TRACKS AND STYLISTIC FIGURES.

TRAILS(Greek tropos - turn, turn of speech) - words or turns of speech in a figurative, allegorical sense. Trails are an important element of artistic thinking. Types of tropes: metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, litote, etc.

STYLISTIC FIGURES- figures of speech used to enhance the expressiveness (expressiveness) of the statement: anaphora, epiphora, ellipse, antithesis, parallelism, gradation, inversion, etc.

HYPERBOLA (Greek hyperbole - exaggeration) - a kind of trail based on exaggeration ("rivers of blood", "sea of ​​laughter"). By means of hyperbole, the author enhances the desired impression or emphasizes what he glorifies and what he ridicules. Hyperbole is already found in the ancient epic among different peoples, in particular in Russian epics.
In the Russian litera, N.V. Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, and especially

V. Mayakovsky ("I", "Napoleon", "150,000,000"). In poetic speech, hyperbole is often intertwinedwith other artistic means (metaphors, personifications, comparisons, etc.). The opposite - litotes.

LITOTA (Greek litotes - simplicity) - a trope opposite to hyperbole; figurative expression, turnover, which contains an artistic understatement of the size, strength, significance of the depicted object or phenomenon. There is a litote in folk tales: "a boy with a finger", "a hut on chicken legs", "a peasant with a fingernail".
The second name for litotes is meiosis. The opposite of litote hyperbola.

N. Gogol often addressed the litote:
“Such a small mouth that it cannot miss more than two pieces” N. Gogol

METAPHOR(Greek metaphora - transfer) - trope, hidden figurative comparison, transferring the properties of one object or phenomenon to another based on common features (“work is in full swing”, “forest of hands”, “dark personality”, “stone heart” ...). In metaphor, unlike

comparisons, the words "as", "as if", "as if" are omitted, but implied.

Nineteenth century, iron,

Truly a cruel age!

You in the darkness of the night, starless

Careless abandoned man!

A. Blok

Metaphors are formed according to the principle of personification ("water runs"), reification ("nerves of steel"), distraction ("field of activity"), etc. Various parts of speech can act as a metaphor: verb, noun, adjective. Metaphor gives speech exceptional expressiveness:

In every carnation fragrant lilac,
Singing, a bee crawls in ...
You ascended under the blue vault
Above the wandering crowd of clouds...

A. Fet

The metaphor is an undivided comparison, in which, however, both members are easily seen:

With a sheaf of their oatmeal hair
You touched me forever...
The eyes of a dog rolled
Golden stars in the snow...

S. Yesenin

In addition to verbal metaphor, metaphorical images or extended metaphors are widely used in art:

Ah, my bush withered my head,
Sucked me song captivity
I am condemned to hard labor of feelings
Turn the millstones of poems.

S. Yesenin

Sometimes the entire work is a broad, detailed metaphorical image.

METONYMY(Greek metonymia - renaming) - tropes; replacing one word or expression with another based on the proximity of meanings; the use of expressions in a figurative sense ("foaming glass" - meaning wine in a glass; "forest noise" - trees are meant; etc.).

The theater is already full, the boxes are shining;

Parterre and chairs, everything is in full swing ...

A.S. Pushkin

In metonymy, a phenomenon or object is denoted with the help of other words and concepts. At the same time, signs or connections that bring these phenomena together remain; Thus, when V. Mayakovsky speaks of "a steel speaker dozing in a holster," the reader easily guesses in this image the metonymic image of a revolver. This is the difference between metonymy and metaphor. The idea of ​​a concept in metonymy is given with the help of indirect signs or secondary meanings, but this is precisely what enhances the poetic expressiveness of speech:

You led swords to a plentiful feast;

Everything fell with a noise before you;
Europe perished; grave dream
Worn over her head...

A. Pushkin

When is the shore of hell
Forever will take me
When forever fall asleep
Feather, my consolation...

A. Pushkin

PERIPHRASE (Greek periphrasis - roundabout, allegory) - one of the tropes in which the name of an object, person, phenomenon is replaced by an indication of its features, as a rule, the most characteristic, enhancing the figurativeness of speech. ("king of birds" instead of "eagle", "king of beasts" - instead of "lion")

PERSONALIZATION(prosopopoeia, personification) - a kind of metaphor; transferring the properties of animate objects to inanimate ones (the soul sings, the river plays ...).

my bells,

Steppe flowers!

What are you looking at me

Dark blue?

And what are you talking about

On a happy May day,

Among the uncut grass

Shaking your head?

A.K. Tolstoy

SYNECDOCHE (Greek synekdoche - correlation)- one of the tropes, a type of metonymy, consisting in the transfer of meaning from one object to another on the basis of a quantitative relationship between them. Synecdoche is an expressive means of typification. The most common types of synecdoche are:
1) Part of the phenomenon is called in the sense of the whole:

And at the door
jackets,
overcoats,
sheepskin coats...

V. Mayakovsky

2) The whole in the meaning of the part - Vasily Terkin in a fist fight with a fascist says:

Oh, how are you! Fight with a helmet?
Well, isn't it a vile parod!

3) Singular in the meaning of general and even universal:

There a man groans from slavery and chains...

M. Lermontov

And the proud grandson of the Slavs, and the Finn ...

A. Pushkin

4) Replacing a number with a set:

Millions of you. Us - darkness, and darkness, and darkness.

A. Blok

5) Replacing a generic concept with a specific one:

We beat a penny. Very well!

V. Mayakovsky

6) Replacing a specific concept with a generic one:

"Well, sit down, luminary!"

V. Mayakovsky

COMPARISON - a word or expression containing the likening of one object to another, one situation to another. (“Strong as a lion”, “said how he cut off” ...). A storm covers the sky with mist,

Whirlwinds of snow twisting;

The way the beast she howls

He will cry like a child...

A.S. Pushkin

"Like a steppe scorched by fires, Grigory's life became black" (M. Sholokhov). The idea of ​​the blackness and gloom of the steppe evokes in the reader that dreary and painful feeling that corresponds to the state of Gregory. There is a transfer of one of the meanings of the concept - "scorched steppe" to another - the internal state of the character. Sometimes, in order to compare some phenomena or concepts, the artist resorts to detailed comparisons:

The view of the steppe is sad, where there are no obstacles,
Exciting only a silver feather grass,
Wandering flying aquilon
And before him freely drives the dust;
And where around, no matter how vigilantly you look,
Meets the gaze of two or three birches,
Which under the bluish haze
Blacken in the evening in the empty distance.
So life is boring when there is no struggle,
Penetrating into the past, distinguish
There are few things we can do in it, in the color of years
She will not cheer the soul.
I need to act, I do every day
I would like to make immortal like a shadow
Great hero, and understand
I can't what it means to rest.

M. Lermontov

Here, with the help of expanded S. Lermontov, he conveys a whole range of lyrical experiences and reflections.
Comparisons are usually connected by unions "as", "as if", "as if", "exactly", etc. Non-union comparisons are also possible:
"Do I have curls - combed linen" N. Nekrasov. Here the union is omitted. But sometimes it's not meant to be:
"Tomorrow is the execution, the usual feast for the people" A. Pushkin.
Some forms of comparison are built descriptively and therefore are not connected by conjunctions:

And she is
At the door or at the window
The early star is brighter,
Fresh morning roses.

A. Pushkin

She is sweet - I will say between us -
Storm of the court knights,
And you can with southern stars
Compare, especially in verse,
Her Circassian eyes.

A. Pushkin

A special type of comparison is the so-called negative:

The red sun does not shine in the sky,
Blue clouds do not admire them:
Then at the meal he sits in a golden crown
The formidable Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich is sitting.

M. Lermontov

In this parallel depiction of two phenomena, the form of negation is at the same time a way of comparing and a way of transferring meanings.
A special case is the forms of the instrumental case used in comparison:

It's time, beauty, wake up!
Open your closed eyes,
Towards North Aurora
Be the star of the north.

A. Pushkin

I do not soar - I sit like an eagle.

A. Pushkin

Often there are comparisons in the accusative case with the preposition "under":
"Sergey Platonovich ... sat with Atepin in the dining room, pasted over with expensive, oak-like wallpaper ..."

M. Sholokhov.

IMAGE -a generalized artistic reflection of reality, clothed in the form of a specific individual phenomenon. Poets think in images.

It is not the wind that rages over the forest,

Streams did not run from the mountains,

Frost - warlord patrol

Bypasses his possessions.

ON THE. Nekrasov

ALLEGORY(Greek allegoria - allegory) - a concrete image of an object or phenomenon of reality, replacing an abstract concept or thought. A green branch in the hands of a person has long been an allegorical image of the world, a hammer has been an allegory of labor, etc.
The origin of many allegorical images should be sought in the cultural traditions of tribes, peoples, nations: they are found on banners, coats of arms, emblems and acquire a stable character.
Many allegorical images date back to Greek and Roman mythology. So, the image of a woman blindfolded and with scales in her hands - the goddess Themis - is an allegory of justice, the image of a snake and a bowl is an allegory of medicine.
Allegory as a means of enhancing poetic expressiveness is widely used in fiction. It is based on the convergence of phenomena according to the correlation of their essential aspects, qualities or functions and belongs to the group of metaphorical tropes.

Unlike a metaphor, in an allegory, the figurative meaning is expressed by a phrase, a whole thought, or even a small work (fable, parable).

GROTESQUE (French grotesque - bizarre, comical) - an image of people and phenomena in a fantastic, ugly-comic form, based on sharp contrasts and exaggerations.

Enraged at the meeting, I burst into an avalanche,

Spouting wild curses dear.

And I see: half of the people are sitting.

O devilry! Where is the other half?

V. Mayakovsky

IRONY (Greek eironeia - pretense) - an expression of mockery or slyness through allegory. A word or statement acquires in the context of speech a meaning that is opposite to the literal meaning or denies it, calling it into question.

Servant of powerful masters,

With what noble courage

Thunder with speech you are free

All those who had their mouths shut.

F.I. Tyutchev

SARCASM (Greek sarkazo, lit. - tear meat) - contemptuous, caustic mockery; the highest degree of irony.

ASSONANCE (French assonance - consonance or respond) - repetition in a line, stanza or phrase of homogeneous vowel sounds.

Oh spring without end and without edge -

Endless and endless dream!

A. Blok

ALLITERATION (SOUND)(lat. ad - to, with and littera - letter) - the repetition of homogeneous consonants, giving the verse a special intonational expressiveness.

Evening. Seaside. Sighs of the wind.

The majestic cry of the waves.

Storm is near. Beats on the shore

A black boat alien to charms ...

K. Balmont

ALLUSION (from Latin allusio - joke, hint) - a stylistic figure, a hint through a similar-sounding word or mention of a well-known real fact, historical event, literary work ("Gerostratus's glory").

ANAPHORA(Greek anaphora - pronouncement) - repetition of initial words, lines, stanzas or phrases.

You are poor

You are abundant

You are beaten

You are almighty

Mother Russia!…

ON THE. Nekrasov

ANTITHESIS (Greek antithesis - contradiction, opposition) - a pronounced opposition of concepts or phenomena.
You are rich, I am very poor;

You are a prose writer, I am a poet;

You are blush, like a poppy color,

I am like death, and thin and pale.

A.S. Pushkin

You are poor
You are abundant
You are powerful
You are powerless...

N. Nekrasov

So few roads traveled, so many mistakes made...

S. Yesenin.

Antithesis enhances the emotional coloring of speech and emphasizes the thought expressed with its help. Sometimes the whole work is built on the principle of antithesis

APOCOPE(Greek apokope - cutting off) - artificial shortening of a word without losing its meaning.

... Suddenly, out of the forest

The bear opened its mouth on them ...

A.N. Krylov

Lay, laugh, sing, whistle and clap,

People's talk and horse top!

A.S. Pushkin

ASYNDETON (asyndeton) - a sentence with no conjunctions between homogeneous words or parts of a whole. A figure that gives speech dynamism and richness.

Night, street, lamp, pharmacy,

A meaningless and dim light.

Live at least a quarter of a century -

Everything will be like this. There is no exit.

A. Blok

POLYUNION(polysyndeton) - excessive repetition of unions, creating additional intonational coloring. The opposite figureunionlessness.

Slowing down speech with forced pauses, polyunion emphasizes individual words, enhances its expressiveness:

And the waves are crowding, and rushing back,
And they come again, and hit the shore ...

M. Lermontov

And boring and sad, and there is no one to give a hand to ...

M.Yu. Lermontov

GRADATION- from lat. gradatio - gradualness) - a stylistic figure in which definitions are grouped in a certain order - the increase or decrease in their emotional and semantic significance. Gradation enhances the emotional sound of the verse:

I do not regret, do not call, do not cry,
Everything will pass like smoke from white apple trees.

S. Yesenin

INVERSION(lat. inversio - rearrangement) - a stylistic figure, consisting in a violation of the generally accepted grammatical sequence of speech; rearrangement of parts of the phrase gives it a peculiar expressive shade.

Traditions of antiquity deep

A.S. Pushkin

Doorman past he's an arrow

Flew up the marble steps

A. Pushkin

OXYMORON(Greek oxymoron - witty-stupid) - a combination of contrasting, opposite in meaning words (a living corpse, a giant dwarf, the heat of cold numbers).

PARALLELISM(from the Greek. parallelos - walking side by side) - an identical or similar arrangement of speech elements in adjacent parts of the text, creating a single poetic image.

Waves crash in the blue sea.

The stars are shining in the blue sky.

A. S. Pushkin

Your mind is as deep as the sea.

Your spirit is as high as mountains.

V. Bryusov

Parallelism is especially characteristic of works of oral folk art (epics, songs, ditties, proverbs) and literary works close to them in their artistic features (“The Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov” by M. Yu. Lermontov, “Who Lives Well in Russia” N. A Nekrasov, "Vasily Terkin" by A. T, Tvardovsky).

Parallelism can have a broader thematic character in content, for example, in the poem by M. Yu. Lermontov "The clouds of heaven are eternal wanderers."

Parallelism can be both verbal and figurative, as well as rhythmic, compositional.

PARCELLATION- an expressive syntactic technique of intonational division of a sentence into independent segments, graphically identified as independent sentences. ("And again. Gulliver. Standing. Stooping" P. G. Antokolsky. "How courteous! Good! Mila! Simple!" Griboedov. "Mitrofanov grinned, stirred the coffee. Squinted."

N. Ilyina. “He had a fight with a girl. And that's why." G. Uspensky.)

TRANSFER (French enjambement - stepping over) - a mismatch between the syntactic articulation of speech and articulation into verses. When transferring, the syntactic pause within a verse or half-line is stronger than at its end.

Peter comes out. His eyes

Shine. His face is terrible.

The movements are fast. He is beautiful,

He's all like God's thunderstorm.

A. S. Pushkin

RHYME(Greek "rhythmos" - harmony, proportionality) - variety epiphora ; the consonance of the ends of poetic lines, creating a sense of their unity and kinship. Rhyme emphasizes the boundary between verses and links verses into stanzas.

ELLIPSIS (Greek elleipsis - loss, omission) - a figure of poetic syntax based on the omission of one of the members of the sentence, easily restored in meaning (most often the predicate). This achieves dynamism and conciseness of speech, a tense change of action is transmitted. Ellipsis is one of the default types. In artistic speech, it conveys the excitation of the speaker or the intensity of the action:

We sat down - in ashes, cities - in dust,
In swords - sickles and plows.

Perhaps the most confusing and most difficult topic for those who are not friends with literature and verbal figures. If you have never been impressed by classical literature, and especially poetry, then perhaps familiarity with this topic will allow you to look at many works through the eyes of the author, will generate interest in the artistic word.

Trails - verbal turns

Paths make speech brighter and more expressive, more interesting and richer. These are words and their combinations used in a figurative sense, which is why the very expressiveness of the text appears. Paths help convey various shades of emotions, recreate true images and pictures in the mind of the reader, with their help, the master of the word evokes certain associations in the mind of the reader.

Along with the syntactic means of the language, tropes (relating to lexical means) are quite powerful weapons in the literary sphere. It is worth paying attention to the fact that many tropes have moved from the literary language to colloquial speech. We have become so accustomed to them that we have ceased to notice the indirect meaning of such words, which is why they have lost their expressiveness. It is not uncommon: the tropes are so "beaten" with colloquial speech that they become clichés and clichés. The once expressive phrases "black gold", "brilliant mind", "golden hands" have become habitual and hackneyed.

Trail classification

In order to understand and clearly find out which words and expressions, in what context, are referred to as figurative and expressive means of the language, we turn to the following table.

trails	Definition	Examples
Epithet	Called to define something artistically (object, action), most often expressed by an adjective or adverb	Turquoise eyes, monstrous character, indifferent sky
Metaphor	In fact, this is a comparison, but hidden by transferring the properties of one object or phenomenon to another.	The soul sings, consciousness floats away, the head buzzes, an icy look, a sharp word
Metonymy	Rename. This is the transfer of the properties of one object, phenomenon to another on the basis of adjacency	Brew chamomile (and not chamomile tea), the school went on a subbotnik (replacing the word "students" with the name of the institution), read Mayakovsky (replacing the work with the name of the author)
Synecdoche (is a type of metonymy)	Transferring the name of an object from part to whole and vice versa	Save a penny (instead of money), the berry has ripened this year (instead of the berry), the buyer is now demanding (instead of buyers)
Hyperbola	Trope based on excessive exaggeration (properties, sizes, events, meanings, etc.)	I told you a hundred times, stood in line all day, scared me to death
paraphrase	Semantically indivisible expression that figuratively describes any phenomenon, object, indicating its feature (with a negative or positive meaning)	Not a camel, but a ship of the desert, not Paris, but the capital of fashion, not an official, but a clerical rat, not a dog, but a friend of man
Allegory	Allegory, expression of an abstract concept using a concrete image	Fox - cunning, ant - diligence, elephant - clumsiness, dragonfly - carelessness
Litotes	Same as hyperbole, only in reverse. Understatement of something in order to give expressiveness	How the cat cried, I earn my penny, thin as a reed
Oxymoron	Combination of incompatible, contrasting, contradictory	Loud silence, back to the future, hot cold, beloved enemy
Irony	Using a word in a sense completely opposite to its meaning for the purpose of ridicule	Come into my mansions (about a small apartment), it will cost you a pretty penny (big money)
personification	Transferring the properties and qualities of living beings to inanimate objects and concepts to which they are not inherent	The rain is crying, the foliage is whispering, the blizzard is howling, sadness has attacked
Antithesis	A trope based on a sharp opposition of any images or concepts	I was looking for happiness in this woman, And accidentally found death. S. Yesenin
Euphemism	An emotionally and semantic neutral word or combination of words used instead of unpleasant, rude, indecent expressions	Places are not so remote (instead of prison), it has a peculiar character (instead of bad, hard)

From the examples it becomes clear that the figurative and expressive means of the language, namely the tropes, are used not only in works of art, but also in live colloquial speech. It is not necessary to be a poet in order to have a competent, juicy, expressive speech. It is enough to have a good vocabulary and the ability to express thoughts outside the box. Saturate your lexical pantries with reading quality literature, this is extremely useful.

Figurative means of phonetics

Paths are only part of the arsenal of artistic means of expression. That which is intended to act specifically on our hearing is called phonetic figurative and expressive means of language. Once having delved into the essence of the phonetic component of the artistry of the language, you begin to look at many things with different eyes. There comes an understanding of the play on words in the verses of the school curriculum, once studied "through force", the poetics and beauty of the syllable are revealed.

It is best to consider examples of the use of phonetic means of expression, relying on classical Russian literature, this is the richest source of alliteration and assonance, as well as other types of sound writing. But it would be wrong to think that examples of figurative and expressive means of language are not found in contemporary art. Advertising, journalism, songs and poems by modern performers, proverbs, sayings, tongue twisters - all this is an excellent base for finding figures of speech and tropes, you just need to learn to hear and see them.

Alliteration, assonance and others

Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonants or their combinations in a poem, which gives the verse sound expressiveness, brightness, originality. For example, the sound [h] of Vladimir Mayakovsky in "A Cloud in Pants":

You entered

sharp, like "here!",

mucha suede gloves,

"You know -

I'm getting married".

or right there:

I'll get stronger.

See -

how calm!

Like the pulse of the dead.

Remember?...

And here is a modern example. From the singer Yuta ("Fall"):

I will smoke and eat bread,

Staring in the hallway at the dusty ceiling ...

Assonance - a specially organized repetition of consonant sounds (more often in a poetic text), which gives the verse musicality, harmony, song. Masterfully created phonetic device can convey the atmosphere, setting, state of mind and even surrounding sounds. Vladimir Mayakovsky's carefully crafted assonance bears a tinge of fluid hopelessness:

Your son is very sick!

He has a heart of fire.

Tell the sisters

Luda and Ole,—

he has nowhere to go.

In Vladimir Vladimirovich, in any poem, figurative and expressive means of a phonetic nature are combined with tropes and syntactic figures. This is the author's uniqueness.

Punning rhymes are combinations of words and sounds built on the similarity of sound.

The area of ​​rhymes is my element,

And I write poetry easily,

Without hesitation, without delay

I run to line from line

Even to the Finnish brown rocks

I'm dealing with a pun.

D. D. Minaev

Syntactic means of expression in the language

Epiphora and anaphora, inversion, parcellation and a number of other syntactic means help the master of verbal art to saturate his works with expressiveness, creating an individual style, character, rhythm.

Some syntactic techniques enhance the expressiveness of speech, logically highlight what the author wants to emphasize. Others give the narrative dynamism, tension, or, conversely, make you stop and think, re-read and feel. Many writers and poets have their own individual style based precisely on syntax. Suffice it to recall A. Blok:

"Night, street, lamp, pharmacy"

or A. Akhmatov:

"Twenty-one. Night. Monday"

The individual author's style, of course, consists not only of syntax, there is a whole set of all components: semantic, linguistic, as well as rhythm and vision of reality. And yet an important role is played by what figurative and expressive means of language the artist of the word prefers.

Syntax to help artistic expression

Inversion (permutation, reversal) is a reverse or non-standard word order in a sentence. In prose, it is used to semantic highlight any part of a sentence. In poetic form, it is necessary to create a rhyme, focusing on the most important points. In Marina Tsvetaeva's poem "An Attempted Jealousy", the inversion conveys an emotional strain:

How do you live - hello -

Maybe? Singing - how?

With a plague of immortal conscience

How are you, poor man?

A. S. Pushkin considered inversion to be perhaps the most important means of poetic expression, his poems are mostly inversion, which is why they are so musical, expressive, and simple.

A rhetorical question in a literary text is one that does not require an answer.

The day was innocent and the wind was fresh.

The dark stars went out.

- Grandmother! — This cruel rebellion

In my heart - is it not from you? ..

A. Akhmatova

In the lyrics of Marina Tsvetaeva, the favorite devices were a rhetorical question and a rhetorical exclamation:

I'll ask for a chair, I'll ask for a bed:

“For what, for what do I endure and suffer?”

I taught to live in the fire itself,

I threw it myself - into the icy steppe!

That's what you, dear, did to me!

My dear, what have I done to you?

Epiphora, Anaphora, Ellipse

Anaphora - the repetition of similar or identical sounds, words, phrases at the beginning of each line, stanza, sentence. A classic example is Yesenin's poems:

I did not know that love is an infection,

I didn't know love was a plague....

Ah, wait. I don't scold her.

Ah, wait. I don't curse her...

Epiphora - the repetition of the same elements at the end of phrases, stanzas, lines.

Foolish heart, don't beat!

We are all deceived by happiness

The beggar only asks for participation ...

Foolish heart, don't beat.

Both stylistic figures are more characteristic of poetry than prose. Such techniques are found in all types and genres of literature, including oral folk art, which is very natural, given its specificity.

An ellipse is an omission in a literary text of any language unit (it is easy to restore), while the meaning of the phrase does not suffer.

The fact that yesterday is waist-deep,

Suddenly - to the stars.

(Exaggerated, that is:

In all - growth.)

M. Tsvetaeva

This gives dynamism, brevity, highlights the desired element in the sentence intonationally.

In order to clearly navigate in all the variety of linguistic figures and professionally understand the name of a visual and expressive means, experience, knowledge of theory and language disciplines are needed.

The main thing is not to overdo it

If we perceive the surrounding information through the prism of linguistic means of expression, we can conclude that even colloquial speech refers to them quite often. It is not necessary to know the name of the figurative-expressive means of the language in order to use it in speech. Rather, it happens unintentionally, imperceptibly. Another thing is when various figures of speech flow in the media, to the point and not quite. The abuse of tropes, stylistic devices, and other means of expression makes speech hard to perceive, oversaturated. Publicism and advertising are especially guilty of this, apparently because they deliberately use the power of language to influence the audience. The poet, in the impulse of the creative process, does not think about what figurative and expressive means to use, this is a spontaneous, "emotional" process.

Language is the strongest tool in the hands of the classics

Each era leaves its mark on the language and its visual means. Pushkin's language is far from the creative style of Mayakovsky. The poetics of Tsvetaeva's heritage differs sharply from the unique texts of Vladimir Vysotsky. The poetic language of A. S. Pushkin is permeated with epithets, metaphors, personifications, I. A. Krylov is a fan of allegory, hyperbole, irony. Each writer has his own style, created by him in the creative process, in which his favorite pictorial images play an important role.

Writing, as mentioned in this is an interesting creative process with its own characteristics, tricks and subtleties. And one of the most effective ways to highlight the text from the general mass, giving it uniqueness, unusualness and the ability to arouse genuine interest and a desire to read in full are literary writing techniques. They have been in use at all times. First, directly by poets, thinkers, writers, authors of novels, short stories and other works of art. Nowadays, they are actively used by marketers, journalists, copywriters, and indeed all those people who from time to time need to write a bright and memorable text. But with the help of literary techniques, you can not only decorate the text, but also give the reader the opportunity to more accurately feel what exactly the author wanted to convey, look at things with.

It doesn’t matter if you are a professional writer, taking your first steps in writing, or creating a good text just appears on your list of duties from time to time, in any case, it is necessary and important to know what literary techniques a writer has. The ability to use them is a very useful skill that can be useful to everyone, not only in writing texts, but also in ordinary speech.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the most common and effective literary techniques. Each of them will be provided with a vivid example for a more accurate understanding.

Literary devices

Aphorism

• “To flatter is to tell a person exactly what he thinks of himself” (Dale Carnegie)
• "Immortality costs us our lives" (Ramon de Campoamor)
• "Optimism is the religion of revolutions" (Jean Banvill)

Irony

Irony is a mockery in which the true meaning is opposed to the real meaning. This creates the impression that the subject of the conversation is not what it seems at first glance.

• The phrase said to the loafer: “Yes, I see you are working tirelessly today”
• A phrase said about rainy weather: "The weather is whispering"
• The phrase said to a man in a business suit: "Hi, are you jogging?"

Epithet

An epithet is a word that defines an object or action and at the same time emphasizes its feature. With the help of an epithet, you can give an expression or phrase a new shade, make it more colorful and bright.

• Proud warrior, stay strong
• Suit fantastic colors
• beauty girl unprecedented

Metaphor

A metaphor is an expression or word based on the comparison of one object with another on the basis of their common features, but used in a figurative sense.

• Nerves of steel
• The rain is drumming
• Eyes on the forehead climbed

Comparison

Comparison is a figurative expression that connects various objects or phenomena with the help of some common features.

• From the bright light of the sun, Eugene was blind for a minute. like mole
• My friend's voice was like creak rusty door loops
• The mare was frisky as blazing the fire campfire

allusion

An allusion is a special figure of speech that contains an indication or hint of another fact: political, mythological, historical, literary, etc.

• You are just a great schemer (a reference to the novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov "The Twelve Chairs")
• They made the same impression on these people that the Spaniards had on the Indians of South America (a reference to the historical fact of the conquest of South America by the conquistadors)
• Our trip could be called "The Incredible Movements of Russians in Europe" (a reference to the film by E. Ryazanov "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia")

Repeat

Repetition is a word or phrase that is repeated several times in one sentence, giving additional semantic and emotional expressiveness.

• Poor, poor little boy!
• Scary, how scared she was!
• Go, my friend, go ahead boldly! Go boldly, don't be shy!

personification

Personification is an expression or word used in a figurative sense, by means of which the properties of animate are attributed to inanimate objects.

• Winter storm howls
• Finance sing romances
• Freezing painted window patterns

Parallel designs

Parallel constructions are voluminous sentences that allow the reader to create an associative link between two or three objects.

• “The waves are splashing in the blue sea, the stars are shining in the blue sea” (A.S. Pushkin)
• “A diamond is polished by a diamond, a line is dictated by a line” (S.A. Podelkov)
• “What is he looking for in a distant land? What did he throw in his native land? (M.Yu. Lermontov)

Pun

A pun is a special literary technique in which different meanings of the same word (phrases, phrases) that are similar in sound are used in one context.

• The parrot says to the parrot: "Parrot, I will parrot you"
• It was raining and my father and I
• “Gold is valued by weight, and by pranks - by a rake” (D.D. Minaev)

Contamination

Contamination is the appearance of one new word by combining two others.

• Pizza boy - pizza delivery boy (Pizza (pizza) + Boy (boy))
• Pivoner - beer lover (Beer + Pioneer)
• Batmobile - Batman's car (Batman + Car)

Streamlined Expressions

Streamlined expressions are phrases that do not express anything specific and hide the personal attitude of the author, veil the meaning or make it difficult to understand.

• We will change the world for the better
• Permissible loss
• It's neither good nor bad

Gradations

Gradations are a way of constructing sentences in such a way that homogeneous words in them increase or decrease the semantic meaning and emotional coloring.

• “Higher, faster, stronger” (J. Caesar)
• Drop, drop, rain, downpour, that's pouring like a bucket
• “He was worried, worried, went crazy” (F.M. Dostoevsky)

Antithesis

Antithesis is a figure of speech that uses a rhetorical opposition of images, states or concepts that are interconnected by a common semantic meaning.

• “Now an academician, now a hero, now a navigator, now a carpenter” (A.S. Pushkin)
• “Who was nobody, he will become everything” (I.A. Akhmetiev)
• “Where the table was food, there is a coffin” (G.R. Derzhavin)

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a stylistic figure that is considered a stylistic mistake - it combines incompatible (opposite in meaning) words.

• Living Dead
• Hot Ice
• Beginning of the End

So what do we see as a result? The amount of literary devices is amazing. In addition to those listed by us, one can name such as parcellation, inversion, ellipsis, epiphora, hyperbole, litote, periphrase, synecdoche, metonymy and others. And it is this diversity that allows any person to apply these techniques everywhere. As already mentioned, the “sphere” of the application of literary techniques is not only writing, but also oral speech. Supplemented with epithets, aphorisms, antitheses, gradations and other techniques, it will become much brighter and more expressive, which is very useful in mastering and developing. However, we must not forget that the abuse of literary techniques can make your text or speech pompous and by no means as beautiful as you would like. Therefore, you should be restrained and careful when applying these techniques so that the presentation of information is concise and smooth.

For a more complete assimilation of the material, we recommend that you, firstly, familiarize yourself with our lesson on, and secondly, pay attention to the writing style or speech of prominent personalities. There are a huge number of examples: from ancient Greek philosophers and poets to the great writers and orators of our time.

We will be very grateful if you take the initiative and write in the comments about what other literary techniques of writers you know, but which we did not mention.

We would also like to know if reading this material was useful for you?

The topic of our article is the means of expression in a poem. What it is, we will describe below. As an example of analysis and to consolidate the material, the reader is invited to pay attention to F. Tyutchev's poem "Leaves" and Pushkin's beautiful poetic lines "Winter Morning".

What are means of expression?

A means of expressiveness of speech is a complex of sound (phonetic), syntactic, lexical or phraseological elements used to achieve the best effect from what was said, attract attention, emphasize certain aspects in speech.

Allocate:

• Sound (phonetic) means. This includes the use of certain sounds that are repeated periodically, giving a special sound. Such methods were often used by symbolist poets. For example, the well-known poem by Konstantin Balmont "Reeds" fascinates with hissing sounds, which create the effect of the noise of reeds.
• Syntax. These are the features of the construction of proposals. For example, V. Mayakovsky has short, biting phrases that immediately draw attention to the topic.
• Phraseological. This includes the use by the author or the so-called popular expressions - aphorisms.
• Lexical and semantic: related to the word and its meaning.
• Trails. Most often they are inherent in artistic speech. These are metaphors and metonymy, hyperbole.

Means of expression in a poem

Before turning to the poem and studying its means of expression, it is worth paying attention to the style of this genre. As we said above, each genre uses its own means of expression. Most often, these ways of emphasizing the author's intent are found in the artistic style. Poetry is definitely an artistic genre (with some very rare exceptions), so the means of expression in the poem are used so that the reader can perceive more information, better understand the author. For prose writers, the form and style allow them not to be constrained in the size of their works, while it is more difficult for poets to fit their feelings and thoughts, vision and understanding into relatively short lines.

The most commonly used methods of expressiveness in poetry

Expressiveness in the poem is quite diverse. They are not the property of a particular author, as they have been created and improved over decades. But with specific examples and favorite means, sometimes it becomes very easy to recognize the author. The poetry of Sergei Yesenin, for example, is always filled with beautiful epithets and amazing metaphors. If a person who knows his style is read an unknown poem, most likely, he will name the author without a hitch.

Means of expression in the poem:

• Allegory. Its essence is in the expression of an object or character trait through a certain image. For example, a wolf in fairy tales and fables is always an allegorical symbol of cruelty, ferocity, self-will.
• Hyperbole and litote. Simply put, artistic exaggeration and understatement.
• Antithesis. A way of expressiveness, which is achieved by comparing or placing two or more contrasting concepts side by side. A. S. Pushkin, for example, says about the storm: “Like a beast, she will howl, then she will cry like a child.”
• the same beginning of several lines, as in the brilliant poem by Konstantin Simonov "Wait for me."
• Alliteration. The use of consonant sounds of a specific sound range, as in Balmont's "Reeds", hissing sounds alternating with each other, create a mystical presence of plant noise at night.
• Metaphor. The figurative meaning of a word based on one or more features. "The old woman's hut" by Yesenin, for example. The flimsy hut is compared with an old woman due to the advanced age of both.
• Metonymy. One word instead of another, or a part instead of the whole.
• Personification. Reception, when the properties of a living object are attributed to an inanimate object.
• Comparison and epithet. The first is when one object is compared with another for the best effect of information transfer. The second one is known to many from literature lessons and is an artistic definition.

Means of expressiveness in the poem "Leaves" by Tyutchev

In order to better consolidate the topic, we will consider specific poems and, using their example, we will try to figure out what expressive techniques are.

This poetic attempt of the writer to understand the meaning of life, to mourn its transience is a real masterpiece of landscape lyrics. She is, as it were, a monologue of leaves that are sad about their fate and the summer that has flown by so imperceptibly.

There are many means of expression here. This is both personification (leaves speak, reflect, the author presents them to the reader as living beings), and antithesis (leaves oppose themselves to needles), and comparison (“hedgehog needles” they call pine needles). Here we can also see alliteration techniques (sounds "zh", "h", "sh").

Playing with temporary forms of verbs helps the author to achieve the effect of dynamics, movement. Thanks to this technique, the reader practically feels the transience of time and the movement of leaves. Well, like any poem, "Leaves" was not without the use of epithets. There are a lot of them here, they are colorful and lively.

Pay attention to the size of the poem. In just four short lines, the poet uses many means of expression and raises several philosophical questions. Always be attentive when reading poetry, and you will be pleasantly surprised at how much the author tells us.

Poem "Winter Morning"

The means of expression of the poem "Winter Morning" delight with their diversity. This work is an example of the best landscape lyrics.

Techniques that A.S. Pushkin uses to achieve a special mood - this is primarily an antithesis. The opposition of the gloomy yesterday and the beautiful today makes both pictures of nature - a cold snow storm and a beautiful morning - into separate canvases. The reader seems to see both the noise of a blizzard and blinding snow.

Special positive epithets “charming”, “magnificent”, “wonderful” emphasize the mood of the author and convey it to us. There is also personification in poetry. The blizzard is “angry” here, and the haze “rushed” across the gloomy sky.

Finally

The means of expressiveness of speech do not just decorate and complement speech, they make it lively, artistic. They are like bright colors with which the artist enlivens his picture. Their goal is to emphasize and draw attention, enhance the impression, perhaps even surprise. Therefore, when reading poetry, do not rush, think about what the author wants to convey. Skipping the thoughts of the great artists of the word hidden between the lines, you lose a lot.

Comparison- this is a comparison of one object or phenomenon with another on some basis, based on their similarity. The comparison can be expressed:

- using unions (like, as if, exactly, as if, as if, like, than):

I am in tenderness, silently, gently

I love you like a child!

(A.S. Pushkin);

- instrumental form: And the network, lying on the sand as a thin penetrating shadow, moves, continuously grows with new rings.(A.S. Serafimovich);

- using words like similar, similar: The rich are not like you and me(E. Hemingway);

- by means of negation:

I'm not such a bitter drunkard,

To die without seeing you.

(S.A. Yesenin);

- the comparative degree of an adjective or adverb:

Neater than fashionable parquet

The river shines, dressed in ice.

(A.S. Pushkin)

Metaphor- this is the transfer of the name (properties) of one object to another according to the principle of their similarity in some respect or by contrast. This is the so-called hidden (or abbreviated) comparison, in which conjunctions as, as if, as if… missing. For example: lush gold of the autumn forest(K.G. Paustovsky).

Types of metaphor are personification and reification.

personification- this is an image of inanimate objects, in which they are endowed with properties, features of living beings. For example: And the fire, trembling and wavering in the light, looked uneasily with red eyes at the cliff that stood out for a second from the darkness.(A.S. Serafimovich).

reification- it is likening living beings to inanimate objects. For example: The front ranks lingered, the back ranks grew thicker, and the flowing human river stopped, as noisy waters stop in silence, blocked in their channel.(A.S. Serafimovich).

Metonymy- this is the transfer of a name from one object to another on the basis of the associative adjacency of these objects. For example: The whole gymnasium is beating in hysterically convulsive sobs.(A.S. Serafimovich).

Synecdoche(a kind of metonymy)- this is the ability of a word to name both the whole through its part, and the part of something through the whole. For example: Flashed black visors, boots with a bottle, jackets, black coats(A.S. Serafimovich).

Epithet- this is an artistic definition that emphasizes some feature (property) of an object or phenomenon, which is a definition or circumstance in a sentence. The epithet can be expressed:

- adjective:

Cabbage blue freshness.

And red maples in the distance.

Last gentle tenderness

Silent autumn land.

(A. Zhigulin);

- noun: Clouds of heaven, eternal wanderers(M.Yu. Lermontov);

- adverb: And the midday waves sweetly rustle(A.S. Pushkin).

Hyperbola - this is a means of artistic representation, based on an excessive exaggeration of the properties of an object or phenomenon. For example: The sidewalk whirlwinds rushed the pursuers themselves so strongly that they sometimes overtook their headdresses and came to their senses only when they bumped into the feet of the bronze figure of Catherine's nobleman, who was standing in the middle of the square (And.BUT . Ilf, E.P. Petrov).

Litotes - this is an artistic technique based on the underestimation of any properties of an object or phenomenon. For example: Tiny toy people sit for a long time under the white mountains near the water, while grandfather's eyebrows and rough mustache move angrily(A.S. Serafimovich).

Allegory- it is an allegorical expression of an abstract concept or phenomenon through a specific image. For example:

You say: windy Hebe,

Feeding Zeus' eagle

A loud-boiling goblet from the sky,

Laughing, she spilled it on the ground.

(F. I. Tyutchev)

Irony- this is an allegory expressing mockery, when a word or statement in the context of speech acquires a meaning that is directly opposite to the literal one or calls it into question. For example:

"Did you all sing? this business:

So come on, dance!”

(I.A. Krylov)

Oxymoron- This is a paradoxical phrase in which contradictory (mutually exclusive) properties are attributed to an object or phenomenon. For example: Diderot was right when he said that art consists in finding the extraordinary in the ordinary and the ordinary in the extraordinary.(K.G. Paustovsky).

paraphrase- it is the replacement of a word with an allusive descriptive expression. For example: Direct debt obligated us to enter this awesome crucible of Asia(so the author called the smoking bay of Kara-Bugaz) (K.G. Paustovsky).

Antithesis- opposition of images, concepts, properties of objects or phenomena, which is based on the use of antonyms. For example:

I had everything, suddenly lost everything;

The dream has just begun… the dream is gone!

(E. Baratynsky)

Repeat- This is the repeated use of the same words and expressions. For example: My friend, my tender friend… I love… yours… yours!..(A.S. Pushkin).

The types of repetition are anaphora and epiphora.

Anaphora (unity) - this is the repetition of the initial words in adjacent lines, stanzas, phrases. For example:

You are full of an immense dream,

You are full of mysterious longing.

(E. Baratynsky)

Epiphora- this is the repetition of final words in adjacent lines, stanzas, phrases. For example:

We do not appreciate earthly happiness,

We are accustomed to appreciate people;

We both will not change ourselves,

And they can't change us.

(M.Yu. Lermontov)

gradation- this is a special grouping of homogeneous members of a sentence with a gradual increase (or decrease) in semantic and emotional significance. For example:

And for him they rose again

And deity, and inspiration,

And life, and tears, and love.

(A.S. Pushkin)

Parallelism- this is a repetition of the type of adjacent sentences or phrases, in which the order of the words coincides, at least partially. For example:

I'm bored without you – i yawn;

With you I'm sad – I tolerate…

(A.S. Pushkin)

Inversion - this is a violation of the generally accepted word order in a sentence, a rearrangement of parts of a phrase. For example:

There once in the mountains, full of heart thoughts,

Over the sea I dragged thoughtful laziness…

(A.S. Pushkin)

Ellipsis - this is the omission of individual words (usually easily recovered in context) to give the phrase additional dynamism. For example: Less and less often Afinogenych transported pilgrims. For weeks - no one(A.S. Serafimovich).

Parceling- an artistic technique in which the sentence is divided into separate segments, graphically highlighted as independent sentences. For example: They didn't even look at the one they brought, one of the thousands who had been here. Searched. Made measurements. Recorded signs(A.S. Serafimovich).

Rhetorical question (appeal, exclamation) – this is a question (address, exclamation) that does not require an answer. Its function is to attract attention, enhance the impression. For example: What's in a name?(A.S. Pushkin)

Asyndeton- deliberate omission of unions to give speech dynamism. For example:

Lure with exquisite attire,

A play of eyes, a brilliant conversation ...

(E. Baratynsky)

polyunion- this is a conscious repetition of unions in order to slow down speech with forced pauses. At the same time, the semantic significance of each word highlighted by the union is emphasized. For example:

And every language that is in it will call me,

And the proud grandson of the Slavs, and the Finn, and now wild

Tungus, and a Kalmyk friend of the steppes.

(A. S. Pushkin)

Phraseologisms, synonyms and antonyms are also used as means of enhancing the expressiveness of speech.

Phraseological unit, or phraseological unit- this is a stable combination of words that functions in speech as an expression indivisible in terms of meaning and composition: lie on the stove, beat like a fish on ice, neither day nor night.

Synonyms- These are words of the same part of speech that are close in meaning. Synonym types:

- general language: bold - brave;

- contextual:

You will hear the judgment of a fool and the laughter of the cold crowd:

But you remain firm, calm and gloomy.

(A.S. Pushkin)

Antonyms- These are words of the same part of speech with opposite meanings. Types of antonyms:

- general language: kind angry;

- contextual:

I give you a place:

It's time for me to smolder, for you to bloom.

(A.S. Pushkin)

As you know, the meaning of a word is most accurately determined in the context of speech. This allows, in particular, to determine the value ambiguous words, as well as distinguish homonyms(words of the same part of speech, coinciding in sound or spelling, but having different lexical meanings: tasty fruit is a reliable raft, marriage in work is a happy marriage).