Figures of Speech

Climax! Hang on, it’s not the kind of climax you would see in a cinema, where the hero beats up a platoon of toughies to rescue the love of his life. In fact, climax here represent a figure of speech, where words, phrases or sentences are placed in an ascending …

Survey proves that not even one in ten people would know what a chiasmus is; in fact, only two in a thousand can identify it correctly. So, if you are unaware of such a figure of speech then worry not, as you have come to the right place! A chiasmus …

If the subject is the heart of a sentence, the predicate of the sentence is what gives meaning to the heart. A sentence with just a subject can’t really make tons of sense but with the predicate attached, the sentence becomes whole. A predicate makes for one of the two …

The beauty of sentences lies in clarity, the choice of words and how effectively the thought flows. If words are pearls then a great sentence can be described as a beautiful pearl necklace. Sentences convey more than meaning; they convey style. Now, when writing sentences, it must be understood that …

This is not just another figure of speech. The power, force, intensity and vehemence this device infuses into any writer’s, or speaker’s, work can be commendable. The rapid effect while keeping the audience hooked on to the edge is what an asyndeton statement does. Evolved from the Greek word asyndetos; …

Reading the line “it beats….as it sweeps…… as it cleans” can interest you and catch your attention. Here, the writer has repeated the sound long ‘e’ to create a rhythm and to increase the mood the line creates. This advertising slogan of 1950’s is a strong instance of Assonance. Do …

What happens when you miss out a part of your sentence either while reading or writing? It becomes meaningless and incomplete. This phenomenon, often considered sacrosanct, doesn’t really apply to a sentence with an appositive. Appositive is an excellent tool that can be defined as a noun or phrase of …

You might have come across lines like “Then come, sweet death, and rid me of this grief.” It is written in such a way that the person is talking to death which is, obviously, not a person, but a phenomenon. This is an example of apostrophe, which is an important …

From our ancestors come our names, but from our virtues come ‘antonomasia’! Antonomasia is that figure of speech that employs a suitable epithet or appellative to cite a person or thing rather than the original name. Confused? Don’t be! To put it in simple terms, antonomasia is a rhetoric way …

“You agree to disagree to the solution, which Jack gave you the previous day?” Well, you can see the way the statement has an opposite opinions placed in one line. This is called antithesis – a figure of speech which contrasts ideas, words and concepts in one sentence. However, contrasting …