Analyse the effects of figures of speech on meaning and tone
key notes :
Figures of speech are words or phrases that use language in an unusual way. Figures of speech often show important things about a text’s characters, setting, events or tone (general sound or feeling).
Hyperbole is using very extreme or unrealistic descriptions to talk about something. These descriptions are usually not possible in real life. Hyperbole can show strong emotions or create humour.
She flashed me a smile brighter than sunshine when I opened the door.
—Laura Bowers, Beauty Shop for Rent: . . . fully equipped, inquire within
Personification is describing non-human things as if they were people. Personification can make animals, objects or ideas seem more human.
The wind was singing everywhere in the trees.
—Lucy Maud Montgomery, Pat of Silver Bush
A simile uses like or as to compare two things that are not actually alike. A simile helps readers use their senses to understand a text.
A tear on Mrs Bump’s cheek shone like a diamond in the starlight.
—C. R. Bryan, Bump’s Circus
A metaphor compares two things that are not actually alike, without using like or as. A metaphor also helps readers use their senses to understand a text.
They were all there, silent, husky and dry, with eyes of steel.
—Rudyard Kipling, The Second Jungle Book
Learn with an example
🔥Read the text. The figure of speech is shown in bold.
The lawn in front of Chief Mulligan’s house was always the best tended on the street and the two small mulberry trees on each side of the stoop were always well trimmed. They were two soldiers, chests thrust out sternly, on guard day and night for the chief of police.
From Eleanor Estes, The Moffats. Copyright 1941 by Eleanor Estes
🔥What does this example of personification tell you?
- It suggests that the chief’s house seems protected.
- It suggests that there are watchmen in the trees.
Two soldiers guarding a house means that it is a closely watched place. Comparing the trees to soldiers means the house seems protected. So, this example of personification suggests that the chief’s house seems protected.
🔥Read the text. The figure of speech is shown in bold.
They lay there in silence for what seemed like a long time, listening to the machine gun rhythm of rain on the ancient slate roof.
Griffin stared up at a gaping hole in the ceiling that had once held a chandelier.
From Gordan Korman, Swindle. Copyright 2008 by Gordan Korman
🔥What does this metaphor tell you?
- It shows that the raindrops are fast and steady.
- It shows that the raindrops woke up the characters.
A firing machine gun has a fast, even rhythm. So, this metaphor shows that the raindrops are fast and steady.
🔥Read the text. The figure of speech is shown in bold.
I didn’t feel that way really. We’d lived in New York State for three months so far and it already felt like a hundred years to me, but I had to try to talk her out of this idea any way I could.
From Ellen Airgood, Prairie Evers. Copyright 2012 by Ellen Airgood
🔥What does this example of hyperbole tell you?
- It shows that time seems to pass very slowly.
- It shows that there are no calendars in the house.
The character would not know what a hundred years truly feels like. The exaggeration explains that three months has felt like a very long time. So, this example of hyperbole shows that time seems to pass very slowly.
let’s practice!
Read the text. The figure of speech is shown in bold.
It was the strangest story Winnie had ever heard. She soon suspected they had never told it before, except to each other—that she was their first real audience; for they gathered around her like children at their mother’s knee, each trying to claim her attention, and sometimes they all talked at once, and interrupted each other, in their eagerness.
From Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting. Copyright 1975 by Natalie Babbitt