TEST yourself. What kinds of device can be found in the following examples?

 

1. “Go ask his name: if he be married.

My grave is like to be my wedding bed.”

(“Romeo and Juliet”, Act I, Scene V, William Shakespeare)

 

a) hyperbole

b) satire

c) irony

 

2. “Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.”

(“Fire and Ice”, Robert Frost)

 

a)metaphor

b) meiosis

c) simile

 

3.“O my Luve’s like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve’s like the melodie

That’s sweetly played in tune.”

 (“A Red Red Rose”, Robert Burns)

a)simile

b) oxymoron

c) metonymy

 

4.“If I perish, I perish.”

                                                                                         (Esther 4:15)

 

“If I be bereaved (of my children), I am bereaved.”

                                                                                         (Genesis 43:14)

a) repetition

b) pun

c) tautology

 

5.“I find no peace, and all my war is done

I fear and hope, I burn and freeze like ice,

I flee above the wind, yet can I not arise;”

                                               (“I find no peace”, Sir Thomas Wyatt)

 

a) antithesis

b) simile

c) oxymoron

 

6. “On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest”

                                                  (“Importance of being Earnest”, Oscar Wilde)

a) metaphor

b) zeugma

c) pun

 

7. “She lost her bag and mind.”

                        (“Posthumous notes of the Pickwick Club”, Charles Dickens)

 

a) pun

b) irony

c) zeugma

 

8. “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.”

                                                                       (“Paradise Lost”, John Milton)

a) anticlimax

b) antithesis

c) tautology

 

9. “For there can live no hatred in thine eye.”

                                                          (“ Sonnet XCIII”, William Shakespeare).

a) metonymy

b) synecdoche

c) simile

 

10. “He has seen the ravages of war, he has known natural catastrophes, he has been to singles bars.”

                                                   (“Speech to the Graduates”, Woody Allen)

 

a) antithesis

b) anticlimax

c) metaphor

 

4. MATCH the devices and their correct definitions:

1	Metaphor	A	is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect
2	Irony	B	is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect.
3	Simile	C	is a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated but share some common characteristics.
4	Meiosis	D	is a figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated.
5	Hyperbole	E	is a structural part of a plot and is at times referred to as a crisis. It is a decisive moment or a turning point in a storyline at which the rising action turns around into a falling action
6	Pun	F	is a figure of speech, usually adverb or an adjective, applies to more than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically different ideas.
7	Zeugma	G	is a rhetorical device which can be defined as a disappointing situation or a sudden transition in discourse from an important idea to a ludicrous or trivial one.
8	Oxymoron	H	is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words.
9	Antithesis	I	is a repetitive use of phrases or words which have similar meanings; is expressing the same thing, an idea or saying two or more times.
10	Anticlimax	J	is a witty understatement that belittles or dismisses something or somebody, particularly by making use of terms that gives impression that something is less important than it is or it should be.
11	Tautology	K	is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things; draws resemblance with the help of the words “like” or “as”.
12	Climax	L	is a play on words in which a humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings.
13	Metonymy	M	is an unreal exaggeration to emphasize the real situation.

 

 

I. Find and analyse cases of detachment and inversion. Comment on the structure and functions of each:

1. Sir Pitt came in first, very much flushed, and rather unsteady in his gate (W. M. Thackeray «Vanity Fair»).

2. The next morning after breakfast I went down to look at the little house in Great Britain Street», «In the little room downstairs we found Eliza seated in his arm-chair in state». (J. Joyce «The Sisters»)

3. She was lovely: all of her – delightful (T. Dreiser «The Titan»).

4. Hear the tolling of the bells – Iron bells!

What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!

(E. A. Poe «The Bells»)

5. And he walked slowly past again, along the river - an evening of clear, quiet beauty, all harmony and comfort,except within his heart (J. Galsworthy «The Forsyte Saga»).