What are figures of speech, and how do they relate to public speaking? From the dozen listed in the text (alliteration, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, simile, synecdoche, metonymy, antithesis, personification, rhetorical question, oxymoron, and idiom),

Question

choose and briefly define five, then give an example that you might use in a speech.
What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Figures of speech are stylistic devices in which words are used beyond their literal meanings. They add vividness to a speech, making ideas come alive with colorful and memorable images. They include: 1) alliteration – a repetition of the same initial sound in two or more words; 2) hyperbole – an extreme exaggeration; 3) irony – a word or sentence whose literal meaning is the opposite of what is intended; 4) metaphor – an implied comparison between two unlike things, that something is something else; 5) simile – a comparison between two unlike objects, using the words like or as; 6) synecdoche – a part of an object that stands for the whole object; 7) metonymy – a substitution of a name for a title that it is closely associated with; 8) antithesis – a use of contrary or polar opposite ideas in parallel form; 9) personification – an attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects; 10) rhetorical question – a question that makes a statement or produces a desired effect, but does not expect an answer; 11) oxymoron – a term or phrase that combines two normally opposite qualities; 12) idiom – an expression unique to a specific language whose meaning cannot be deduced merely from the words used. Examples will vary.