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SUGGESTIONS.

1. In using a part for the whole, the language must be so expressed that it may not be taken literally. Thus,

"Six hands were dismissed," is correct.

"Six hands were injured," is faulty.

2. In using the whole for a part, the figure must be confined to those cases in which great magnitude is to be implied or where a disagreeable word is to be avoided.

EXERCISE.

Point out the figures of Synecdoche in the following, and show in what form the figure occurs:

1. More than fifty sail were visible on the bay.

2. There went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

3. Give us this day our daily bread.

4. All hands were busy at work.

5. I am glad we are under roof for the night.

6. Youth and beauty shall be laid in the dust.

7. Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain. 8. Miles of hulls lay rotting in the harbor.

9. Let us count noses?

10. Probably a thousand head of cattle grazed on the prairie.

11. She was a sprightly maid of sixteen summers.

12. The busy fingers toil on.

13. America shall hear the cry of the oppressed.

14. All the world knows that the man of blood and iron is

like all such men of imperious will.

15. The district has been convulsed on the question of the appointment.

EXERCISE.

1. Select five sentences each containing a figure of synecdoche. 2. Construct five sentences each containing a figure of synecdoche.

7. EXCLAMATION.

Exclamation is a figure by which a plain or simple. fact is uttered with emotion. Not every exclamation, however, is a figure of speech. The interjections of the language are plain not figurative language, yet they are all exclamations. Exclamation is a figure only when what would otherwise be a plain declarative statement is expressed in an exclamatory and emotional form. Thus,

What a terrible crime !

What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action, how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!— Shakespeare's Hamlet.

EXERCISE.

1. Select five sentences containing the figure of exclamation.

2. Construct five sentences illustrating the figure of exclamation. 3. Change the figure of exclamation in the foregoing to plain language, and note the loss of force.

8. HYPERBOLE.

Hyperbole is a figure in which the object is either exaggerated or disparaged. Objects are represented to be either greater or less, or better or worse, than they really are.

Hyperbole is used more frequently by the Eastern nations than by either Europeans or Americans. It is used also to a much greater extent by young persons than by those of more mature years, possibly because of the greater activity of the imagination in youth. Hyperbolical expressions like the fol lowing, "As cold as ice," "As white as snow,' 'As quick as lightning," are very common even in conversation, and all of them exaggerate beyond the bounds of truth the quality they compare.

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Hyperbole is used for the purpose of impressing the mind with the magnitude or the importance of the object or quality which enters into the comparison. It is not expected that the hyperbole should be taken literally. It was Bayard Taylor who said that in his travels among the Arabs he could make himself understood only by the use of hyperbole, for the rea son that the people of that nation speak almost wholly in this figure when making comparisons.

Hyperbole is sometimes used to produce a humorous effect. Burdette introduces an example effectively where he speaks of a young man "whose face so burned with embarrassment that it would scorch an iceberg brown in ten minutes."

The hyperbole indulged in by young persons should not be encouraged, as it is likely to cling to the speech of those who use it, and they continue to speak of awfully lovely bonnets, of splendid puddings, of adoring tomatoes, and the like.

SUGGESTIONS.

1. Hyperbole should be Used Sparingly.-The continued use of hyperbole not only tires the ear, but also leads the reader to doubt the statements of the writer.

2. The Terms of an Hyperbole should be Consistent.— Thus, we should not speak of one's being powerful weak, or of the weather's being as cold as blazes, or of persons' being exquisitely ugly, and the like.

3. Violent Hyperbole should not be Used in Description or Narration.

4. In order to have Force, an Hyperbole should be Briefly Expressed.-The effect of an hyperbole is lost when too many words are used as preliminary to the hyperbole itself.

5. Hyperbole is not Appropriate to Scientific Statements.

EXERCISE.

Point out the figures of Hyperbole in the following:

1. Falstaff, thou globe of flesh, spotted o'er with continents of sin.-Shakespeare.

2. Here Orpheus sings; trees, moving to the sound,

Start from their roots, and form a shade around.-Pope. 2. They (Saul and Jonathan) were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions.

4. His mind was a vast magazine of knowledge.

5.

The sky shrunk upward with unusual dread,

And trembling Tiber dived beneath his bed.-Dryden.

6. The diamonds in thine eyes might furnish crowns for all the queens of earth.

7. I saw their chief, tall as a rock of ice; his spear, the blasted fir; his shield, the rising moon: he sat on the shore like a cloud of mist on the hill.-Ossian.

EXERCISE.

Criticise the following hyperboles:

1.

2.

I found her on the floor,

In all the storm of grief, yet beautiful;

Pouring forth tears at such a lavish rate

That, were the world on fire, they might have drowned
The wrath of Heaven and quenched the mighty ruin.

All armed in brass, the richest dress of war

(A dismal, glorious sight), he shone afar.

The sun himself started with sudden fright

To see his beams return so dismal bright.-Cowley.

3. I have bought myself a magnificent pair of gloves.

4. Her speech was, I thought, mighty funny.

5. The amount that I received for my share was immensely small.

EXERCISE.

1. Select five sentences containing Hyperbole.

2. Construct five sentences each containing a figure of hyperbole.

3. Reconstruct the sentences so as to express the thought in plain language.

9. APOSTROPHE,

Apostrophe is a figure in which the absent is addressed as though present. It sometimes also addresses the inanimate as though living. The word "apostrophe" means a turning away. The figure is therefore one in which we turn from the regular manner of speaking, and address the object in an impassioned manner. There can be no apostrophe without intense feeling.

Apostrophe may exist in either of two forms:

a. Pure Apostrophe; as, "O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee!"

b. Apostrophe combined with Personification; as in Byron's apostrophe to the ocean:

"Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean! roll."

Note. In the latter form the object must be personified before it can be addressed.

EXERCISE.

Select five sentences containing figures of apostrophe, and state whether the figure is pure apostrophe or apostrophe combined with personification.

10. VISION.

Vision is a figure which represents past events or imaginary objects and scenes as if actually present to the senses. It is sometimes called imagery.

Use. The chief use of Vision is to give to past or imaginary events the interest which belongs to that which is present. The following example illustrates the figure:

"Cæsar leaves Gaul, crosses the Rubicon, and enters Italy."

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