Onomatopoeia: The formation or use of words. Such as: buzz, or cuckoo, whose meaning is suggested by the sound of the word itself. (boom, click, plop)
Paradox: a seemingly absurd or contradictory idea, statement or proposition that when investigated or explicitly explained may prove to be well founded or true, a statement or situation containing obvious contradictions, but is nevertheless true.
Paradox Examples:
- "I know that I know nothing" If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing.is the Socratic Paradox.
- This is the beginning of the end.
- Deep down, you're really shallow.
- I'm a compulsive liar.
- "What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young." - George Bernard Shaw
- "I can resist everything but temptation."
Personification: a person considered to be a perfect example or embodiment of some quality or other abstraction, a figure of speech in which human qualities, traits or characteristics are given to an animal, object, or concept.
Personification Examples:
- Lightning danced across the sky.
- The wind howled in the night.
- The car complained as they climbed the mountain.
- Mr. Taylor heard the last piece of pie calling his name.
- My alarm clock screams at me to get out of bed every morning.
Pun: a joke exploiting the two or more words which sound alike but have different meanings, A form of wit, not necessarily funny, involving a play on a word with two or more meanings.
Pun Examples:
- Scientists have created a mosquito from scratch.
- Insects that make honey are always on their best bee-hive-iour.
- When a new hive is done bees have a house swarming party.
- There was a mushroom who couldn't understand why nobody invited him to their parties. He thought he was such a fungi!
Simile: simile a figure of speech in which two different things are compared by using the words "like" or "as," a non-literal phrase in which two unseemingly ideas are compared to make a description more emphatic, poetic or vivid. The comparison is made explicit by the use of a word or phrase such as: like, as, than, similar to, resembles, or seems as in.
Simile Examples:
- March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
- He was strong as a bull.
- You were as brave as a lion.
- They fought like cats and dogs.
- He is as funny as a barrel of monkeys.
- This house is as clean as a whistle.
- Your explanation is as clear as mud.
- Watching the show was like watching paint dry.
Understatement, Understate: is to report or state a situation, event or deed as less important than it really is. To state or represent incompletely or too conservatively or to state or present with modesty or restraint, as to create a subtle or ironic effect, a type of verbal IRONY in which something is purposely represented as being far less important than it actually is; also called meiosis.
Understatement Examples:
- "I'm kind of excited." After you just won the biggest lottery of all time!
- "I did good on my math test." after you get 100% on you final math test.
- "It is only a small dent." After your car is totalled.
- "Looks like it rained a little bit last night." After a huge thunderstorm.
Name:
Instructions: Write the correct word in the space before its definition. There may be more than one definition for each word.
alliteration antithesis assonance hyperbole irony onomatopoeia paradox personification pun simile understate
1. a person, idea or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else, a clear oppositeness; contrast.
2. a person considered to be a perfect example or embodiment of some quality or other abstraction.
3. a figure of speech in which two different things are compared by using the words "like" or "as." "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb" is an example of a __________.
4. a humorous play on words based on two words that are close in sound but different in meaning.
5. the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words in a phrase or sentence.
6. to state or present with modesty or restraint, as to create a subtle or ironic effect.
7. contrast that is usually interesting or surprising between what one would normally expect and what the real thing or situation is.
8. in poetry, use of the same vowel sounds in the accented syllables but with different consonants, as in "deep" and "feet".
9. in rhetoric, an obvious and deliberate exaggeration or overstatement, intended for effect and not to be taken literally, such as "He had a million excuses". (Cf. litotes.)
10. the act or technique of ascribing human attributes to nonhuman or inanimate things.
11. a statement that contradicts or seems to contradict itself, yet often expresses a truth, such as "Less is more".
12. the formation or use of words whose sounds suggest the meanings of the words, such as "bang," "moo," or "jingle".
13. a person, idea, thing, or situation that exhibits contrasting or contradictory qualities.
Common Types Figures of Speech: Name:
Instructions: Complete these sentences using the words on this list.
alliteration antithesis hyperbole irony onomatopoeia paradox personification pun simile understated
1. Her gown _______________ her womanly figure.
2. It was an _______________ when the dying person said he felt "just great."
3. the _______________ of the wise fool.
4. He _______________ the extent of the damage.
5. Much of the writer's humor arose from his brilliant use of _______________ .
6. We will study the _______________ of freedom and slavery.
7. slam, splash, bam, babble, warble, gurgle, mumble, and belch.
8. "She shears sheep" is an example of _______________ .
9. "The clouds sped by in the wind like sailboats" is an example of a _______________ .
10. He was the _______________ of humility.
11. Here is a joke that has a _______________ : There was a mushroom who couldn't understand why nobody invited him to their parties. He thought he was such a fungi!
12. Their behavior was the _______________ of good manners.
13. Mr. Taylor heard the last piece of pie calling his name.
14. It may be a _______________ , but I believe that sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.
