Introduction to basic stylistic devices

Metaphors and similes are features of everyday speech. We talk, for example, about “a blanket of fog” or about the fog coming down “like a blanket”. In both cases we are talking about two things at the same time.
Metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another. A comparison is usually implicit; whereas in simile it is explicit.
In “On the farm” R.S.Thomas writes:
“Her pale face was the lantern
by which they read in life’s dark book”.
“Lantern” and “life’s dark book” work metaphorically. In the case of the first metaphor, we see together her face and a lantern. Because we see the two together, the meanings and associations of the one become fused with the other. Metaphors are often valued for their power; they are economical and immediate; they make us see things with the punch of actual sight.
Simile is a figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly likened to another. It’s an explicit comparison recognisable by the use of the words “like” or “as”.
Personification is the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects.
An example of metaphor: “the delicious breath of rain” - rain is not something living that can breathe, and yet the character feels as if it is breathing on her. The complexity of the meaning is increased by the word “delicious” since this adds a metaphorical element of rain that can also be eaten like some tasty food.
Metonymy (Gk ‘name change’ ) is a figure of speech in which the name of an attribute or a thing is substituted for the thing itself. Common examples are ‘the stage’ for theatrical professions; “the crown” for the monarchy, etc...
Epithet is an adjective or phrase expressing some quality or attribute which is characteristic of a person or thing.
Irony no definition will serve to cover every aspect of its nature. Howerever, it seems fairly clear that most forms of irony involve the perception of discrepancy or incongruity between words and their meanings, or between actions and their results, or between appearance and reality. The two basic kinds of irony are verbal and irony of situations.
Verbal irony involves saying what one does not mean (the meaning is contrary to the words), such as “I haven’t seen you for ages” - from one man to another when they meet every day.
Situational irony occurs when, for instance, a man is laughing openly at the misfortune of another even while the same misfortune is happening to him.
As irony is a mode of expression, it would be true to say that in many works by different authors we find not so much direct irony by an ironic way of looking at thing and feeling about them. In this respect writers like Voltaire, Swift, Henry James, Jane Austen, Thackeray, Mark Twain, B. Shaw, etc. are supreme ironists.
The satirist is a person who takes it upon himself to correct and ridicule the follies and vices of society and thus to bring contempt and derision upon aberrations from a desirable and civilized norm. Thus, satire is a kind of protest, a retirement of anger and indignation.
Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which contradictory words are combined: “ hot snow”, “a living death”.
Onomatopoeia is the name given to the effect of sounds of words imitating the sounds of object. For example, ‘buzz’ is the name for the sound a bee makes and the sound of the word itself imitates that sound.