VIII. Hyperbole Hyperbole is a figure of suggestion, the object being to make the thought more effective by over-stating it. Many of the youthful statements of boys and girls, which are sometimes called fibs, are nothing more or less than Hyperboles. It is well to guard against such extravagant statements even in childhood, unless the parent wishes to make of his boy or girl a writer of fiction; for there is only a slight step between a hyperbole and a falsehood, as might be shown in the following statements: I just love to eat; Isn't that a magnificent bonnet? Just too sweet for anything; I am awfully tired; the man towered like a mountain; a gorgeous pair of gloves, etc. Examples: 1. The waves are mountain high. 2. The triumph of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment, though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach the clouds. 3 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. The above statements, unless used under the excitement of strong feeling and the restraint of sound judgment, will degenerate into rant and bombast, and make the author appear ridiculous. Figures based on Surprise or Admiration: Interrogation and Exclamation. IX. Interrogation The figure of Interrogation aims to impress a truth more vigorously by putting its opposite in the form of a question. Examples: 1. Hast thou a star to guide thy path? 2. Shall we always be youthful, and laughing, and gay? Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? X. Exclamation By using a figure of Exclamation, one expresses a burst of feeling rather than expressing a thought; and from the fact that both the Interrogation and the Exclamation grow out of an intense feeling of surprise, approbation, admiration, or disgust, it is considered a close partner to an interrogation. Many feeble writers make a common mistake by imagining that a passage becomes emotional by merely placing an exclamation point here and there in a sentence, although the thought itself is perfectly simple and commonplace. Such a use of the figure makes the composition frigid, and chilling in style. Examples:— 1. A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel! O wise young judge, how I do honor thee! 2. Heap high the farmer's wintry hoard! 3. Jump far out, boy, into the wave! Antithesis, Epigram, Irony, and Climax: These figures like the Interrogation, Exclamation, and Hyperbole, in order to retain their good effect, should be used sparingly; because they are less important than most of the previous figures mentioned, though they demand delicate shading. XI. Antithesis Antithesis, by placing two things in striking contrast, gives the figure force and in so doing, the contrasted members should be constructed as nearly alike as possible. Grammatically the chief words should be set over against each other and should be the same part of speech: noun against a noun, verb against a verb, and adjective against an adjective. 1. The fool doth think he is wise; but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. 2. The prodigal robs his heir, the miser robs himself. 3. So, also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption: it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in weakness: it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body: it is raised a spiritual body. XII. Epigram An Epigram is a brief sentence conveying much thought where words seem to contradict the real meaning. Use them sparingly. Examples: 1. The child is father to the man. 2. Language is the art of concealing. 3. The days of the splendid triumph of Christian Law by Christian arms were the days of the greatest defeat of our religion. XIII. Irony Irony is a figure in which the writer or speaker, by stating the opposite, aims to express a thought, the intended meaning being clearly understood by associated circumstances. Examples: . "Here under leave of Brutus and the rest, 2. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud: for he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awakened." 3. No doubt but that ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you. XIV. Climax Climax is a figure that has for its aim to carry the mind forward step by step, to a culminating point, through arranging successive statements with reference to their increasing importance. By reversing this method, the result is burlesque. Example: 1. The cloud capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temple, the great globe itself, yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve. 2. A picture of a nation long enslaved, now disenthralled, redeemed, restored, reformed, purified by his power, this was the picture presented to his imagination. -- Anti-climax, Euphemism, Litotes, Alliteration, Allusion, and Vision have been classified by later writers as figures. XV. Anti-Climax Anti-climax is gained by arranging clauses so that the succeeding ones diminish in importance. The tendency will be humorous, and is legitimate, if it is intended; but if unintentional, woe to the writer or speaker! Examples: 1. When George the Fourth was still reigning over the privacies of Windsor, when the Duke of Wellington was prime minister, and Mr. Vincy was mayor of the old corporation in Middlemarch, etc. 2 Anti-climax unintentional. 1. He lost his wife, his child, his household goods, and his dog, at one fell swoop. 2. What were the results of this conduct?-beggary! dishonor! utter ruin! and a broken leg! XVI. Euphemism Euphemism is a figure in which disagreeable things are mentioned under names supposed to be inoffensive. Example: 1. "His face and hands showed that they had long been strangers. XVII. Litotes Litotes is a figure in which a statement is made by denying the opposite. Example: 1. One of the great, the immortal names |