• 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