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Mr Milan Mondal, Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Narajole Raj College
1 ENGLISG (DSC)-SEM-I-AECC 1 (CORE)-RHETORIC
Rhetoric / Figures of speech
Rhetoric — <Gk. Rhetor =Public speaker
Meaning of rhetoric: —
The term rhetoric has been derived from the Greek word rhetor, meaning a ‘public speaker’. Thus, literally, rhetoric is the art of the orator or the art of persuasive public speaking. According to Aristotle, ‘rhetoric is a faculty by which we understand what will serve our tongue concerning any subject to win belief in the hearer’—Thus, ‘rhetoric’ teaches a person how to add beauty and grace to his/ her style of composition.
No doubt its purpose is to beautify the form of language.
Rhetoric and grammar: A comparative study: —
It is very difficult to draw any hard and fast line of demarcation in between rhetoric and grammar. According to Bain, ‘the order of words belongs partly to grammar and partly to rhetoric.’The fundamental purpose of grammar is to teach one how to speak or write a language correctly and clearly. By reading grammar one learns different rules concerning sentence structure, orthoepy (pronunciation), orthography (spelling), syntax, punctuation and so on.
Rhetoric, on the other hand, teaches a person how to add beauty and grace to his/ her composition. Its purpose is to enhance the effect of a certain literary composition by adorning it with felicitous and attractive expression.
Figure of speech: —
The rhetorical ornaments in which simple and correct sentences are clothed, are called figures of speech. Bain has well said, “A figure of speech is a deviation from the plain and ordinary way of speaking for the sake of greater event.” In this respect it must be noted that the word ‘figure’ is originated from the Latin word figura, meaning the external form or shape of any object. From this original sense a secondary sense or meaning has also been derived as something remarkable. A person may be a figure in the sense ‘remarkable’.Similarly, language spoken or written may be figuration in the sense remarkable or rich.
Some scholars is of the opinion that figure of speech is a certain kind of literary device in which uncommon and unexpected language is used to convey a rich message to the readers or the hearers.
Compiled, designed & circulated by:
Mr Milan Mondal, Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Narajole Raj College
2 ENGLISG (DSC)-SEM-I-AECC 1 (CORE)-RHETORIC
Figures of speech can be divided into two categories— tropes and schemes
Tropes: —
The word tropes owes its origin from Greek. Literally it means ‘turn’. So, from its Greek sense it is clear that tropes inverts or alters the meaning of a word.Schemes: —
When the form of a sentence of a language is affected by figures of speech, we can say that to be schemes.Apart from the above general division, the figures of speech can also be divided widely like the following: —
i. Figures based on similarity: —
a. Simile b. Metaphor c. Fable d. Allegory e. Parable
ii. Figures based on association: —
a. Metonymy b. Synecdoche
c. Transferred-epithet d. Allusion
iii. Figures based on difference or contrast: — a. Antithesis b. Epigram c. Oxymoron d. Climax e. Anti-climax
f. Condensed sentence
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Mr Milan Mondal, Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Narajole Raj College
3 ENGLISG (DSC)-SEM-I-AECC 1 (CORE)-RHETORIC
g. Paradox
iv. Figures based on imagination: —
a. Personification b. Apostrophe c. Pathetic fallacy d. Personal metaphor e. Vision
f. Hyperbole
v. Figures based on indirectness: —
a. Innuendo b. Irony
c. Periphrasis / circumlocution d. Euphemism
vi. Figures based on sound: —
a. Pun
b. Onomatopoeia c. Alliteration d. Assonance
vii. Figure based on construction: —
a. Interrogation b. Exclamation c. Chiasmus d. Zeugma
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4 ENGLISG (DSC)-SEM-I-AECC 1 (CORE)-RHETORIC
e. Hendiadys f. Litotes g. Asyndeton h. Polysyndeton
i. Epanaphora / Anaphora j. Palilogia
Simile
(<Latin similis=Like): — In this figure of speech similarities between two different things are explicitly or clearly stated. This is done with the help of words— like, as, as so, such, such as, as such so as etc.Or
A similie is an explicit statement of likeness between two different things. Or actions.
According to Martin, ‘it consists of placing two different things side by side and comparing them with regard to some features common to both.’
Example: —
i. He is as ferocious as a tiger This is an example of simile.
In this figure of speech similarities between two different things are explicitly or clearly stated.
This is done with the help of words— like, as, as so, such, such as, as such so as etc.
In this simile ‘he’ is compared to a tiger. Now the ‘tiger’ and ‘he’ are two different things. But both are alike in possessing one characteristic in common namely, ferocity.
ii. He moves like a ghost.
This a unique instance of simile.
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Mr Milan Mondal, Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Narajole Raj College
5 ENGLISG (DSC)-SEM-I-AECC 1 (CORE)-RHETORIC
A similie is an explicit statement of likeness between two different things. Or actions.
According to Martin, ‘it consists of placing two different things side by side and comparing them with regard to some features common to both.’
Here, a similarity can be traced in between ‘he’ and ‘ghost’. As a ghost moves stealthily, his movement has certain kind of similarity with that of the movement of the ghost. Here the common characteristic is none other than the ‘stealthy movement’.
Every simile must have two essential elements: —
A. The things or actions must be different. Thus, in ‘he is as ferocious as his wife’— there is no simile because ‘he’ and ‘his wife’ are of same kind. In the same way ‘she moves like her brother’ is a comparison and not a simile.
B. The point of similarity between two things compared must be clearly stated. That is why a simile is introduced by such words — ‘as’, ‘like’, ‘as such’, ‘such as’ etc.
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Mr Milan Mondal, Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Narajole Raj College
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