STARS OF PIS AHMEDABAD STD VI: February 2015

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

SOME COMMON FIGURES OF SPEECH

SOME COMMON FIGURES OF SPEECH

A figure of speech is an expression in which the words are not used in their literal sense.

A figure of speech is designed to portray an idea more clearly or more interestingly. The most common types of figures of speech are metaphors,similes, idioms, personification and hyperbole.

Note: Some sources do not differentiate between a figure of speech and figurative language. As the term figurative language includes techniques that might employ the literal meanings of words (e.g., alliteration, assonance,consonance), an alternative definition for figure of speech is the use of words in an unusual or imaginative manner.

Examples of Figures of Speech

Here are some examples of figures of speech in the categories which most commonly employ words in their non-literal meaning:

Metaphor

A metaphor asserts that one thing is something that it literally is not. For example:

· This bedroom is a prison.

· He's a real gannet.

· He listened with a stone face.

· We don't need dinosaurs in this company.

Simile

A simile likens one thing to another (usually achieved by the use of the wordlike or as). For example:

· He eats like a gannet.

· This sandwich tastes like sawdust between two doormats.

· She sings like an angel.

· It's like water off a duck's back.

Personification

Personification is when non-human objects are given human traits. For example:

· The tide waits for no man.

· My car tends to give up on long hills.

· Summer's healing rays

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an exaggeration or extravagant statement used for effect. For example:

· I have a million problems.

· We won a tonne of cash.

· I'll die if I don't finish this crossword.

Idiom

An idiom is commonly used expression whose meaning does not relate to the literal meaning of its words. For example:

· Be careful not to miss the boat.

· This is the last straw.

· You can't pull the wool over my eyes.

· Don't sit on the fence. Say what you mean.

LIFE-EXTRA QUESTIONS

LIFE

EXTRA QUESTIONS

Vocabulary

unreluctant- not reluctant, willing, eager

quest - a long difficult search

toll - a tax duty or tribute paid for use of services or facilities. mourning – grief, sorrow

dim - fade

veils - cover with

youth – young age

courage - ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation

Extra Questions:

Q1.How does the poet want to live his life from year to year?

The poet wants to live his life from year to year with a forward face and unreluctant soul.

Q2. What did the poet seek for as a little boy?

As a little boy the pot sought for new friendship, high adventure, and a crown,

Q3. Identify the figures of speech in the following lines:

a. Let me but live my life from year to year – Repetition

b. With forward face and unreluctant soul – Alliteration

c. And happy heart, that pays its toll – Personification, Alliteration

d. O'er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy – Antithesis, Alliteration

e. My heart will keep the courage of the quest – Alliteration

Q4.What is meant by the last turn of the road?

The last turn of the road refers to the last few years of the poet’s life. He hopes that they turn out to be the best years of his life. All through his life he has faced every challenge/obstacle with courage and stout heartedness. The warmth of memories the love of family and friends and the satisfaction that he had were the best moments in his life.

Q5. Explain the metaphor in this line, ‘And hope the road’s last turn will be the best’.

Life has been compared to a road or a journey where we come across severe good and bad memories.

SELF CONTAINED-Extra questions

SELF CONTAINED

Extra questions

Vocabulary

complicated: complex

false: untrue

placid: calm, peaceful, serene

sins : offence

dissatisfied :not contented

Q1.Why does Whitman want to live with animals?

Walt Whitman finds that animals have many exemplary qualities that men are lacking. They remain very calm, quiet and satisfied. They have no worries. That is why Whitman wants to live with them.

Q2. Notice the use of the world turn in the first line,” I think I could turn and live with animals....” What is the poet turning from?

The poet wants to turn from the company of human beings. He wants to go and live in the company of birds, animals and nature.

Q3. Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.

Humans keep grumbling /complaining about their condition. They weep in the dark over their sins. They keep worrying about their duty to God. Animals don’t have to do any of these things.

Q4. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago?

Yes, humans do kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago. We give them such names as god's goddesses, saints and prophets and keep bowing to them.

Q5. What are the things that humans do but animals don’t?

Men are always unhappy and discontented. They keep on complaining. They go crazy for materialistic things. Animals do none of these things. They are always happy and contended. They don’t have to weep over their sins.

Q6. Many of us project human qualities onto animals, particularly our pets. Walt Whitman seems to reverse this inclination and to find in animals the absence of bothersome qualities he finds in humans. the traditional boundaries between humans and animals continues to fade .

Q7. Name and explain the figure of speech in the line ‘I stand and look at them, and long, and long’

Repetition: The word ‘long’ is repeated for poetic effect.

sheem the wolf boy-extra questions

Vocabulary

remote: very far

sliver: a tiny flake

evil: bad

solitary: all alone

amusement: enjoyment

barren: empty, infertile

curious: eager to know

howl: cry of a wolf

transformed: changed

guilt: blame

rapidly: very fast

accomplished: completed

bounded: ran away

refuse: leftover

ingratitude: lack of appreciation, thanklessness

forsake: turn your back on

EXTRA QUESTIONS:

Q1. Who surrounded the dying old man?

An elder daughter, two sons, and a wife surrounded the dying old man.

Q2.What gave the old man a sliver of spirit?

The fresh wind blowing through the door gave the old man a sliver of spirit.

Q3.Why did he bring his family to the remote place?

He brought his family to the remote place as he wanted to keep them away from the evil ways that many people follow.

Q4.Why was it not easy for the old man and his family to stay away from the others?

They suffered a lot of discomfort that is why it was not easy for them to stay away from the rest.

Q5.Identify the figure of speech in the following line.

‘The spirit of the man took flight.”

Personification

Q6. Why did the elder brother leave the sister and the younger brother behind?

The elder brother left the sister and the younger brother behind

as he wanted to go out to make his mark in the world.

Q7.What made the sister forget about the little brother whom she had left behind?

The amusements and pleasures of social life made the sister forget about the little brother whom she had left behind.

Q8.What did the little boy eat during the winter?

The little boy ate during the winter, the refused meals of the wolves.

Q9.What modern-day lessons are there in this story?

In today’s modern world we have maximum of nuclear families and minimum of joint families. People have become selfish and mean minded and started thinking of their own well-being. They have stopped caring about their own blood relations and even their biological brothers and sisters.