Figurative Speech

Tropes (Tropen)

any expression which implies a transference of meaning

Simile

explicit/overt comparison, ‘as’, ‘like’.

Example: I wandered lonely as a cloud (Wordsworth); "Hercules fought like a lion."

Metaphor

implicit/covert comparison without the usage of 'as' or 'like'.

Example: But ye lovers, that bathen in gladnesse (Chaucer, T&C); "Hercules was a lion in battle."

Metonymy

replaces one expression by another, which has a spatial, temporal, or logical connection with it.

Example: "I'll have a glass or two." "The whole village rejoyced."

Synecdoche

a part stands for the whole, or vice versa.

Example: The Vatican has commented on recent events.

Allegory

a set of analogies. -- an abstract concept personified and made recognisable by a set of conventional attributes.

Example: 'Justice' as a woman, blindfolded, holding a sword and scales. 'Love' as a little boy, nearly naked, with wings and a bow and arrows which he shoots in order to make people fall in love.

Symbol

an object which suggests an implied but not entirely definite meaning.

Example: It was the nightingale, and not the lark (Shakespeare, R&J). A heart as a symbol for love. The cross as a symbol for death and resurrections, Christ's triumph over death (different types of cross symbolise different Christian denominations etc.).

Analysing Metaphors

• Step 1: Separate literal from figurative use

L:	But	ye	lovers,	that	————	gladnesse
F:	"	"	"	"	bathen in	————

• Step 2: Construct tenor and vehicle, by postulating semantic elements to fill in the gaps of the literal and figurative interpretations

TEN:	But	ye	lovers,	that	[feel]	gladnesse
VEH:	"	"	"	"	bathen in	[water, etc]

• Step 3: State the ground of the metaphor

Gladness is the lovers' element which they enjoy as a simple natural pleasure

Analysing Interplay

Interplay: tension between the verse metre and the actual rhythm

• Step 1: Identify the metre (maximization principle)
• Step 2: Identify realized accentuation
• Step 3: Identify the points of deviation when comparing the outcome of step 1 and step 2
• Step 4: Describe the points of deviation in historic context