Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/111

* RHETORIC. <Jo ing his utterance to the hearers' necJs and de- sires. RHETORIC, Figures op. A term popularly applied to a large and heterogeneous class of lan- guage-forms, all characterized by the fact that they are deviations from what is plain, literal, and straightforward. From ancient times figures have been regarded by rhetoricians as ■embellish- ments' of speech ; that is, as conscious devices and ornaments. Figures are commonly said to give life, strength, and beauty to style, but it would perhaps be truer to say that they have the power of arousing in the reader or hearer the same emotional and imaginative processes which gave birth to them in the mind of the writer. Since the conceivable modes of departure from literal statement are almost infinite in number, it is obvious that an exhaustive enumeration of figures is difficult, and a classification of them well nigh impossible. Tlie ancients, for whom the subject had a peculiar fascination, enumer- ated as many as 250 distinct species, and al- though modern writers, generally speaking, have been less prodigal in their invention, the Arte of Poesie, attributed to Puttenham ( 1.589), names and defines 107. In recent text-books the tend- ency is to limit the number to 10 or 12. The im- portant figures are as follows: I. Figures of Imagery. These are figures which arouse concrete images in the mind of the hearer, (a) Metaphor is a form of ex- pression in which one object is made to appear under the image of another which it resem- bles in some particular. Thus in the sentence, "The ice makes daggers at the sharpen'd eaves," icicles are presented to us under the image of daggers, which resemble them in shape and color. Sometimes a metaphor contains two images which fail to blend, as in "With swift rapier-thrusts of irony, the prosecuting attorney applied the thumbscrews to the unwilling wit- ness." Such figurative jumbles are called mixed metaphors. Akin to the metaphor, though dis- tinct as being a legitimate development of semasi- ology ( q.v. ), is catachresis, in which a word is extended in meaning beyond its strict sense, as 'a silver drinking-horn.' (b) An extended meta- phor in narrative form is called allectonj. Bun- yan's Pilgrim's Progress is a famous example. A short, pointed allegory in which animals are represented as speaking and acting is called a fable. The brief allegories of the Bible are known as parables, (c) Simile differs from metaphor in that the resemblance between ob- ject and image which is assumed in metaphor is in the simile expressly stated b.y means of the word like or as. Thus "His face was a withered moon" is metaphor, but "All his face was white And colorless, and like the wither'd moon, Smote by the fresh beam of the springing east," is sim- ile, (d) Synecdoche is a kind of metaphor in which the image is related to the object as a part to the whole, as the whole to a part, as genus to species, etc. Thus in "All hands on deck," hands is used for men. (e) In metonrimy the image is an accompaniment of the object : that is, what contains it, stands for it, as, "The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the Crown," the Croiim standing for the King. JletonjTiiy and synecdoche are. how- ever, so nearly alike that the distinction is hardly worth preserving. RHETORIC. II. FiGiRES OF Arranoemext. In these fig- ures, words, phra.ses, clauses, or Bonlences nre disposed in some peculiar and striking way to correspond to peculiar seciuenees of tlionglil. (a) Climax consists in the arrangement of words, clauses, or sentences in (he order of their importance, the least forcible eoniing first and the others rising in importance until the last; as in this example: "It is an outrage to bind a Roman citizen; it is a crime to scourge him; it is almost parricide to kill him: but to crucify him — what shall say of this?" (b) Antithesis occurs when corresponding parts of a sentence are so juxtaposed as to give force to contrasting ideas; as, "To err is human, to for- give divine." Both elinnix and antithesis may appear also in the arrangement of the larger units of composition, as paragraphs and complete es- says, as well as in the smaller units of words, clauses, and sentences. III. FiGiUES OF CoxTRAmcTTON. In these fig- ures there is an apparent contradiction between the form of expression and the idea to be expressed, (a) In iron;/ the speaker's words seem to convey one meaning, but in reality con- vey just the contrary, the real meaning be- ing suggested by the tone of the voice or the implication of the words, (b) Epigram is a brief, pointed sentence. Talleyrand's saying, "Language was given to man to conceal his thoughts," is a good example of epigram, (c) In hyperbole an object is greatly exaggerated in size or importance, for impression or humorous ctTccl ; as, "Swifter than the winds and the wings of the lightning." Hyperbole may also be looked upon as a kind of metaphor. Of the figures defined above, four — metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony — are often called 'tropes,' because in them a word is turned from its ordinary meaning or application. But the word is also apjdicd to a figure of any kind expressed in a single word. Among the figures which are less Ciisy to class- ify may be mentioned the following: .Ipoph- asis, paraleipsis, or omission is the pretended omission or passing over of what one is really mentioning. Apostrophe is a turning aside to address an inanimate object, or a person not present. Asyndeton consists in the omission of connectives, as "1 came. I saw, I conqnereil." Epanorthosis is an etTective correction of some- thing which has just been said, as "His fault — perhaps I should rather say his crime." Epi- plexis is a figure in which a person seeks to move or persuade by means of gentle upbraiding. Epip- loce is a climax consisting of several clauses so framed that the last part of one clause is re- peated as the beginning of the next, as "He not only spared his enemies, but continued them in employment: not only continued them, but even advanced them." Epislrophe is a figure by which successive clauses or sentences end with the same emphatic word or phrase, as "Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I." Euphemism is the use of mild, softened lan- guage on unpleasant subjects, for the jiiM pose of avoiding the directness of plain speech. Interro- gation is the asking of questions, not to gain in- formation, but to assert more emphatically the opposite of what is asked. Litotes Is a figiire in which the author denies one thing instead of directly alhrniing the opposite. Onotnatoparia is the use of a word, phrase, or clause to imitate