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).

Metaphor

implicit/covert comparison without the usage of 'as' or 'like'. Example: Achilles is a lion in battle (lion= vehicle; Achilles = tenor)

• The Concretive Metaphor: something abstract is turned concrete. Example:
• The Animistic Metaphor: something inanimate is given an animate characteristic, Example:
• The Humanizing ('Anthropomorphic') Metaphor: something not human is given a human characteristic, Example:
• The Synaesthetic Metaphor: a mix of different senses, Example:
• Extended Metaphor: dwelling in the realm of one image. Example: O who shall from this dungeon raise/ A soul enslaved so may ways/ With bolts of bones, that fettered stands/ In feet: and manacled in hands (Marvell).
• Compound Metaphor: a combination of several metaphors which come from different images but keeping a thread. Example: (Ecclesiastes 12)
• Mixed Metaphor: a combination of several metaphors which come from different images, may seem funny or confusing. Example: To be, or not to be: that is the question:/ Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune./ Or to take arms agaist a sea of troubles/ And by opposing end them (Hamlet).

Metonymy

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

Example: I'll have a glass or two.

Synecdoche

a part stands for the whole, or vice versa.

Example: The Vatican has commented on recent events.

Allegory

a set of analogies.

Example: 'Justice' as a woman with sword, balance and eye patch.

Symbol

an object which is assigned an underlying meaning.

Example: It was the nightingale, and not the lark (Shakespeare, R&J).