things and abstract ideas. For example:
- When civilization kicked us in the face
- The flowers danced to the flow of the wind
- Chike is a walking dictionary