The Classification of FiguresPage 7

But of course, many Figures of Speech are not analogies, or any kind of model in themselves. They are, rather, metonymies: turns of phrase in which what is being symbolized is identified not by its common name but by the name of some part or aspect. "Hired hand" is a classic example, in which a worker is identified by his most relevant feature. It will be useful, then, to know the figures—if not all of them, then at least the more important ones, for there are at least a couple hundred figures of speech. Henry Peachem's list of over two hundred in his 1577 work The Garden Of Eloquence10 is small compared to some; and so it is near impossible that the rhetor be familiar with them all. Even understanding the many kinds of figures is difficult without some sort of classification to underscore their similarities and differences. Unfortunately (or not), there are many different classifications possible. The Greeks classified the figures as Tropes and Schemes, where, according to Edward Corbett, the former is applied to words and the latter to phrases.11 R. F. Brewer, in his Orthometry,12 uses poetic license in his taxonomy. There, the Figures take advantage of either Grammatical license: such as ellipsis—leaving out words; or Orthographical license: like tmesis—as in 'fan-frigging-tastic'. And the Encyclopedia Britannica gives two explanations,13 in the longer of which articles they make the distinction between "textural" effects like metaphor, and "structural" effects like allegory. It seems best, however, to classify Tropes and Schemes grammatically, as turns of phrase that effect semantics and syntax, respectively.


Types: Tropes — Modifying Meaning: Mixed: Schemes — Skewing Syntax:
Examples: Analogy
Metaphor
Simile
Personification
Kenning
Euphemism
Zeugma
Bathos
Climax
Parachesis
Anaphora
Anadiplosis
Euphony
Acrostic
Tmesis
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