Writing short notes

Imagery, Simile, Metaphor, Tragic Flaw, Tragic Hero, The use of supernatural elements, Personification, Metonymy,
Symbol, Irony, Climax, Anticlimax, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Hyperbole, Oxymoron, Paradox, Allusion, Conceit, Rhyme
Scheme, Stanza, Elegy, Sonnet, Lyric, Dramatic Monologue, Ode, Ballad, Satire, Central Theme, Tone of text,
Narrative (fictional or non-fictional novels, short stories),Poetry, Drama/Play.

Tone

Tone of a text refers to the attitude of the writer towards a theme or a subject. After reading the text a kind mood
is created in the readers’ mind. This mood of the readers is called tone. The tone of text may be affectionate,
hostile, earnest, playful, confident, bitter, serious, sympathetic, unemotional, ironic, humorous, angry, melancholic,
joyful, revolutionary etc. Different elements of the text such as setting, use of theme, language, figures of speech
etc create certain feeling to the readers. So, tone is not separated from the other elements of the text. In poetry
tone, mood are co-related. The tone of the poem contributes to the mood.

In order to understand tone, the poem, ‘Good Morrow’ by John Donne can be taken into consideration. The tone of
the said poem wavers from surprise to confidence and ultimately leads to satisfaction. The speaker begins with
surprise what he and his beloved did till they fall in love. Becoming aware of their love, they realize that their life
before falling in love was meaningless and dull. With an argumentative tone the lover ascertains that that their love
is real and they are confined within the space of two souls. With supreme confidence he also assures that their real
love will control their eyes i.e. their temptations. Finally we find a passionate tone when the speaker says, ‘My face
in thine eye, thine in mine appears’. Later he control his feeling and says that they will never die as they love each
other equally and flawlessly. Their satisfaction leads to their spiritual union.

Conceit

Ans : Conceit is basically a simile or comparison between two dissimilar things. In a conceit, the dissimilarity between
the two things compared is so great that the readers are puzzled. Even being conscious of the unreal comparison,
the readers agrees to the likeness implied by the poet because the metaphor is fantastically and logically
represented. According to Dr. Johnson, in a conceit, ‘the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together.’
This kind of comparison is highly exaggerated, fantastic and far-fetched and it gives rise to an image. Generally
Donne is considered to be the inventor of conceit. But, the Elizabethan poets and dramatists already used it in their
writing. What Donne has done is that he has injected his wide range of learning in it. Use of conceit forms a major
part of Donne’s poetic style.

In the poem, "The Good-Morrow", we find some startling and fantastic conceits which had never before found. Here
the unconscious state of the lovers has been compared to the innocence of a sucking baby. Similarly, the
unconscious experience of pleasure of the lovers has been compared to a far-fetched image of the sleep of the
seven sleepers. The little room of the lovers has been compared to the whole world. Again the two lovers have been
compared to two hemispheres and their soul’s union to the union of the hemispheres i.e. the world. it is clear that all
these unusual comparisons are made between two dissimilar and far-fetched things. They produce a stunning effect
that a metaphysical poem requires.

Rhyme scheme

Answer:- Rhyme refers to the similarity of sound. Words rhyme when the sounds of the accented syllables
are alike. The most common form of rhyme is called end rhyme which occurs at the end of lines of a poem. Rhyme may
occur within the line. Similarly, often sound within the line is found by the use of alliteration and assonance. The
pattern of rhymes in a stanza or a poem is called rhyme scheme. It is usually indicated by the letters of alphabet.
For example, the most common rhyme scheme for the quatrain is abab. Here, the first line rhymes with the third and
the second with the fourth. The sonnet has a prescribed rhyme scheme. For example, Shakespearean sonnet has a
rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Rhyme scheme is a traditional device of poetry. It contributes to organize the
language of poetry. Poems can be memorized and seem to be interesting because of rhyme scheme.
In Good Morrow, John Donne has used special type of rhyme scheme. The poem is written in three stanzas. Each
stanza has seven lines. Each of the stanza is further divided into a quatrain followed by a triplet. Thus the poet
has used rhyme royal in a slightly modified form. A rhyme royal consists of seven lines usually in iambic pentameter
form. They rhyme scheme of rhyme royal is abab bcc. But the modified rhyme scheme of this poem is abab ccc. To
illustrate, the first line rhymes with the third and the second line with the fourth. The last three lines rhyme
together. Again, the seventh line of each stanza contains hexameter. In the first four lines of each stanza the
arguments are introduced and in the last three lines the conclusion is reached. Thus, the poem contains an unusual
rhyme scheme which complies with its theme and temperament.

Allusion

Ans :- Allusion is an implicit or indirect reference to another work of art or literature, to a historical person or event.
Allusion to the Bible and to William Shakespeare's works are common because both enjoy a vast readership. Allusion
may refer to mythology, religion, literature, history or art. Literature in the past contains many allusions to Greek and
Roman literature. Allusions serve to convey information concisely and establish mood and setting. In poetry allusions
sometimes make the poem difficult but add dignity to it.

In the poem Good Morrow, Donne has beautifully used the Biblical allusion of ‘Seven Sleepers Den’ to suggest their
unconscious state before falling in love. The Seven Sleepers’ Den is a Biblical allusion. There were seven young
noble brothers in a Christian family in Ephesus. Then Ephesus was ruled by a pagan ruler named Decius. As a pagan
emperor he could not tolerate the Christian brothers. He declared death sentence for them in 251 AD. In order to
avoid the death sentence the seven brothers escaped and hid themselves in a cave. Pursuers discovered their
hiding place and blocked the entrance. Two hundred years later a shepherd stumbled upon the cave and discovered
seven youths asleep. When he awakened them, they thought that only a night had passed. The seven men slept there
for nearly two hundred years. They came out of the cave young and fresh. During that period Ephesus was ruled by
Emperor Theodosius II who was a Christian king. In the poem the two lovers’ unaware state before falling in love
has been compared to the deep sleep of the seven Christian brothers. The Christian brothers slept for two hundred
years but they were unaware of the passage of time. Here, the two lovers unawareness of their love has been
compared to the deep sleep of the seven brothers

Imagery

Answer:- Imagery refers to the making of picture in words. Imagery is an uncountable noun and the countable form
of it is image/images. The pictorial quality of a literary work is achieved through a collection of images. Imagery
appeals to the senses of taste, smell, hearing, touch, sight and internal feelings. It creates a complex emotion and
suggests the mood, tone and meaning of the text. Poets create beautiful images with the help of their fertile
imagination. Usually a painter draws the picture of something with the help of color. On the other sight, the poet does
the same thing with the help of appropriate word. The picture drawn by the painter can be seen but the picture
drawn by the poet should be perceived.

The poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is replete with several images. Here we find the images of daffodils, rising
sun, spring, summer and morning dew.

First of all we see the image of daffodils. Daffodils are very beautiful flowers. They bloom in the morning and wither
away before it is noon. The next image we see is the rising sun moving up to the noon. Then the poet produces
before the readers the image of spring which is as short as the youth of human beings. Lastly, we see the images of
summer rain and morning dew. The summer’s rain dried away very soon at the heat of the sun. The poet compares
the beauty of morning dew with the beauty of pearls. Through these images the poet wants to reveal the idea that
daffodils, summer’s rain and morning dew pass away too early and human beings also do the same thing. In short, the
poet wants to convey to the readers the truth that all beautiful things on earth are very short lived. They die and
dry way very soon and never come back.

Sonnet
Sonnet is a lyric poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lines. It originated in Italy and was developed by Italian poet,
Petrarch. Sonnets are of three types- the Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, the Shakespearean or English sonnet, and
the Spenserian sonnet. Petrarchan sonnet has two parts- an octave consisting of the first eight lines and a sestet
consisting of the last six lines. The rhyme scheme of the octave is abba abba and that of the sestet is cd cd cd or
cde cde. Milton, Wordsworth, Wyatt and a few other English poet followed Petrarchan form. A Shakespearean sonnet
has three quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg. The concluding lines are
often used as a comment on the previous lines. Spenserian sonnet is named after Edmund Spenser. There is similarity
between Spenserian sonnet and Shakespearean sonnet. Like Shakespearean sonnet, Spenserian sonnet has three
quatrains and a couplet. But its rhyme scheme is different. The rhyme scheme of Spenserian sonnet is ab ab bc bcc
d cd ee. The greatest sonnet writers in English are- Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, John Donne, William
Shakespeare, John Milton, John Keats and W.H. Auden.

“How do I Love Thee” is one of the famous sonnets written by E.B. Browning, an English Victorian poet. She has
expressed her profound love for her husband through this beautiful sonnet. It is a Petrarchan sonnet consisting of
14th iambic pentameter line. The poem is divided into octave and sestet. The rhyme scheme of the octave is abba
abba and that of the sestet is ad cd cd. The theme of the poem is introduced in the octave and carried on to the
sestet. She strikes the theme by asking the question in different ways. She tries to measure the dimension of her
love by counting the ways of loving him. Then she uses similes to express the nature of her love. Her love is like the
way we hold our everyday existence. Her love is like pure man’s turning away from praise or flattery. The similes
continue to the sestet. Her love is like the passion we hold in childhood. It is like ordinary joys and sorrows of
everyday life which are unavoidable. In the end she promises to love her husband better after death. In all respects
“How Do I Love” appears to be one of the best sonnets written by E. B. Browning.

Dramatic Monologue

Traditionally a dramatic monologue is a lyrical poem in the form of speech spoken by a single man. In a dramatic
monologue the single speaker reveals his thoughts in the presence of a single silent listener or some silent listeners.
The speaker is not necessarily the poet himself though he often reflects the poet’s belief and philosophy. The
speaker’s revelation leads the reader to explore the psyche of the speaker. So, a dramatic monologue is a kind of
poem which has an abrupt beginning, single speaker, silent listener or listeners, and psychological analysis of the mind
of the speaker.

The Patriot by Robert Browning is a famous dramatic monologue. The speaker of the poem is a patriot who narrates
his own story from first person point of view to the public. The poem begins with a dramatic suddenness:

It was roses, roses, all the way,

The churches roofs seemed to heave and sway,

He remembers his memories of the glorious past and then he reveals what is happening to him now. He remembers
that just a year ago when he entered the city, people welcomed him warmly and decorated his path with roses. The
readers understand that the event began earlier and eagerly wait to know what ultimately happened to the patriot.

Lyric

The word ‘lyric’ is associated with the word ‘lyre’ which is a kind of musical instrument. In ancient Greece, there
were some poems which were sung with the lyre. Such a poem came to be known as a lyric. So, the main
characteristic of a lyric is its music. Its music is achieved by the use of alliteration, assonance, rhyme scheme, meter
and lucid diction. A lyric poem is subjective in nature because it deals with the personal emotion of love, sense of
loss, heroism, death, nostalgia and so on. It is subdivided in several forms of poetry. Among them the main are- The
sonnet, ode, elegy and dramatic monologue. Shakespeare’s sonnet, Keats’ odes, Gray's elegy and Browning's dramatic
monologue are examples of English lyric.
 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is a lyric because it portrays the personal feeling of the poet after seeing a host of
daffodils. The poem also contains beautiful music which has been created by rhyme scheme and use of words.

The very first word of the poem suggests that it is going to deal with subjective feeling. The I-speaker of the poem
saw a huge number of daffodils while he was roaming about without any definite purpose. He was in an empty mind
and vacant mood. Suddenly the golden daffodils appeared to him as a crowd of living beings. Like a group of joyous
dancers they were dancing with the pleasant breeze. He was moved by the happiness of the daffodils. The flowers
touched his heart and he kept on looking at the flowers without knowing that the sight would help him overcome
mental depression in future. Later on, whenever he becomes lonely and nostalgic that happy sight revives in his mind
and his heart starts dancing like those dancing daffodils. The memory helps him forget all present anxieties. So, we
see that the entire poem deals with the personal experience and view of the poet regarding the daffodils, an agent
of nature.

The poem contains beautiful music for which it can be played with musical instrument. The poem consists of four
regular stanzas of six lines. Each of the stanzas rhyme ababcc. A spontaneous musical flow is created by the
careful use of rhyme scheme. The tetra meter verse also ensures smooth musical flow of words.Therefore, the poem
is a perfect lyric poem in English for its subjectivity and musical quality.

Simile?

A simile is a figure of speech that is mainly used to compare two or more things that possess a similar quality. It uses
words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’ to make the comparison.

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, a simile is defined as “a word or phrase that compares something to
something else, using the words like or as.” The Cambridge Dictionary defines a simile as “an expression comparing
one thing with another, always including the words as or like”. “A simile is an expression which describes a person or
thing as being similar to someone or something else”, according to the Collins Dictionary. The Merriam-Webster
Dictionary defines a simile as “a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as.”

A simile is a direct comparison of two like or unlike things. A simile helps the reader or listener visualise, understand
and have a better conception of the quality of the nouns which are compared. It makes the nouns more vivid and
descriptive. In other words, it can be said that similes can be used to provide a mental image to reader or listener.

Here are a few examples of similes formed by using ‘as’.

As tall as a giraffe

As sweet as sugar
As strong as an ox

As old as the hills

As cool as a cucumber

Here are a few examples of similes formed using ‘like’

Nocturnal like an owl

Have eyes like a hawk

Eat like a pig

Like a box of chocolates

Chatters like a monkey

Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that is used to make a comparison, but in a way different from a simile. Instead, it
makes the description of an object look as if it was literally true. In other words, it can be said that a metaphor is
an implied comparison. It makes a comparison between things or ideas that are generally unlike.

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, defines a metaphor as “a word or phrase used to describe somebody/something
else, in a way that is different from its normal use, in order to show that the two things have the same qualities and
to make the description more powerful.” according to the Cambridge Dictionary, a metaphor is “an expression, often
found in literature, that describes a person or object by referring to something that is considered to have similar
characteristics to that person or object.” The Collins Dictionary defines a metaphor as “an imaginative way of
describing something by referring to something else which is the same in a particular way.” According to the
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a metaphor is “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind
of object or idea which is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.”

The major difference between a simile and a metaphor is that a simile uses words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’ to make
a comparison whereas a metaphor does not. Another difference is that a metaphor is an implied comparison; on the
other hand, a simile is a direct comparison.

Some examples of metaphors.

He is a lion when he comes to the field.

My mom has a heart of gold.

My friend’s sister, Sharon, is a night owl.

Personification?

Personification is a figure of speech that is used to attribute human characteristics to something that is not human.
It can also be used to personify an abstract quality.

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, personification is “the practice of representing objects, qualities, etc.
as humans, in art and literature; an object, quality, etc. that is represented in this way.” The Cambridge Dictionary
defines personification as “the act of giving a human quality or characteristic to something which is not human.”
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, personification is defined as the “representation of a thing or
abstraction as a person or by the human form.” Personification is defined as “the attribution of human
characteristics to things, abstract ideas, etc., as for literary or artistic effect”. According to the Collins Dictionary,
personification is “the representation of an abstract quality or idea in the form of a person, creature, etc. in art
and literature”,

Personification can be used,

to describe something concisely and also to bring a deeper meaning and connection to the object or virtue being
personified.

to make your readers empathize with the characters, both human and non-human.

Here are a few examples of personification

“The moon methinks looks with a watery eye;

Lamenting some enforced chastity”

The sun kissed me while I was clicking a picture.

The flowers danced to the wind.

Alliteration?

Alliteration is a literary device that uses similar consonant sounds in continuity to make an effect. This device is
usually used to embellish the words with a musical, lyrical or emotional effect.

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines alliteration as “the use of the same letter or sound at the beginning of
words that are close together.” According to the Cambridge Dictionary, alliteration is defined as “the use, especially
in poetry, of the same sound or sounds, especially consonants, at the beginning of several words that are close
together.” Alliteration is “the use, in speech or writing, of several words close together which all begin with the same
letter or sound”. According to the Collins Dictionary alliteration is “the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds
in two or more neighbouring words or syllables
Alliteration can be used by keeping in mind the following points while forming sentences,

Alliteration is formed using words beginning with similar consonant sounds.

These words have to be used consecutively, one after the other.

Similar sounding syllables can also be used to form alliterated sentences.

There is no definite rule that alliteration can be used only for a number of definite words. It can be just two similar
sounding words used one after the other in a sentence.

Here are a few examples of alliteration used in literature

“The fair breeze blew,

The white foam flew,
And the furrow followed free.
We were the first to ever burst into the silent sea.

Betty bought a bit of butter but the butter was very bitter so Betty bought some better butter to make
the bitter butter better.

The wind swayed softly and smoothly.

Hamartia/ Tragic flaw :- Hamartia is the error, misstep, frailty or flaw that brings about the downfall of a tragic
hero. It is also called tragic flaw. It may be a defect in a character or a bad judgment. It may also be ignorance,
accident, inherited weakness or bad luck. According to Aristotle, the tragic figure can not be a man without any
fault. He is neither a vicious man nor a perfect virtuous man. The weakness or fault of his character brings about
his fault. A. C. Bradley calls this trait hamartia. Owing to the fault of his character, the tragic hero falls from his
greatness. Accordingly, the tragic flaw of Oedipus is his ill temper, obstinacy and his pride in his own wisdom. At the
repeated refusal of revealing the truth, Oedipus loses his temper and speaks to the prophet in a highly insulting way.
Teiresias becomes offended and reveals the truth which leads to his tragedy. Similarly, the hamartia of Macbeth is
his ambition and that of Othello is his jealousy.

Tragic Hero :- According to Aristotle’s Poetics, the tragic hero is a man of nobility committing crime unwillingly or
willingly for which he suffers greatly, even dies. The change of fortune of this noble man arouses pity and fear.
Neither a saint nor an utterly evil person can be a tragic hero. Rather, a tragic hero is a man of intermediate
qualities. He should be life like, that is, he should possess real life qualities. He must not be superman or a perfect
man without any kind of mistakes. Rather, he bears a serious defect in his character which is called ‘hamartia’.
Owing to this fault of his character, he falls from happiness to misery, from fortune to misfortune. This defect may
be a bad judgment, ignorance, accident, inherited weakness or bad luck. Most of the playwrights have admitted the
importance of a tragic flaw for being an ideal tragic hero. However, Shakespeare has demonstrated that even a
villain like Macbeth can be a tragic hero. Similarly, G.B. Shaw and T.S Eliot have achieved great success with saints
as their tragic heroes. In modern dramas ordinary characters have become tragic heroes. For example, Maurya
in Riders to the Sea is the heroine coming from a very ordinary background. Shakespeare’s Hamlet, King Lear,
Marlow’s Faustus are famous tragic heroes.

Supernaturalism

Supernaturalism is one of the main features of romanticism. It is simply a belief in the supernatural. It is a
phenomenon which cannot be explained with the help of science. The belief in the supernatural has been universal in
all ages. Supernatural element in literature gives it a new dimension. It is exercised both in poetry and prose.

Supernatural story is a comprehensive term. It may be applied to any sort of story of ghosts, ghouls, specters,
apparitions, good and evil spirits etc. The Arabian Nights is a classic collection of supernatural story. Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two examples of supernatural story in prose.
Beowulf is the earliest epic having supernatural elements. During the Elizabethan Period (1558-1603), the people
irrespective of literate and illiterate kept faith in the supernatural elements. Edmund Spenser deals with them in his
immortal epic, The Faerie Queene. The people of the age were very much fond of enjoying supernatural elements and
incidents on the stage. It is William Shakespeare who touches the hearts of the audience through his works. In
Macbeth, he introduces supernatural elements and incidents to thrill his audience. In the Elizabethan Age, the old
women, men of deformed body and the magicians were considered to be the Witches. Milton has used supernatural
elements in his Paradise Lost. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner And Christabel by S.T Coleridge have these elements.
John Keats and Robert Browning have used them in their poetry too. The Supernatural in Hamlet appears in the form
of the Ghost.

Ode

An ode is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. In ancient Greece, odes were originally
accompanied by music. In fact, the word “ode” comes from the Greek word aeidein, which means to sing or to chant.
Odes are often ceremonial, and formal in tone. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event
or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three major parts:
the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular
ode also enter.

Greek odes were originally poetic pieces performed with musical accompaniment. As time passed on, they gradually
became known as personal lyrical compositions whether sung with or without musical instruments. The primary
instruments used were the aulos and the lyre .

There are three typical forms of odes: the Pindaric, Horatian, and irregular. Pindaric odes follow the form and style
of Pindar. Horatian odes follow conventions of Horace; the odes of Horace deliberately imitated the Greek lyricists
such as Alcaeus and Anacreon. Irregular odes use rhyme, but not the three-part form of the Pindaric ode, nor the
two- or four-line stanza of the Horatian ode. The ode is a lyric poem. It conveys exalted and inspired emotions. It is
a lyric in an elaborate form, expressed in a language that is imaginative, dignified and sincere. Odes were first
written in ancient Greece and Rome. The form was rediscovered in the 19th century, or the Romantic era, with
poems like John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn.

Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something else which is
closely associated with that thing or concept. The words metonymy comes from Ancient Greek metōnumía which
stands for ‘a change of name'.
Metonymy and synecdoche are both literary devices that use a word or phrase as a substitute for another word or
phrase. However, they are not exactly the same. While metonymy replaces a general idea or object with a related
term, synecdoche uses a part of something to signify the whole (or vice versa, representing the whole with a part).
With synecdoche, the relationship between the original word and its substitute word is much more precise because
the substitute word is a part of the word or idea it represents. For example, referring to the car as “wheels” is
synecdoche because wheels are a part of a car. On the other hand, “ride” is metonymy because it is a word
associated with cars and driving in general, not a part of a car.

There are many familiar examples of metonymy such as ‘crown” to mean “king’: ‘The power of the crown was
mortally weakened’. Again an author may be used for his works such as, ‘I’m studying Shakespeare”’. A familiar
Shakespearean example is Mark Antony’s speech in Julius Caesar in which he asks his audience: “Lend me your
ears.”

The table below contains some common metonyms.

Metonymy

Meaning

Example

The big screen

Cinema

The book was adapted for the big screen

Heart

Passion or energy

She is the type of person who really puts her heart into her work.

Dish

Meal

What’s your favorite dish?

Brain

Intelligence

He is the brain behind the whole organization.

Metonymy is used to create vivid imagery, add layers of meaning to a text, and convey ideas in a concise way. It is
commonly used in literature, newspaper headlines, and everyday speech. In literature, writers use metonymy to
express an idea or thought in an original, poetic way that avoids repetition. For example, a writer might substitute a
specific image for an abstract concept, like “cradle” to mean “birth.” This can help to add variety to their writing
and make it more engaging. However, metonymy is also common in everyday language, both written and spoken. In fact
we often use metonymy in idiomatic phrases without noticing it.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a literary technique in which a writer uses words that imitate or makes a sound. The term originates
from the Greek onoma, meaning “name,” and poiein, meaning “to make”.There are several types of onomatopoeia. It
can be formed with real words, fabricated words, and letters.

i) Onomatopoeia Using Real Words : The most common type of onomatopoeia uses real words that mimic sounds, such
as bark, hiss, and chime. Real words can evoke an onomatopoeic effect even when they do not actually mimic the
referenced sound. This is commonly achieved through repetition, alliteration, and consonance.

Example:

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

The repetition of s and sh evokes the sound of waves breaking on the shore.

ii) Onomatopoeia Using Fabricated Words: Writers often bend their creative muscles to create entirely new words that
suggest sound. Snikt is a great example from Marvel which is used to describe the sound of a Wolf extending his
claws.

iii) Onomatopoeia Using Letters : Onomatopoeia can also be formed with letters, such as zzzz, which mimics the sound
of snoring. Other common examples include shh which mimics both hissing and shushing) and bzzt which imitates
buzzing.

Onomatopoeia can evoke a certain noise (like the buzzing of a bee), suggest movement, (like folds of fabric rustling
together) or enrich imagery ( like using roar instead of yell). In each case, onomatopoeia makes writing livelier and
more engaging. In addition to other figures of speech, poets often use onomatopoeia to shape a poem’s sound or
achieve a desired effect. Onomatopoeia is also common in children’s books, comics, and fiction, as it can add
excitement and credibility.

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which an author or speaker purposely exaggerates something to an extreme. It is
used for emphasis or for making a description more creative and humorous. It is important to note that hyperbole is
not meant to be taken literally. The audience knows it is an exaggeration.

For example:

That suitcase weighed a ton!

In this example, the speaker claims that a suitcase weighed a ton–two thousand pounds. Of course, this does not
mean that the suitcase literally weighed a ton. The speaker is using hyperbole in order to emphasize that the
suitcase feels very heavy.

Hyperbole is often used in day-to-day speech. Here are a few more examples of hyperbole often used in everyday
conversation:

i)She’s going to die of embarrassment.

This does not mean that the girl is going to get sick or that her heart will stop due to embarrassment. Instead, the
speaker is using hyperbole to emphasize just how embarrassed she’s going to feel.

ii) “I haven’t seen you in a million years.

This example, like “I haven’t seen you in a million years!” serves to emphasize how long a period of time feels.
Sometimes, especially in school, it feels as if time has slowed down and vacation will never come. We know this isn’t
true, but we use hyperbole to communicate how things feel to us.
Hyperbole is also often used in creative writing just to make a description more amusing or creative. For example, in
love poetry, the speaker may use hyperbole to emphasize their intense passion and admiration for the beloved.

Example 1:American poet W.H. Auden writes in “As I Walked Out One Evening,”
I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you

Till China and Africa meet,

And the river jumps over the mountain

And the salmon sing in the street.

When will China and Africa meet? How can a river jump over a mountain? And when will salmon be intelligent enough
to sing or evolved enough to walk the streets? Of course, none of these things will happen, so it implies that the
author will love her forever. W.H. Auden is using hyperbole to emphasize the strength of his love.

Example 2: Joseph Conrad emphasizes the passing of time in the novel “Heart of
Darkness”:
I had to wait in the station for ten days– an eternity.

Ten days is by no means an eternity, forever, but it felt like it.

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposite meanings, like “old news,”
“deafening silence,” or “organized chaos.” Oxymorons may seem illogical at first, but in context they usually make
sense.

Oxymoron apparently looks like paradox but there is obvious difference between oxymoron and paradox. Oxymorons
combine contradictory words, but paradoxes combine contradictory ideas. Usually, oxymorons are made up of just two
words, but paradoxes are complete sentences, sometimes entire paragraphs.

As with other literary devices like metaphor, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole, oxymorons have a few different purposes
in writing.

Dramatic effect: As a contradiction of terms, an oxymoron elicits critical thinking. The

reader must momentarily pause to comprehend and process the meaning. In other words,
oxymorons make the reader think.
Oxymorons tend to have deeper meanings and be more memorable than noncontradictory words, so they work great
at key points in your writing for boosting reader engagement.

Entertainment: Oxymorons present an ideal opportunity to be clever or funny. The

inherent setup of contradictory words works great for jokes and other witty statements.