Figurative Language

GRAMMAR is the necessary structure of language--the sounds, words, syntax, and semantics.

RHETORIC is what we do with the language, the choices we make with words, phrase structure and placement, and the tricks we use to make the language more noticeable and memorable.

STYLE is the noticeable pattern of choices of one person or a group of people who adhere to a similar pattern of choices.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE involves the purposeful distortion of language, the use of nonliteral constructions which delight the mind or make us think about what a writer is getting at. What makes figurative language work is that a reader knows the patterns of literal language and recognizes the distortion. If the reader does not identify the figurative language, mere confusion of meaning results. Some people, in fact, have an intolerance of figurative language, and for this reason they may dislike poetry. Another reason many people are frightened of figurative language is that many of the names are Latin or Greek and very difficult to pronounce or spell. Some sound like a disease. Would you like to have a case of anadiplosis or homiologia?

Figurative language can be divided into several general categories: 1) thought provoking constructions and 2) just shallow, clever manipulations. Those of the first kind would include the more common kinds most people have heard of, including simile, metaphor, symbol, and irony. These could require some careful reading and, sometimes, study to get the point the writer is trying to make. The second kind of figurative language is more like the stupid pet tricks made famous by David Letterman. They are cute and more immediately understood, but they have little lasting effect.

The difficulty of figurative language can be overcome when we discover that all figures of speech are actually based on comparison and contrast. When we discover that some language can’t be taken literally, we are forced to compare what we have with what it might have been. Thus, we get two sets of meaning. Each figure approaches the comparison differently.
 

straight comparison	compare A and B
simile	A is like/as B
metaphor	A is B
symbol	A is represented by B
irony	A is not B

We could work our way through the 250 different figures of speech in this way and demonstrate how each approaches the comparison.

Political and occasional speeches are good sources of examples of figurative language. For example, Abraham Lincoln opened his Gettysburg speech with the expression "four score and seven years ago" when he could have just as well said eighty-seven. But his choice of words lent a certain flavor to the speech and gave it biblical overtones. One hundred years later, Martin Luther King stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and opened his "I have a dream" speech with the expression "Five score years ago," a clear echo of Lincoln’s words. Elsewhere in his speech, King used repetition (anaphora) of the words "I have a dream"and "Let freedom ring" as an important device to emphasize his points.

John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address has been studied over the years for its heavy concentration of figurative language. Below is a list of some figures that can be found in the address and their definitions. See how many of them you can identify in the address.
 

alliteration	noticeable repetition of a consonant sound, particularly in a word or two
anaphora	repetition of a word at the beginning of a series of phrases or clauses
anastrophe	a departure from normal word order to create a certain emphasis
isocolon	using the same number of syllables in sentences or parts of sentences to create a balancing effect
asyndeton	omission of usual coordinating conjunctions
polysyndeton	including more coordinating conjunctions than usual
parable	teaching a moral by means of a metaphor
oxymoron	linking seemingly contradictory terms
synecdoche	using a part to represent a whole
antithesis	linking contrasting ideas

 

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary belief for which our forbears fought is still at issue around the globe, the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of this first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this country, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.

This much we pledge--and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of co-operative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do, for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom, and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those peoples in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required, not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of the border, we offer a special pledge: to convert our good words into good deeds, in a new alliance for progress, to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this hemisphere intends to remain master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support: to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective, to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak, and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course--both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms, and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah to "undo the heavy burden . . . [and] let the oppressed go free."

And if a beachhead of co-operation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

All this will not be finished in the first one thousand days, not in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation," a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility; I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it, and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.