Stylistics. Seminar 4.

1. Tropes.
A literary trope is the use of figurative language for artistic effect such as using a figure of speech.

 Allegory – A sustained metaphor continued through whole sentences or even through a whole discourse.
For example: "The ship of state has sailed through rougher storms than the tempest of these lobbyists."
 Antanaclasis – The stylistic trope of repeating a single word, but with a different meaning each time;
antanaclasis is a common type of pun, and like other kinds of pun, it is often found in slogans.
 Hyperbole - the use of exaggeration to create a strong impression.
 Irony – Creating a trope through implying the opposite of the standard meaning, such as describing a
bad situation as "good times".
 Litotes
 Metaphor – An explanation of an object or idea through juxtaposition of disparate things with a similar
characteristic, such as describing a courageous person as having a "heart of a lion".
 Metonymy – A trope through proximity or correspondence. For example, referring to actions of the U.S.
President as "actions of the White House".
 Oxymoron
 Synecdoche – Related to metonymy and metaphor, creates a play on words by referring to something
with a related concept: for example, referring to the whole with the name of a part, such as "hired hands" for
workers; a part with the name of the whole, such as "the law" for police officers; the general with the specific,
such as "bread" for food; the specific with the general, such as "cat" for a lion; or an object with its
substance, such as "bricks and mortar" for a building.
 Catachresis – improper use of metaphor

2. Simile.
Similie [‘simili] is a kind of comparison but unlike an ordinary comparison which is not a
trope a true similie compares objects of different classes. A similie also may compare
objects of the same class if one of them denotes a concrete object and the other an
abstract notion.

1. Ordinary comparison
2. Similie (Objects of different classes)
3. Similie (Objects of the same class) (a mother is an abstract notion)

4. Metaphor.

Metaphor is an expression, often found in literature,

that describes a person or object by referring to something that is considered to
have similar characteristics to that person or object:
"The mind is an ocean" and "the city is a jungle" are both metaphors.
Metaphor and simile are the
most commonly used figures of speech in everyday language.

5. Metonymy.
Metonymy (/mɛˈtɒnəmi/)[1] is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of
something closely associated with that thing or concept

He has drunk a bottle of water.

Task 1
A trope is a linguistic unit that has two senses, both felt by the language users. On hearing the
exclamation «Oh, you pig!» (with reference to a person) the listener is aware of the traditional meaning of
the word and its actual reference which imparts an additional sense of the word – «an untidy, greedy, or
rude person».
If the original meaning is lost or at least no longer associated with the secondary one, there is no trope
any more, although there may have been one when it was first created. There is no trope in «legs of a table»
or «neck of a bottle». No one thinks of human legs and necks when using these expressions. These are the
«dead» tropes that are dealt with in lexicology, not in stylistics.
First reproduce the utterances that contain tropes, then – trite (избитые) tropes. Think of your own
examples. Let your group mates identify them.
a) We were sitting at a particularly tipsy table. Мы сидели за особенно пьяным столом. (trope)
b) One after another those people lay down on the ground and died with laughter. Все как один они
лежали на земле и умирали со смеху. (trite trope)
c) We smiled at each other, but we didn't speak, because there were ears around us. Мы улыбались друг
другу, но не разговаривали потому, что вокруг были уши. (It is a trope)
d) She lives at an expensive address. Она живёт по дорогому адресу. (Dick knows what it is) (not a
trope)
e) Could you help me? I can't see the needle's eye. Не могли бы Вы помочь мне? Я не вижу ушко
иголки. (dead trope)
f) If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters just the same ... Если Вы
можете встретиться с Победой и Поражением и одинаково относиться к этим двум самозванцам…
(Only dick knows where the trope is in this sentence) (genuine trope)
g) What's biting you, I wonder? Что грызёт тебя, мне интересно? (trite trope)
h) Then there would be seven good years and land would shout with grass. Тогда было бы 7 хороших
лет, и земля бы кричала травой. (a trope)
i) Stop flirting! You are always fishing for compliments Хватит флиртовать! Ты всегда
напрашиваешься на комплименты. (trite trope)

When we came all eyes were on us.

My heart is broken (trite trope)

Task 2. Simile
a) Explain the difference between trite similes and genuine (подлинный) ones. Enumerate the
words which can be called formal demarcators of' similes in a text.
Trite simile is a cliché, a predictable comparison and a genuine or textual simile is a fresh and
original comparison which makes an utterance stylistically colored.
A simile is usually identified by formal elements of comparison, such as “as…as, as if, no
more…than” etc.

b) Complete the «as ... as similes»:

1. Rose is as mad as a hatter; you wouldn't believe the crazy things she does.
2. You are not eating enough; you are as thin as a rake (грабли).
3. He never says a thing. He is as quiet as a mouse.
4. You’ll have to shout. She is as deaf as a post.
5. I'm afraid I can't read this small print. I am as blind as a bat (летучая мышь) without my glasses.

c) What can you say about …"

1. a person who sees everything and never misses a thing? He has eyes like a hawk (ястреб).
2. a plan or course of action that works very well? It works like a dream.
3. someone who eats and drinks a great deal? He eats like a horse. He drinks like a fish.
4. someone with a very bad memory? He has a memory like a sieve (сито).
5. someone who has been very active and busy all day? He is as busy as a bee.
d) Read the given verse and speak of its message and how it is revealed (раскрыто) with the help of
similes. What other stylistic elements contribute to the effect produced?
HARLEM Does it stink like rotten meat?
What happens to a dream deferred? Or crust and sugar over–
Does it dry up Like a syrupy sweet?
Like a raisin in the sun? May be it just sags
Or fester like a sore Like a heavy load.
And then run? Or does it explode?

This verse is about thoughts of destiny of a dream when a person does nothing to make his dream come
true. The author thinks about it comparing the dream with the things which are left out, such as a grape
which turns into a raisin or meat which begins to stink. With the help of such comparisons the author wants
to say that the destiny of a deferred dream is being a disturbing thought which may remain as a heavy load
and torment its owner or be forgotten and just explode.
The author compares a dream with an explosion, because when the dream is forgotten it has some
circumstances like an explosion.

Task 3.
Analyse the given similes juxtaposing (сопоставляя) the two components.
 Вскоре над плато взорвется и нагрянет в мой день солнце, как шеренга танцовщиц на лас-
вегасскую сцену. (Д. Коупленд)
Here is the comparison of the appearance of the sun with the appearance of dancers on stage. The
essence of this comparison is that the appearance of the sun is as fast and bright as the appearance of
dancers on stage full of light.
 You are like the East. One loves it at first sight, or not at all. (J. Galsworthy)
The qualities of a person, his character traits which make people either love or hate him are
compared with the complicated and unusual Eastern culture which may produce the same effect on
people.
 He ached from head to foot, all zones of pain seemingly interdependent. He was rather like a
Christmas tree whose lights, wired in series, must all go out if even one bulb is defective. (J.D.
Salinger)
The author compares physical pain which occupies the whole body with the Christmas tree lights
where all the bulbs are connected to each other.
 London seems to me like some hoary massive underworld, a hoary ponderous inferno. The traffic
flows through the rigid grey streets like the rivers of hell through the banks of dry rocky ash. (D.H.
Lawrence)
London is compared with an inferno because it’s a busy, dirty city full of people like Hell.

Task 4. Metaphor
Analyse the given poems and compare the ways of creating the image
ENTER NOVEMBER NOVEMBER
Here's November No sun – no moon!
The year's sad daughter, No morn – no noon –
A loverless maid, No dawn – no dusk –
A lamb for the slaughter, this metaphor No proper time of day –
express that this month is close to the end and it No sky – no earthly view –
is compared with a lamb who will be killed No distance looking blue –
An empty mirror, it may be about the absence No road – no street –
of any emotions and feelings which is compared No «t’other side the way»
with an empty mirror No end to any Row
A sunless morn, it may be about the darkness, No 'indications where the Crescents go –
because November’s days are shorter and it is No top to any steeple
often foggy and dark and it is compared with a No recognition of familiar people! ..
sunless morn No warmth – no cheerfulness, no healthful ease
A withered wreath, it may be about death No comfortable feel in any member;
again. Because wreaths often can be seen on No shade, no shine, no butterflies. no bees
graves. No fruits, no' flowers, no leaves, no birds.
The husk of the corn, November!
A night that falls November is a defeated expectancy. Morphological
Without a tomorrow, level.
Here's November,
The month of sorrow.
The image is created by metaphors.
November is compared with the things which
make us feel sorrow.

Task 5.
a) Account for the basis of associations in the following metaphors
Life – a river, a road, a hotel
Life is often compared with a river and a road because we may call life a way we have to pass. Also
life can be compared with a hotel. This comparison means that life is a some kind of a space where
people exist and when they die their place is taken by other people like hotel rooms. In other words,
our Earth is a hotel and we are just its guests.
Eyes – sun, stars
Eyes are the most beautiful and attention-grabbing parts of human body like stars in the night sky.
Family life – eternal struggle, a quiet harbor, a nest
Family life is described as something stable that can protect a person from the outer world, as a
something far away from the troubles of the outer world.
b) Supply your own metaphorical interpretations of the following notions.
 Night – darkness (more expressive)  Sea – kingdom of Poseidon
 Wedding – fusion of hearts  Exams – final judgement

Task 6.
State the number of simple metaphors comprising the following sustained (устойчивые)
metaphors. Explain why they can be classified as sustained ones.
Mr. Pickwick bottled up his vengeance and corked it down. (Ch. Dickens) Мистер Пиквик спрятал
свою месть в бутылку и заткнул её пробкой.
Bottle up – to hide a feeling or emotion inside instead of expressing it.
Cork down – to close a feeling or emotion. (закупорить)
The slash of the sun on the wall above him slowly knifes down, cuts across his chest, becomes a coin
and vanishes. (J. Updike) Солнечный луч на стене над ним медленно опускается вниз, рассекает
его грудь, превращается в монету и исчезает.
Knife down – go down
Cut across his chest – move over his chest
Become a coin – become round
Directly he saw those rolling chalk hills he was conscious of a difference in himself and in them. The
steaming stew– pan that was London was left to simmer under its smoky sky while these great
rolling spaces sunned themselves as they 'had sunned themselves in the days of the Barrow men. (W.
Deeping) Как только он увидел эти холмистые меловые холмы, он почувствовал разницу в
себе и в них. Дымящаяся кастрюля с тушеным мясом, которая была Лондоном, оставалась
кипеть под его дымным небом, пока эти огромные холмистые пространства грелись на
солнце, как они грелись во времена людей Бэрроу.
Chalk hills – hills covered with snow
Steaming stew-pan simmers – a city full of people and their everyday life
His countenance beamed with the most sunny smiles; laughter played around his lips, and good–
humored merriment twinkled in his eye. (Ch. Dickens) Его лицо сияло самыми солнечными
улыбками, на губах играл смех, а в глазах искрилось добродушное веселье.
Sunny smile – a genuine smile

Task 7. Metonymy
As you know, metonymy is another kind of renaming. Unlike metaphor, which brings together rather
distant objects and notions, metonymy deals only with the relations existing in reality. Speak of the types of
metonymy existing in the language. Label the given samples with the stylistic types of the trope.

1. «Hair, bosom, hips, bend of the legs, 4.A concrete thing used instead of an abstract notion
negligent falling hands all diffused ... » (W.
Whitman.)
2. «It's me», answered a low voice. 3.The container instead of the thing contained
3. Our boss smokes a pack in one go. 2.A characteristic feature of an object
4. Man shall not live on bread alone. 10.The material instead of the thing made of it
5. Downing street still keeps silent and suggests 9.The instrument instead of the action performed or
no further explanations. the doer himself
6. Red dress turned round and gave me an angry 1.Part instead of the whole or vice versa
look.
7. The fish desperately takes the death. 7.Consequence instead of cause
8. I enjoy Chekhov. 6.Symbol instead of object 'symbolized
9. The pen stopped. 8.The name of the author instead of his works
10. The cold nickel burnt my hand. 5.The place of origin instead of the product itself

Task 8.
Change the text it into a regular piece of conversation with no tropes employed.
It's lumber, man – all lumber! Throw it overbroad. It makes the boat so heavy to pull, you nearly faint at
the oars. It makes it so cumbersome and dangerous to manage, you never know a moment's freedom from
anxiety and care, never again a moment's rest for dreamy laziness – no time to watch the windy shadows
skimming lightly o'er the shallows, or the glittering sunbeams flitting in and out among the ripples, or the
great trees by the margin looking down at their own image, or the woods all green and golden, or the lilies
white and yellow, or the somber waving rushes, or the sedges, or the orchids, or the blue forget-me-nots.
Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need – a homely
home, simple pleasures, one or two friends worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat,
a dog, a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more enough to drink; for thirst is a
dangerous thing.
You will find the boat easier to pull then, and it will not be so liable to upset, and it will not matter so
much if it does upset; good, plain merchandise will stand water. You will have time to think as well as to
work. Time to drink in life's sunshine – time to listen to the AEolian music that the wind of God draws from
the human heart – strings around us – time to – I beg your pardon, really. I quite forgot.