Figurative Language: Schemes

The pattern of words

Device: Rhymethe repetition of the same sound at the ends of words.

Example: "Whose woods these are I think I know,

His house is in the village though.He will not see me stopping here,To watch his woods fill up with snow."

(Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening")

Rhyme in the movies…"Hey, why don't I just go eat some hay, make

things out of clay, lay by the bay? I just may! What do ya say?"

(Happy Gilmore, 1996)

Device: Slant Rhymerhymes that are close but not exact.

Examples:From Emily Dickinson's “Heart, We Will Forget

Him!”The Mind is Smooth - no Motion -Contented as the EyeUpon the Forehead of a Bust -That knows - it cannot see.

While "eye" does not perfectly rhyme with "see," the words are similar enough in sound to constitute a slant rhyme.

So what’s the effect of slant rhyme?The effect of this rhyme is haunting, off-putting.

Example: The Mind is Smooth - no Motion -Contented as the EyeUpon the Forehead of a Bust -That knows - it cannot see.

Dickinson is striking a somber note with these lines, which matches the content. Dickinson's reference to the eye on the "forehead of a bust" is perhaps referencing a statue of a cyclops, which, since there are no real cyclops, knows it cannot see. To compare the mind to such a thing is a striking, creative and somewhat disconcerting metaphor. This effect is reinforced by the slant rhyme.

Slant Rhyme (continued)Example:From Nas's song “NY State of Mind”:

“I got so many rhymes I don't think I'm too sane,Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain,and be prosperous, though we live dangerous,cops could just arrest me, blaming us, we're held like

hostages.”

• “sane” and “maintain” are perfect rhymes• “dangerous” and “hostages” are slant rhymes

So what’s the point/effect?In this rap, Nas is discussing his own feelings of living

life as a black man. His life is "like Hell" in part because it's "dangerous"

and police discrimination makes Nas feel like a "hostage" to the police, or, maybe, to the system in general.

The perfect rhyme at the beginning of the rap seem to mirror the idea of "maintaining" as though somehow his rhymes are both his sanity and his insanity.

The slant rhymes at the end emphasize his incisive, from-the-heart message. The fact that "hostages" doesn't perfectly rhyme makes this word jump out in the rap, setting it apart as the worst feeling of all.

Practice: Perfect rhyme or slant rhyme?

1. “Yeah, ever since I’ve been long gone,I traded in my senorita for a microphone” --Timbaland, “Say Something”

2. “Picture perfect memories, Scattered all around the floor. Reaching for the phone cause, I can't fight it any more. And I wonder if I ever cross your mind. For me it happens all the time.”

--Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”

3. “Overwhelmed, you chose to runApathetic to the stunnedIt's your decision” --Alice in Chains, “Your Decision”

Device: Alliterationthe repetition of the same sound at the

beginning of words next to each other.

Examples:Peter piper picked a peck of pickled

peppers.

"The soul selects her own society." (Emily Dickinson)

"The daily diary of the American dream." (slogan of The Wall Street Journal)

Alliteration, cont.More examples:

"You'll never put a better bit of butter on your knife."

(advertising slogan for Country Life butter)

“Repression is the only lasting philosophy…the dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend, will keep the dogs obedient to the whip.”

(Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)

So what’s the effect of alliteration?

It always draws the audience’s attention because of the repetition of sounds…so your job is to figure out WHY those words are meant to draw focus.

Example: “The dark deference of fear and slavery” creates an emphasis on the evil (dark) respect (deference) the Marquis demands.

Device: AssonanceAssonance – the repetition of vowel sounds

in the middle of words close to each other

Examples:Mellow wedding bells.

"I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless."

(Thin Lizzy, "With Love")

"Strips of tinfoil winking like people"(Sylvia Plath, "The Bee Meeting")

So what’s the effect of assonance?It sets a tone or mood for the piece by creating

euphony or cacophony.

Example: “I must confess that in my quest I felt

depressed and restless” has multiple “e” sounds leading into several cacophonic words. This makes the sentence read very quickly, which reinforces the speaker’s restlessness.

Device: Consonance the repetition consonant sounds in the middle

or ends of words close to each other

Examples:bed / ridLeave / lovePing / pongMiddle / muddle

What’s the difference between alliteration and consonance?

1. Blue baby books are usually used for boys.(alliteration)

2. Happy’s puppies poop on people. (consonance)

Practice: alliteration, assonance, or consonance?

1. The Great Gatsby2. “2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,

can you help me unravel my latest mistake?” --Anna Nalick, “Breathe”

3. “Rap rejects my tape deck, ejects projectile Whether Jew or gentile, I rank top percentile.” --The Fugees, “Zealots”

4. “Hear the lark and hearken to the barking of the dog” --Pink Floyd, “Grantchester

Meadows”

Device: Anaphorathe repetition of the same word or groups of

words at the beginning of successive clauses (a type of parallel structure)

Examples:We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will

not fail.

Anaphora in the movies…"I don't like you sucking around, bothering

our citizens, Lebowski. I don't like your jerk-off name. I don't like your jerk-off face. I don't like your jerk-off behavior, and I don't like you, jerk-off."

(Policeman in The Big Lebowski)

Device: Epistrophe – the repetition of the same word or groups

of words at the end of successive clauses.Same idea as anaphora, but at the end of the

clause.

Example:"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot

be cured by what is right with America." (Bill Clinton)

Epistrophe in the movies…

"Don't you ever talk about my friends!You don't know any of my friends. You don't look at any of my friends. And you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends."

(John Bender in The Breakfast Club)

Device: JuxtapositionThe placement of two contrasting ideas next to

each other for comparison • similar to antithesis, but parallel structure

isn’t necessary

• ExampleThis classroom is sweltering, while the hallway

is ice cold.

Juxtaposition in the Movies…Bruce Willis, as the only man who survives a fatal train crash, is juxtaposed against Samuel L. Jackson’s character, who has a condition in which his bones break easily.