What Are Literary Devices Or Figures Of Speech AIOU 1426 9416

What are literary devices or figures of speech?

Literary devices, figures of speech, figurative language, and poetic devices are one and the same. Literary devices or figures of speech refer to specific aspects of literature, which express ideas through language and which readers can recognise, identify, interpret, and/or analyse. Literary devices or figures of speech are the means by which authors, who can be novelists, poets, dramatists, or prose writers, create meaning through language, and by which readers can understand and appreciate their works.

A figure of speech or a literary device is a word or words that writers use to create an effect on readers’ minds. A figure of speech is a use of a word or a phrase with a specialised meaning. Figures of speech often provide emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. For example:

  • If someone says that he or she is “starving”, it does not mean that the person is in fact dying of hunger, but that the person is very or extremely hungry. This is a simple example of a figure of speech, where the word “starving” is used to heighten or exaggerate the state that the person is describing.
  • A greedy money lender is described as a “vulture”. It does not mean that the person is actually the animal “vulture”, but since the connotation of this word is very negative, calling a greedy person “vulture” exaggerates the image, and this is what we call a figure of speech.

Now, let us discuss some common types of literary devices or figures of speech or figurative language that you will mostly find in poetry:

Alliteration: When two or more words in a poem begin with the same letter or sound.

Hyperbole: Hyperbole is exaggeration in literature, especially in prose and poetry, which is used to express humour and emphasize interesting and vibrant images. Examples:

  • He weighs a ton.
  • That building can touch the clouds.
  • I could eat a horse!
  • My school bag weighs a ton.
  • The mountain of paperwork weighed heavily on the teacher’s desk.
  • Their house was so big that it took a week to walk from one end to the other.
  • The leaves danced in the summer breeze.

Imagery: The use of descriptive details that helps create images in the minds of readers. Imagery helps us see, hear, feel, smell, or taste. So we can say that imagery is the use of vivid description, usually rich in sensory words, to create pictures, or images, in the reader’s mind.

Irony: It is a figure of speech that depicts contradiction, that is, the opposite of what is meant. It is a contradictory statement. We often use irony in our day-to-day lives, especially when it comes to passing a sarcastic remark to someone we don’t like. An ironic remark or statement has two meanings. To be more specific, there is a difference between what the statement means and what the speaker wants to convey. In other words, the statement has a double meaning. Examples:

  • The water is as pure and transparent as the mud.
  • I couldn’t win the match, thanks to the correct decisions of the Umpire.
  • The boy is so intelligent that he failed in all the subjects.
  • The task is as simple as performing a brain tumor surgery.

Metaphor: A metaphor is a comparison between two unrelated objects showing how they can be similar yet very different. Unlike similes that use the words “as” or “like” to make a comparison, metaphors state that something is something else. Examples:

  • Behram is the racehorse. (comparison between a person and an animal)
  • Life is a journey.
  • The room was a refrigerator.
  • The teenage boy’s stomach was a bottomless pit.

Simile: A simile is a comparison using “like” or “as”. It usually compares two dissimilar objects. Examples:

  • She swims like a fish.
  • He’s as hairy as a gorilla.
  • The test was as easy as ABC.
  • I was embarrassed, and my face was as red as a ripe tomato.
  • My love is like a red, red rose.
  • The world is like a stage.

Onomatopoeia: Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates a noise or action. Words such as buzz or murmur imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Examples: Boom, bang, slash, slurp, gurgle, meow, and woof.

Personification: Sometimes a writer will give human characteristics to nonhuman things. Objects, ideas, places, or animals may be given human qualities. They may perform human actions. This type of figurative language is called personification. Examples:

  • The sailboat danced gracefully past us.
  • The flames ate hungrily at the burning house.
  • The once-proud trees bent meekly before the storm.
  • The broad, flat rock lay sunning itself by the stream.

Pun: A pun is a type of word play where one word has two meanings. Pun gives a humorous effect to the sentence. A pun is a word or words that are formed or sound alike, but have different meanings. Examples:

  • A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.
  • Dieting is a matter of life and breadth.
  • Speaking ill of the dead is a grave mistake.
  • A chicken crossing the road is pure poultry (poetry) in motion.
  • What is the difference between a conductor and a teacher? The conductor minds the train, and a teacher trains the mind.

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