By Eric Getz Figurative Language Imagery Vivid and descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses sight hearing touch smell and taste In Hamlet Ophelias description of ID: 242696
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Slide1
Literary Terms Project
By Eric GetzSlide2
Figurative LanguageSlide3
Imagery
Vivid
and descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste)
Slide4
In
Hamlet
Ophelia’s description of
Hamlet in
Act II,
Scene
1, lines 87-94“My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purport As if he had been loosed out of hell To speak of horrors,--he comes before me.”Slide5
In George Orwell’s 1984
“The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a
coloured
poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a
metre
wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features.”Slide6
Simile
A
figure of thought involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, explicitly using the word “like” or “as”Slide7
In Hamlet
“The knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hair to stand an end, Like quills upon the fearful
porpentine
.” (Act 1. sc. 5.
ll
24-26) Slide8
In Forrest Gump
In the movie
Forrest Gump
, Forrest uses a simile when he says," Life is a like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”Slide9
Metaphor
A
figure of thought in which a word or phrase is applied to another object or action to which it is not literally applicable, without asserting an explicit comparison
Slide10
In Hamlet
In Act I, Scene 2, Line 146, Hamlet says, “Fie
on't
! ah fie! 'tis an
unweeded
garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature”
Hamlet compares the world to an unweeded garden that produces things "rank and gross in nature.” Slide11
In The Kite Runner
The line “eyes are windows to the soul” from
Khaled
Hosseini’s
novel
The Kite Runner is clearly a metaphor.Slide12
Personification
A figure of thought in which a personal nature or human characteristics are attributed to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human formSlide13
In Hamlet
In Act 1, Scene 1, Line 166, Horatio says, "But look the morn in russet mantle clad / Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastward hill." Slide14
In Ender’s Game
"He imagined the ship dangling upside down on the undersurface of the Earth, the giant fingers of gravity holding them firmly in place." Slide15
Apostrophe
An address to a dead or absent person or to an inanimate object or abstract concept.Slide16
In Hamlet
In Act 1, Scene 2, Lines 135-136, Hamlet uses an
apostrophe
, speaking directly to "frailty.”
“ Let me not think
on't
—Frailty, thy name is woman!”Slide17
In Star Trek
In Star Trek, Captain Kirk uses an apostrophe when he, frustrated because of the work of his arch nemesis Khan, shakes his fist at the air and screams, "KHAAAAAN!" Slide18
Symbol
An object, action, or event that represents something, or creates a range of associations beyond itself Slide19
In Hamlet
When Ophelia loses her mind in Act IV, Scene V , she directly discusses the symbolic meaning of many of the flowers she hands out
“There's rosemary, that's for remembrance;
pray, love
, remember, and there is pansies. That's for thoughts […]. There's fennel for you, and columbines: there's rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it herb-grace
o
' Sundays: O you must wear your rue with a difference. There's a daisy: I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.” Slide20
In The Kite Runner
In
The Kite Runner
, a kite symbolizes Amir’s happiness as well as his guilt over what happened to Hassan. Slide21
Allegory
A symbolic narrative in which the surface details imply a secondary meaning Slide22
In Hamlet
A cosmic allegory?
Some scholars speculate that Hamlet can be viewed as cosmic allegory with different characters representing different views of the solar system with Copernicus’ Heliocentric theory eventually triumphing over the competing geocentric models
This allegory is reinforced by the theme of the way things seem versus the way they really areSlide23
In Animal Farm
George Orwell’s
Animal Farm
is a powerful allegory of the Russian Revolution and the subsequent Stalinist totalitarian regime. Slide24
Paradox
A trope in which a statement that appears on the surface to be contradictory or impossible turns out to express an often striking truth Slide25
In Hamlet
Hamlet, in Act 3, Scene 4, Line 181, says “I must be cruel only to be kind.” Slide26
George Orwell’s Animal Farm
A common paradoxical phrase used in the novella is “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” Slide27
Hyperbole
A trope in which a point is stated in a way that is greatly exaggerated Slide28
In Hamlet
In Act 2 Scene 2 Lines 589-590, Hamlet uses hyperbole in his second soliloquy
“He would drown the stage with
tears And
cleave the general ear with horrid speech….”Slide29
In The Sandlot
In the movie
The Sandlot
Ham Porter clearly uses hyperbole when he says," You're killing me smalls!”
Slide30
Understatement
A form of irony in which a point is deliberately expressed as less, in magnitude value or importance, than it actually is. Slide31
In Hamlet
In Act I, Scene 2, Line 158, Hamlet uses
understatement, to end his soliloquy, stating that “
It is not nor it cannot come to good”
This is quite mild compared with the rest of his speech.Slide32
In Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet
In
Romeo and Juliet
,
Mercutio refers to his fatal wound as “a scratch.”Slide33
Irony
A contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or between what happens and what is expected to happen in life and in literature. In
verbal irony
, characters say the opposite of what they mean. In
irony of circumstance
or situation, the opposite of what is expected occurs. In
dramatic irony, a character speaks in ignorance of a situation or event known to the audience or to the other characters. Slide34
In Hamlet
A great example of dramatic irony in
Hamlet
is when Hamlet is right behind Claudius as Claudius, thinking he is alone, confesses his crimes in Act 3 Scene 3.
Indeed, at the end of the scene Claudius admits that he, despite what Hamlet thought (Hamlet did not kill him because he wanted him to die unholy), never actually prayed, which is another example of dramatic irony as Hamlet was wrong and only the audience knew.Slide35
In Final Destination
The plot of the movie series
Final Destination
revolves around irony because the characters in trying to avoid death end up dying an even worse death they had originally imagined. Slide36
Chiasmus
A rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect Slide37
In Hamlet
Polonius uses chiasmus with the line “'tis true 'tis pity, And pity 'tis, 'tis true-a foolish figure.” (Hamlet 2.2.98-99) Slide38
In Voltaire’s Writings
“The instinct of a man is to
pursue
everything that
flies from him
, and to
fly from all that pursues him.” (Voltaire) Slide39
Metonymy
A trope which substitutes the name of an entity with something else closely associated with it. Slide40
In Hamlet
In Hamlet, Old
Fortinbras
, the King of Norway, is often referred to as just Norway such as in Act 1 Scene 1 Line 61, “When he the ambitious Norway combated.” (Below is Young
Fortinbras
)Slide41
In White Collar
In the television show
White Collar,
Mozzi
often refers to Peter, an FBI agent, simply as “suit”. Slide42
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which the term for part of something is used to represent the whole, or vice versa Slide43
In Hamlet
Hamlet says in Act 1, Scene 2, Line 129 ,“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt”
In this synecdoche flesh represents Hamlet’s physical life. Slide44
In Percy Shelley’s poem
Ozymandias
“Tell that its sculptor well those passions
read Which
yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them.”
The “hand” refers to the sculptor Slide45
Repartee
A conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies.
A repartee is like a verbal fencing match.Slide46
In Hamlet
In Act 5, Scene 1, Hamlet engages in repartee with the grave digger
HAMLET I think it be
thine
, indeed, for thou
liest
in ’t. GRAVEDIGGER You lie out on ’t, sir, and therefore it is not yours. For my part, I do not lie in ’t, and yet it is min HAMLET Thou dost lie in ’t, to be in ’t and say it is thine. 'Tis for the dead, not for the quick. Therefore thou liest.GRAVEDIGGER ’
Tis
a quick lie, sir. 'Twill away gain from me to you.
HAMLET What man dost thou dig it for?
GRAVEDIGGER For no man, sir.
HAMLET What woman, then?
GRAVEDIGGER For none, neither.
HAMLET
Who is to be buried in ’
t
?
GRAVEDIGGER
One that was a woman, sir, but, rest her soul, she is
dead.Slide47
In Good Will Hunting
A great example of repartee is in the movie
Good Will Hunting
during the scene at the bar across from Harvard where Will engages in a witty argument with a student at the bar.Slide48
Stichomythia
A technique in drama or poetry, in which alternating lines, or half-lines, are given to alternating characters, voices, or entitiesSlide49
In
Hamlet
In Act 3 Scene 4 the back and forth dialogue between Hamlet and his mother is an example of stichomythia.
QUEEN: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much
offended. HAMLET
: Mother, you have my father much
offended. QUEEN: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. HAMLET: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. QUEEN: Why, how now, Hamlet? HAMLET: What’s the matter now?Slide50
In Richard III
Shakespeare also uses stichomythia in Richard III
LADY ANNE: I would I knew thy
heart. GLOUCESTER
: '
Tis
figured in my tongue. LADY ANNE: I fear me both are false. GLOUCESTER: Then never man was true. LADY ANNE: Well, well, put up your sword. GLOUCESTER: Say, then, my peace is made. LADY ANNE: That shall you know hereafter. GLOUCESTER: But shall I live in hope? LADY ANNE: All men, I hope, live so. GLOUCESTER: Vouchsafe to wear this ring. LADY ANNE: To take is not to give. Slide51
Stock Characters
Someone based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics Slide52
In Hamlet
Polonius is the stock character in Hamlet of an irascible old man who provides some comic relief by, as a man of former wisdom, acting as comical meddler who does not recognize his own age.Slide53
In Star Wars
C-3P0 from the
Star Wars
movie series is a great example of the stock character of a heroic coward. Slide54
Musical DevicesSlide55
Alliteration
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. Slide56
In Hamlet
In Act I, Scene 5, Line 43 the ghost uses alliteration with the phrase,”
W
ith
w
itchcraft of his
wit”Slide57
In V for Vendetta
The movie V for Vendetta contains a great example of alliteration when V says,’’
V
oilà
! In
v
iew, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate….”Slide58
Assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds often to set the mood or add to the meaning of the word Slide59
In Hamlet
In, Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 50-51 Assonance is used when the Ghost says to Hamlet, "With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,-- O wicked wit and gifts,” with the repetition of the short ”
i
"Slide60
In Top Gun
In the movie
Top Gun
Tom Cruise uses assonance when he says, “I feel the n
ee
d, the n
eed for speed”Slide61
Consonance
The repetition of the final consonant sounds of wordsSlide62
In Hamlet
In line 38 of act 3 scene 4, when Hamlet had just killed Polonius, consonance is used with the repetition of an “
r
” sound : “Thou
wr
etched,
rash, intruding fool, farewell”Slide63
In It
Stephen King uses consonance in his novel
It
with the sentence, “He thru
sts
his fi
sts against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts."Slide64
Rhyme
The matching of final vowel or consonant sounds in two or more wordsSlide65
In Hamlet
Many lines in Hamlet rhyme such as the following
“Till then sit still, my soul: foul deeds will
rise
, Though all the earth
o'erwhelm
them, to men's eyes.” (Act I.ii.257-258)Slide66
In
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost’s poem
The Road Not Taken
is a great example of rhyme
Two roads diverged in a yellow
wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Slide67
Rhythm
The recurrence of accent or stress in lines of verseSlide68
In Hamlet
Most of Hamlet is in the rhythm of iambic pentameter like the following line from Act 3 scene 1, “to BE or NOT to BE, that IS the
QUEStion
”Slide69
In A Psalm of Life
In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem
A Psalm of Life,
he uses the rhythm of trochaic tetrameter (4 trochees, 8 syllables) as seen in the line
Tell
me |
not in | mournful | numbersSlide70
Meter
The measured pattern of rhythmic accents in poemsSlide71
In Hamlet
Most of Hamlet is in iambic pentameter like the following line from Act 3 scene 1, “to BE or NOT to BE, that IS the
QUEStion
”Slide72
In A Psalm of Life
In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem
A Psalm of Life
he uses the meter trochaic tetrameter (4 trochees, 8 syllables) as seen in the line
Tell
me |
not in | mournful | numbersSlide73
End-stopped line
An end-stop occurs when a line of poetry ends with a period or definite punctuation mark, such as a colon. When lines are end-stopped, each line is its own phrase or unit of syntax.Slide74
In Hamlet
In Act 3 Scene 2, line 73 is an end stopped line since it ends with a period
“Which I have told thee, of my father’s death.”Slide75
In The Raven
In Edgar Allen Poe’s poem
The Raven,
Poe uses an end stopped line with the line “Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor. “Slide76
Run-on line
Also known as enjambment, which is a run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next Slide77
In Hamlet
In Act 3 Scene 2, line 66 is a run on line since does not end with any punctuation
“They are not a pipe for Fortune’s finger
To sound what stop she please. Give me that” Slide78
In The Raven
In Edgar Allen Poe’s poem
The Raven,
Poe uses a run-on line with the line “Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking” Slide79
Caesura
(Latin “cutting off”) is a pause in the midst of a verse line, indicated by a mark of punctuation, such as a comma, a question mark, a period, or a dash. Slide80
In Hamlet
In Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 3 scene 1 Shakespeare uses many caesura
Devoutly to be wished.
//
To die to sleep,Slide81
In An Essay on Criticism
In Alexander Pope’s famous poem, An Essay on Criticism, he makes use of a caesura with the line “To err is human;
//
to forgive, divine”Slide82
Free verse
Also called open form verse, unlike traditional verses its rhythms are not organized into the regularity of meter; most free verse lacks rhyme Slide83
In Hamlet
One Hamlet’s speeches from the play is entirely in free verse
‘’I have of late – but wherefore I know not – lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercise; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory. This most excellent canopy the air, look you, this brave
o’erhanging
, this
majestical
roof fretted with golden fire – why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.’’ (Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2)Slide84
IN THE PSALMS
Psalm 23 (KJV)
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2
He
maketh
me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.Slide85
Iambic pentameter
The name given to a line of verse that consists of five iambs (an iamb being one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed)Slide86
In Hamlet
Many lines in Hamlet are written in iambic pentameter including the opening line of Hamlet’s monologue in Act 3 Scene 1, “to BE or NOT to BE, that IS the
QUEStion
”
(the capital letters are the stressed syllables and the lowercase the unstressed)Slide87
In Sonnet 73
Shakespeare also uses iambic pentameter in many of his sonnets such as Sonnet 73
“That
time
of
year
thou mayst in me behold”Slide88
Grammatical PAuse
A pause introduced into the reading of a line by a mark of punctuationSlide89
In Hamlet
In Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1 Shakespeare uses many grammatical pauses
To be,
//
or not to be,
//
that is the questionSlide90
In If
In Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem
If
he uses many grammatical pauses such as in the line “If all men count with you,
//
but none too much;”Slide91
Rhetorical pause
A natural pause, unmarked by punctuation, introduced into the reading of a line by its phrasing or syntaxSlide92
In Hamlet
In Act 3 Scene 1 during Hamlet’s
soliloquoy
, Hamlet uses a rhetorical pause between two words between which there is no punctuation
But that
the dread / of something after death,Slide93
In John F. Kennedy’s Speech
At the beginning of many of John F. Kennedy’s speeches after he says ,”Ladies and gentleman” he often uses a rhetorical pause before going into his speech. Slide94
Concluding couplet
Two successive lines, usually in a verse of a poem or a song, that are rhymed and have the same meterSlide95
In Hamlet
“Till then sit still, my soul: foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth
o'erwhelm
them, to men's eyes.” (Act I.ii.257-258)
Hamlet uses this concluding couplet at the end of his dialogue Slide96
In The Canterbury Tales
In Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales,
he uses this concluding couplet “Singing he was, or fluting all the day; /He was as fresh as is the month of May”Slide97
The End!