When carrying out a text analysis, the most complicated thing is to recognize rhetorical figures . In short, these are embellishments of the text, used especially in poetry, but also in songs and prose. These embellishments are used to make periods melodious, pleasant and less obvious or banal. To be able to identify them, you need to know them well, know their names and understand when they are used.
Classification of rhetorical figures
We distinguish rhetorical figures into three large groups:
- Rhetorical figures of meaning: they are used to transfer the meaning from one expression to another
- Rhetorical figures of thought: they concern thought
- Rhetorical figures of speech: they refer to linguistic expression
Main rhetorical figures
There are many rhetorical figures used in literature. Here are some of them.
- Metonymy (meaning): replacing a word with another with which it has a logical relationship.
- Synecdoche (meaning): a word is replaced with another with which it has a quantitative relationship.
- Synesthesia (meaning): transferring a meaning from one sense to another.
- Metaphor (meaning): replacing a word with another that is similar in literal meaning.
- Anaphora (word): repetition of one or more words at the beginning of a line
- Alliteration (word): repetition of the same consonant or syllable in nearby words.
- Anastrophe (word): inversion of the syntactic order of the elements of the sentence.
- Oxymoron (thought): union of two opposite terms.
- Similarity (thought): comparison between two elements that have common characteristics.
Concept map on rhetorical figures
Now all you have to do is take a look at this concept map, useful for reviewing and fixing the concepts well. In this way you will be able to memorize the key words better and know the rhetorical figures perfectly. You can also print the image and stick it in your notebook, so you always have it at hand.
