FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (22) conceit an ingenious and fanciful notion or conception, usually expressed through an elaborate analogy, and pointing to a striking parallel between two seemingly dissimilar things. A conceit may be a brief metaphor, but it also may form the framework of an entire poem. It can also be an oxymoron or an idiom. figurative language- writing that uses figures of speech (as opposed to literal language or that which is actual or specifically denoted) such as metaphor, irony, and simile. metaphor- a figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without the use of a comparative term like as, like, or than. A simile would say night is like a black bat; a metaphor would say, the black bat night. mixed metaphors- the mingling of one metaphor with another immediately following with which the first is incongruous. Lloyd George is reported to have said, I smell a rat. I see it floating in the air. I shall nip it in the bud. extended metaphor- an implied analogy, or comparison, which is carried throughout a stanza or an entire poem. In "The Bait," John Donne compares a beautiful woman to fish bait and men to fish who want to be caught by the woman. Since he carries these comparisons all the way through the poem, these are considered extended metaphors. pathetic fallacy- a type of personification that gives human qualities and emotions to inanimate objects of nature. (EX: unruly night) personification- a kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics. synecdoche- a form of metaphor which in mentioning a part signifies the whole. (EX: we refer to foot soldiers for infantry and field hands for manual laborers who work in agriculture. "Get your butt in here" refers to the whole body. "Boots on the ground" refers to troop numbers.) irony- the contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning. Verbal irony is a figure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words which carry the opposite meaning. Irony is likely to be confused with sarcasm, but it differs from sarcasm in that it is usually lighter, less harsh in its wording though in effect probably more cutting because of its indirectness. Irony is achieved mostly through hyperbole and understatement. sarcasm- a type of irony in which a person appears to be praising something but is actually insulting it. Its purpose is to injure or to hurt. hyperbole- a deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration. It may be used for either serious or comic effect. Macbeth is using hyperbole in the following lines: ....No; this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red. overstatement -a reasonable exaggeration (EX: "A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. Or "She doth teach the torches to burn bright.") understatement- the opposite of hyperbole. It is a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is. For example, Macbeth, having been nearly hysterical after killing Duncan, tells Lenox, 'Twas a rough night. litotes-ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (EX: You're not wrong) simile- a directly expressed comparison; a figure of speech comparing two objects, usually with like, as, or than. It is than a well. easier to recognize a simile than a metaphor because the comparison is explicit: my love is like a fever; my love is deeper pun- a play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings. Puns can have serious as well as humorous uses. An example is Thomas Hood's:" They went and told the sexton and the sexton tolled the bell. paradox- a situation or action or feeling that appears to be contradictory but on inspection turns out to be true or at least to make sense. (EX: No one goes there because it's always so crowded.) oxymoron- a form of paradox that combines a pair of contrary terms into a single expression. Usually serves the purpose of shocking the reader into awareness. (EX: wise fool, sad joy, and eloquent silence.) symbol- something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else. (EX: winter, darkness, and cold are real things, but in literature they are also likely to be used as symbols of death.) imagery- the images of a literary work; the sensory details of a work; the figurative language of a work. Imagery has several definitions, but the two that are paramount are the visual auditory or tactile images evoked by the words of a literary work or the images that figurative language evokes. When an AP question asks you to discuss imagery, you should look especially carefully at the sensory details and the metaphors and similes of a passage. Some diction is also imagery, but not all diction evokes sensory responses. synesthesia- a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color. (Ex: bright sound or sweet music.) SOUND DEVICES (6) alliteration- the repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginnings of words. assonance- the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds. (EX: "A land laid waste with all its young men slain" repeats the same a sound in laid, waste, and slain.) consonance- the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words. The term usually refers to words in which the ending consonants are the same but the vowels that precede them are different. Consonance is found in the following pairs of words: add and read, bill and ball, and born and burn. cacophony- a harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or tones. It may be an unconscious flaw in the poet's music, resulting in harshness of sound or difficulty of articulation, or it may be used consciously for effect. euphony- a style in which combinations of words are pleasant to the ear. onomatopoeia- the use of words whose sound suggests their meaning. (EX: buzz, hiss, or honk.)