Dahlia Bartley, Contributor

I am sure you did the multiple-choice test in last week's lesson. We will check your answers now.

1. C	10. C	19. A
2. A	11. B	20. C
3. D	12. A	21. C
4. B	13. B	22. A
5. C	14. D	23. B
6. D	15. C	24. C
7. A	16. A	25. D
8. A	17. B
9. A	18. B

As usual, look over the ones you got wrong; you must never repeat your mistakes.

Let's continue our lesson by examining figures of speech. A figure of speech is a departure from the normal or everyday rules of grammar or word usage. It is used to create an emphasis, add power or force to an expression, draw a comparison or contrast or to make a rhetorical point. How is this achieved, you ask? It may be done in a number of ways, such as repeating words or sounds in a specific pattern or stating or implying a comparison. Knowledge of the more popular figures of speech will help you to gain an insight into the ways in which writers can use language to create images in the minds of their readers. It will also help one to understand the writer's intent for writing.

As candidates preparing for the external examinations, you should use figures of speech in sections three and four of the exam paper. These sections focus on how creative you are in using language in narrative, descriptive and persuasive pieces.

Now, let us look at the following passage from Hugh Walpole's Mr Perrin and Mr Traill:

Wet mist hung over the sea, so that the enormous breakers leapt out of the sea, came whistling with a thousand aims into the sky, and then fell with a deafening roar upon the rocks. One after another, in swift succession, first suspended in mid-air, hanging there like serpents about to strike, then falling in a curve with glistering, shining backs, sweeping, rearing, at last lashing the iron rock. About him the wind screamed and lugged at his clothes; behind him the trees bent and creaked along the road; the rain lashed his face.

He was seized with a kind of fury; he stood, facing the sea, with his hands clenched, his head up, his cap in his hand ...

Consider the following questions:

• What picture has the writer created?
• What methods has he employed to create the scene?
• Is his attempt successful?

The scene has been created through the writer's use of imagery. This is the word picture which a writer uses to enable his or her readers to see, hear, smell, touch and feel the scene around them. So, from the extract above, it is as if you can actually 'see' the movement of the water and you can almost 'hear' the sounds associated with the action. Can you 'feel' the rain lashing the character's face?

You, too, can produce interestingly written pieces such as this. To help you do this, we will revise figures of speech, which are also referred to as literary devices. There are several types and knowing them is not sufficient. You must put them to work. The first set of devices we will look at is based on the idea of comparison. When a writer wishes to create or describe a vivid picture of a scene, a person or an action, for example, he (or she) uses comparison.

Let us look at the following sentence:

On sports day, when Ken heard the starter's gun, he ran down the track like a hare.

You will notice that two unlike things are being compared - Ken and hare. Can you think of why the comparison is made? It clearly has to do with Ken's speed. This comparison, which is done by using the word like, or as, is called a simile. When a writer makes a comparison without using as or like, the figure of speech is a metaphor, as in the example:

On sports day, when Ken heard the starter's gun, he was a hare.

Another figure of speech which uses the idea of comparison is personification. This is when an inanimate object is given the characteristics of humans, for example:

The sun smiled gently on the village of Kensington.

The inanimate object, The sun, has assumed the human action, smiled. What does the sentence mean?

Let me quickly discuss other figures of speech.

Alliteration refers to the repetition of initial consonant sounds. A writer might use this to create certain sound effects, for example, Frowns furrowed my mother's face from Cecil Gray's poem, 'Coals'.

Onomatopoeia is being used when words represent the actual sounds, for example, buzz, hiss, tinkle, crack or boom.

Euphemism

Euphemism means talking pleasantly about unpleasant things. You would have used this figure of speech if, in referring to the insanity of someone with whom you are acquainted, you say such a person is out of his mind.

There are other figures of speech and we will discuss these on another occasion. Now, see if you can identify the figures of speech used in the sentences below.

1. After the accident at the track, the horse was put to sleep.

2. Like some great peal of thunder, the laughter came.

3. Pretty Polly picked plums for her preserve.

4. In spite of our weariness, hope pushed us on.

5. The tired travellers sloshed through the mud.

6. Every child in the class was an angel that day.

Try also to identify the figures of speech in Hugh Walpole's passage above. Have a good week.

These girls from the Sign Language Senior group ministered with their hands at the Shalom Missionary Church Summer Camp closing ceremony at the Jamaica Theological seminary on Wednesday, August 13, 2008. From left is Noelle Black and Ashauna Jones. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

Dahlia Bartley teaches at Glenmuir High School.