Figures Of Speech

Simile
In this figure of speech, two things are compared that are not really the same, but are
used to make a point about each other.
Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what youre going to get is a famous
line from the movie Forrest Gump that illustrates the simile. This is often used to make
an emotional point about something. The difference between simile and metaphor is
that you can obviously see words "like" in the sentence.
Metaphor
The use of metaphor compares two things that are not alike and finds something about
them to make them alike.
My heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill from a book by William Sharp is a
good example of metaphor. Some writers try to use this style to create something
profound out of comparing two things that appear to have nothing at all in common.
Personification
This is a way of giving an inanimate object the qualities of a living thing. The tree
quaked with fear as the wind approached is an example; The sun smiled down on her
is another. This can sometimes be used to invoke an emotional response to something
by making it more personable, friendly and relatable.
Apostrophe
Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush
sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and leave
me in darkness.
Metonymy
In this figure of speech, one word that has a very similar meaning can be used for
another. Using the word crown for royalty or lab coats for scientists are two
examples. In some ways it can be seen as a nickname for something else; for instance,
The White House said doesnt actually mean the White House said it (a house cant
speak!) but that the President said it. However, we all understand the meaning, and so
the words are interchangeable.
Antithesis
This is a contradiction that pits two ideas against each other in a balanced way. Youre
easy on the eyes, hard on the heart is a line from a country song that illustrates this
perfectly. This is often used to indicate just how something can be more than one thing
at the same time.

Hyperbole
It was as big as a mountain! It was faster than a cheetah! It was dumber than a rock!
This figure of speech makes things seem much bigger than they really were by using
grandiose depictions of everyday things. Hyperbole is often seen as an exaggeration
that adds a bit of humor to a story.
Irony
This figure of speech tries to use a word in a literal sense that debunks what has just
been said. Gentlemen, you cant fight in here! This is the War Room! from Dr.
Strangelove is a great example. It is often used to poke fun at a situation that everyone
else sees as a very serious matter.

The Little Rain

Tu Fu
Translated by L. Crammer-Byug

Oh, she is good, the little rain! and well

she knows our need
Who cometh in the time of spring to aid
the sun-drawn seed;
She waders with a friendly wind through
silent nights unseen,
The furrows feel her happy tears,
and lo! the land is green.
Last night cloud-shadows gloomed
the path that winds to my adobe,
And the torches of the river boats
like angry meteors glowed.
Today fresh colors break the soil, and butterflies take wing
Down broidered lawns all bright with
pearls in the garden of the King.
Suggested Study Guide:
1. Enumerate the figures of speech used by the poet.
One of the figure of speech used in the first stanza is Personification which is (oh, she is
good, the little rain! And well she knows our need) Personification it gives an inanimate
object or an abstract idea a human attribute or considers it a live being. Because the
little rain at the first stanza refers as human attribute that gives their needs .And the
figures of speech used at the sixth stanza is Simile which is(and the torches of the river
boats like angry meteors glowed) simile is directly expressed comparison between two
dissimilar objects by means of the words like, as, or as if, because the torches is
compared directly to the meteor. It gives light and serves as an inspiration in the
individual to do not give up in any challenges/problem he/she may encounter.

2. Identify the tone of the poem.

Based on my interpretation about the tone used in the poem, is Reflective, because the
poet expressed his feeling using the rain for the upcoming season. It is an about a new
life came from the rain that will give a new beginning not just for human but for the
plants as well. And it tells that if is missing there will be new existence and continue the
new chapter, that will give new hope. After the night there will a rain bringing a new
sunshine and give colors to everyone.
3. Find out other idea suggested by the poet.
The poet is celebrating the gentle rain which falls and revives all in the world. This rain
aids the blossoming flowers of Spring and brings beauty and hope back into the world.
The night before this gentle rain the world did not seem as cheerful and the poet is edgy
as the clouds loom but the morning brings the result of the night's rains and the Spring
flowers have set.

Tiny Feet
Gabriela Mistral
Translated by Mary Gallwey

Tiny Feet
A child's tiny feet,
Blue, blue with cold,
How can they see and not protect you?
Oh, my God!
Tiny wounded feet,
Bruised all over by pebbles,
Abused by snow and soil!
Man, being blind, ignores
that where you step, you leave
A blossom of bright light,
that where you have placed
your bleeding little soles
a redolent tuberose grows.
Since, however, you walk
through the streets so straight,
you are courageous, without fault.
Child's tiny feet,
Two suffering little gems,
How can the people pass, unseeing.

Suggested Study Guide:

1. Identify what the author is trying to say about "child's tiny feet."
"Little Feet" is a poem in which the speaker addresses the feet of children who are
suffering from poverty. The speaker asserts that the feet are special, holy even - the
feet leave flowers where they go. The speaker encourages the feet to be brave, even
when ignored by society.
Mistral is criticizing a society that is failing to provide for poverty-stricken children.
These children are not to blame for their situation, and yet society has turned a blind
eye to their plight.
2. How does the poet make the "child's tiny feet" express the idea of suffering?
Gabriela Mistral uses these descriptions it makes the reader feel sorry and sympathize
for the child. From the very beginning of the poem where Mistral starts off with "A child's
tiny feet, Blue, Blue with cold, how can they see and not protect you? Oh, my god." This
stanza starts the poem off well, and kind of tells you that this child is alone and that no
one cares for him/her, which makes the reader feel for the child already.
3. Identify the tone of the poem.
The tone of the poem of sadness, because the way Mistral explained the child and the
child's feet, made the reader feel upset and concerned, and helped while reading the
poem, see what was happening in their mind. The way Mistral asks, "How can they see
and not protect you?" really draws the reader in. It makes you feel the sympathy that
Mistral is trying to make the reader feel. Also when Mistral said, "Tiny wounded feet, /
Bruised all over by pebbles, / Abused by snow and soil!" it helped the reader see just
how the child felt.
4. Figure out what the author is trying to say about suffering in the poem.
In the poem "Little Feet", the main idea is that the society allows children to walk around
neglected and hurting from a lack of basic resources such as shoes so that their little
feet do not hurt. Further, she writes that often people ignore the children or just look the
other way so they do not have to see that they hurt from the lack of basic resources.

Gahini Lake
by John Nagenda

I stood at one end of gahini Lake

Years ago, one evening late,
And saw it stretch away beneath me
With red touches of dying sun.
Here and there a ripple disturbed the surface
Where a guesting, jesting bird,
Low flying over the serene quite water,
Had landed and on again.
Beneath me, the silent lake;

Around me, the darkening gloom,

Though which, occasionally, a bush stood out,
In courageous, a defiant loneliness.
And there might have been one song or two
From an invisible lonely bird.
As I watched, the light was swallowed up,
By darkness rising from the lake;
And points of light across the darkness
Appeared one by one.
Beneath me the lake was black
But gurgled and whispered and snored
What was it I had forever lost
In that deserted instant of time?
Suggested Study Guide:
1. How do you find the description of the lake?
I find it a little scary description but for me I guess it shows loneliness and that is what
the author wants to tell us. The line "In courageousness, a defiant loneliness" seems to
indicate that John or the speaker of the poem has known loneliness that comes from
exhibiting courage or standing apart from the common way of thinking.
2. Find out what could the "light" and "darkness" stand for.
The light, perhaps representing intelligence or spirit, is overcome by "darkness rising
from the lake," suggesting to me that perhaps John thought there may be superstition or
ignorance which overwhelms some of the most inspired efforts of people or it may be
just a literal physical description of the lake and people turning on their lights at night, or
it could mean that in spite of spiritual darkness and ignorance, there is great potential
for achievement among the people of Africa/Uganda.
3. Identify the tone of the poem.
The tone of the poem is sadness because it describes loneliness. This poem gives you
the feeling that there is a hidden humanity in this geographical feature, that you have to
listen to it until you hear those gurgles, whispers, and snores.
4. Figure out the feelings evoked by the poem.