Vocabulaire d'anglais utile ( figures de style )

ChloéDanguy Lun 22 Nov - 17:25

LITERARY TERMS

Figures of speech

Anadiplosis is repeating the last word of a clause at the beginning of the next clause. The character of Yoda states in Star Wars, Episode I : " Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hatred ; hatred leads to conflict ; conflict leads to suffering ". [ La comptine " Trois petits chats" s'applique ici, pour les connaisseurs : ) ]

Anaphora is the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs. Anaphora is the opposite of epistrophe, in which the poet or rhetorician repeats the concluding phrase over and over for effects. They serve to lend weight and emphasis.

Aposiopesis is breaking off as if unable to continue, stopping suddenly in the midst of a sentence, or leaving a statement unfinished at a dramatic moment. Sometimes the interruption is an artificial choice the author makes for a dramatic effect.

Asyndeton is the omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses ( opposite of polysyndeton ). Its use can have the effect of speeding up the rythm of a passage and making a single idea more memorable.

Chiasmus , plural chiasmi ( from the Greek, " cross " or " X " ) : the author introduces words or concepts in a particular order, then later repeats those terms or similar ones in reversed or backwards order. " I lead the life I love, I love the life I lead ".

Euphemism is the use of a weak, vague or pleasant word instead of a more direct or unpleasant one, to avoid giving offence or to avoid a taboo subject ; to pass away.

Hyperbole is exaggeration or overstatement ( opposite of understatement ).

Litotes : this is a formof understatement consisting in the denial of the contrary. " This is not unfair " for " This is fair ". [ Ou, pour les tragédiens, Chimène s'exclamant " Va, je ne te hais point" à Rodrigue ]

Metaphor is an implied analogy between two objects or ideas, not using like or as as in a simile. A metaphor establishes a lrelationship at once ; it leaves more to the imagination. It is a shortcut to the meaning ; it sets two unlike things side by side and makes us see the likeness between them.

Metonymy is subsituting a word for another word colsely associated with it ; " the crown " for " the king ". Metonymy may be instructively contrasted with metaphor. Both figues involve the substitution of one term for another. In metaphor, this substitution is based on similary, while in metonymy, the substitution is based on contiguity.

Oxymoron , plural oxymora, is putting two contradictory words together, like " sorrowful joy " [ Ou l'exemple bateau " cette obscure clarté " ]

Polyptoton is the repetition of words which have the same roots. [ Fréquent chez Rabelais, il me semble ]

Polysyndeton is the repetition of connectives or conjunctions in close succession to achieve an overwhelming effect in a sentence, as in the phrase " here and there and everywhere ".

Synecdoche is when one uses a part to represent the whole : " lend me yours ears " ( = give me your attention ).
[ La synecdoque et la métonimie sont dans une certaine mesure opposées ; dans l'une c'est le contenu pour le contenant, et dans l'autre l'inverse. " Boire un verre " est une synecdoque. Je crois... ou peut-être l'autre... XD ]

Understatement is the intentional representation of something as less than it is.