The Apostrophe: is a figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and was able to reply.

Example of Apostrophe Literary Term

The Sun Rising by John Donne

Busy old fool, unruly sun,Why dost thou thus,Through windows, and through curtains call on us?

Anastrophe: rhetorical device which demonstrates the inversion of the natural order of words; as,

echoed the hills, for, the hills echoed. The adjective appears after the noun when we expect to find the

adjective before the noun.

Poets use this figure of speech to convey and emphasize unusual and vivid images. The use of

strong word association changes the mode of thought and adds variation, embellishment and

adornment to literary works.

Example:

1. Just Because by Natalie Dorsch

I walked up the door,shut the stairs,said my shoes, took off my prayers,turned off my bed,got into the light,all becauseyou kissed me goodnight.

2. Long time the manxome foe he sought" from Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

Synecdoche and Metonymy

Synecdoche and metonymy are used frequently and you don’t even know it!

1. Metonymy (from the Greek, "change of name") simply means substituting one word for another with which it is closely associated/related.

2. Synecdoche (si'-nek-doh-kee) is a form of metonymy; it is a specific term employed when you use a part of the thing to mean the whole thing itself.

An example of metonymy is the phrase "the Oval Office today reports," where the Oval Office is intended to represent the President of the United States. Obviously, walls do not truly speak (although we sometimes wish that they could, especially those walls). When the press or an individual speaks of the Oval Office, the term generally means the powers that it represents and the authority of the president.

Further examples of metonymy: "He writes a fine hand" (meaning good handwriting) "The pen is mightier than the sword" (meaning literary power is superior to military force) "The House was called to order" (meaning the members in the House) "We have always remained loyal to the crown" (meaning the king) "He is a man of the cloth" (meaning “he” is a priest, a religious man)

Synecdoche (si'-nek-doh-kee) for example, is used in the phrase "all hands on deck," where “hands” represent the men attached to them. After all, when the captain of a ship calls out that phrase, no one assumes he means that the sailors should literally cut their hands off and throw them on the deck. "Get your butt over here" is another well-known form of synecdoche.

In the end, metonymy simply means substituting one word for another word it is associated with, so synecdoche is a form of metonymy (where a part equals the whole).

Let’s read some poetry that uses these forms of figurative language…

Example #1

“Out, Out,” by Robert Frost

The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yardAnd made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.And from there those that lifted eyes could countFive mountain ranges one behind the other

5Under the sunset far into Vermont.And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,As it ran light, or had to bear a load.And nothing happened: day was all but done.Call it a day, I wish they might have said

10

To please the boy by giving him the half hourThat a boy counts so much when saved from work.His sister stood beside him in her apronTo tell them "Supper." At the word, the saw,As if it meant to prove saws know what supper meant, 15Leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap - He must have given the hand. However it was, Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!Half in appeal, but half as if to keepThe life from spilling. Then the boy saw all -

20Since he was old enough to know, big boyDoing a man's work, though a child at heart - He saw all was spoiled. "Don't let him cut my hand off - The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!"So. The hand was gone already.

25The doctor put him in the dark of ether.He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.And then - the watcher at his pulse took a fright.No one believed. They listened to his heart.Little - less - nothing! - and that ended it.

No more to build on there. And they, since they30

Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.

1. This is a narrative poem—briefly tell the story.2. Describe the use of metonymy in line 20:

1. METONYMY Describe the use of metonymy in line 20: of Frost’s “Out, Out” (the injured boy holds up his hand "as if to keep / the life from spilling";--the “life” represents the boy’s blood; the line tells us that the hand is bleeding and the boy's life is in danger)

Example #2

“Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening,” by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound's the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

1. Circle three words that illustrate the mood of the poem.

2. Why would we apply the term synecdoche to the narrator’s little journey in the poem? (What does this journey represent?)

2. SYNECDOCHE: “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” uses synecdoche because the little journey in the poem represents life's journey

Example #3“War Is Kind,” by Stephen Crane

Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind,Because your lover threw wild hands toward the skyAnd the affrighted steed ran on alone,Do not weep.War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,Little souls who thirst for fight,These men were born to drill and die.The unexplained glory flies above them.Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom--A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.Because your father tumbles in the yellow trenches,Raged at his breast, gulped and died,Do not weep.War is kind.

Swift blazing flag of the regiment,Eagle with crest of red and gold,These men were born to drill and

die.Point for them the virtue of slaughter,Make plain to them the excellence of killingAnd a field where a thousand corpses lie.

Mother whose heart hung humble as a buttonOn the bright splendid shroud of your son,Do not weep.War is kind!

2. Describe how the “little souls” in stanza two would be an example of metonymy (what do these “souls” represent?).

3. METONYMY: The “little souls” represent the men [while this may sound like synecdoche, it is debatable that the souls are a part of the men].

Now, test yourself with the following examples (which examples illustrate metonymy and which are examples of synecdoche?):

1. Sweden today reports a dire shortage of plutonium.

2. When I am done with this article, I plan to hit the bottle.

3. Bow to the overwhelming crown.

4. There are over fifty head of cattle in that strange and wild herd.

(1-Metonymy, where 'Sweden' is representative of the Powers purporting;2-Synecdoche, where 'bottle' is a directly the container of the wine;3-Metonymy, where my 'crown' represents the inherent power within;4-Synecdoche, where 'head' is representative of the entire herd.)

When you talk about the "Heads of State," you are using synecdoche. If, however, you were to grumble about the "Head of America,” you are using synecdoche and metonymy. For example,in the phrase “Head of America,” the “head” represents the president (synecdoche) and the word “America” is substituted for the entire country (metonymy).

Confused? Here's the easy way out. The difference between metonymy and synecdoche is that in metonymy, the term you are using is linked to the thing that you mean, but is not directly a part of it. A hand, as used in the above example “all hands on deck” represents the body that it is attached to, and thus not metonymy but synecdoche.