Figures of Speech: Their Types and Examples For Class 9
Figures of Speech
- What are Figures of Speech?Figures of speech are literary devices which are used to express ideas that move beyond their literal meaning.Functions of Figures of Speech:
- They impart beauty to the language by stimulating the visual, aural and sensory appeal of the verses.
- The reader is made to use his imagination to create rich mental pictures.
- They provide freshness of expression and clarity of meaning.
- They can be used in poetic as well as in everyday language.
- Language of speeches and debates can also be enriched with the use of figures of speech.
- In short, figures of speech make the language more colourful, descriptive and interesting.
Types of Figures of Speech:
There are more than 200 types of figures of speech in English. In this topic, we will be covering a few of them.
Simile:
Simile is a figure of speech which directly compares two things which may have similar qualities.
It employs the use of words such as like‘ or as‘.
(a) The prisoners languished like caged animals. (The prisoners are likened to caged animals.)
(b) Manish is as thin as a reed. (Manish is compared to a reed.)
example of smile figure of speech:
―She entered with an ungainly struggle like some huge awkward chicken, torn, squawking, out of its coop. —Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Three Gables. ―In the eastern sky there was a yellow patch like a rug laid for the feet of the coming sun . . . —Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage ―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.‖ — Robert Burns, Red Red Rose ―The air smelled sharp as new-cut wood, slicing low and sly around the angles of buildings.‖ —Joanne Harris, Chocolat |
Metaphor:
Metaphor is a figure of speech which makes a direct equation between two things which share similar qualities.
Unlike similes, metaphors do not use words such as as‘ or ike‘.
(a) My old employer was the devil incarnate. (The old employer is equated with the devil.)
(b) The pen is the tongue of the mind. (The pen is equated with the tongue.)
example of metaphor figure of speech
―All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players — Shakespeare, As You Like It ―I fall upon the thorns of life. — P. B. Shelly, Ode to the West Wind ―Entangled in the cobweb of the schools. — William Cowper, The Task |
Personification:
Personification is a figure of speech where human qualities or activities are attributed to animals, non-living things or abstract ideas.
Through personification, writers and poets offer a fresh perspective to the reader.
Readers relate to the inanimate as they would relate to humans.
(a) The skies wept. (The skies are given the human ability to weep.)
(b) Your arrogance betrayed you today. (Arrogance is said to have the ability to betray.)
examples of Personification figure of speech
―When well-apparelled April on the heel Of limping winter treads. — Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet ―Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the big shoulders — Carl Sandberg, Chicago ―Ah, William, we‘re weary of weather, said the sunflowers, shining with dew. —William Blake, Two Sunflowers Move in The Yellow Room ―O Rose thou are sick —William Blake, The Sick Rose |
Students can find more figures of speech with their examples in our PDF File
