IV
. Figures of Speech
1.
State which of the comparative structures represent metaphors and similes
He has a tongue like a sward and a pen like a dagger. (H. Caine)
You talk exactly like my father!
The laugh in her eyes died out... (M. Spillane)
The grin made his large teeth resemble a dazzling miniature piano keyboard in the green light. (J. Jones)
// was his habit not to jump or leap at anything in life but to crawl at everything. (Dickens)
2. Distinguish between metonymy and metaphor
He earns his living by his pen. (S. Maugham) / ... came to the place where the Stars and Stripes stood shoulder to shoulder with the Union Jack. (Steinbeck) Money burns a hole in my pocket. (T. Capote)
3. State which of the attributes represent epithets
... whispered the spinster aunt with true spinster-aunt-like envy.
(Dickens)
A lock of hair fell over her eye and she pushed it back with a tired, end-of-the-dayjesture. (J. Braine)
The money she had accepted was two soft, green, handsome ten-dollar bills. (Dreiser)
4. Comment on the play upon words:
His arm about her, he led her in and bawled, 'Ladies and worser halves, the bride!' (S. Lewis)
Then there were the twin boys, whom the family called "Stars and Stripes ", as they were whipped regularly. (O. Wilde)
There comes a period in every man's life, but she's just a semicolon in his. (S. Evans) (period in American English means " a full stop")
Did you hit a woman with a child? — No, sir, I hit her with a brick. (Th. Smith)
lsn 't it discouraging when it takes two days to fly a letter from coast to coast? I get so mad I mark the envelopes 'Air-Snail". (example from the work)
5. Point out litotes and hyperbole
She was not without realization already that this thing was impossible, so far as she was concerned. (Dreiser)
Joe Clegg also looked surprised and possibly not too pleased. (Christie)
Her family is one aunt about a thousand years old. (Fitzgerald)
6. Comment on the peculiarities of antonomasia
Every Caesar has his Brutus. (O. Henry) There are three doctors in an illness like yours... Dr. Rest, Dr. Diet and Dr. Fresh air. (D. Cusack)
7. Explain the meaning of these euphemisms
7 expect you 'd like a wash,' Mrs. Thompson said. 'The bathroom 's to the right and the usual offices next to it'. (J. Braine)
Why, in the name of all the infernal powers, Mrs. Merdle ...? (Dickens)
8. What allusion is made in the extract?
"Christ, it's so funny! Madame Bovary at Columbia Extension School!" (Salinger)
9. What device is represented by the marked words?
Break, break, break
On the cold gray stones, О Sea! (A. Tennison)
10. Point out how irony is created below:
To look at Montmorency, you would imagine that he was an angel sent upon the earth. At first I never thought he would survive. I used to sit down and look at him as he sat on the rug and looked up at me, and think: "Oh, that dog will never live. He will be taken to the bright skies in a chariot, that's what will happen to him ". But when I had paid for about a dozen chickens that he had killed... then I began to think that maybe they would let him remain on earth a bit longer. (Jerome)
