Figures of speech

05.04.2006

<o:p></o:p>

F I G U R E S OF S P E E C H <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'figure of speech', sometimes termed a rhetorical figure or device, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. Figures of speech are often used and crafted for emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. However, clarity may also suffer from their use.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Note that not all theories of meaning necessarily have a concept of "literal language" . Under theories that do not, ''figure of speech'' is not an entirely coherent concept.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

As an example of the figurative use of a word, consider the sentence, ''I am going to crown you.'' It may mean:<o:p></o:p>

*I am going to place a literal crown on your head.<o:p></o:p>

*I am going to symbolically exalt you to the place of kingship.<o:p></o:p>

*I am going to punch you in the head with my clenched fist.<o:p></o:p>

*I am going to put a second checker on top of your checker to signify that it has become a king.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Classification<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Figures of speech have been classified into a number of different categories. Most figures originated out of centuries of philological commentary on ancient texts, and so most are named from Greek or Latin, as they originally were meant to classify grammatical peculiarities of those languages.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Scholars of classical Western rhetoric have divided figures of speech into two main categories: schemes and tropes. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Schemes are figures of speech in which there is a deviation from the ordinary or expected pattern of words. For example, the phrase, "John, my best friend" uses the scheme known as apposition. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'trope' is a rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words, i.e. using a word in a way other than what is considered its literal or normal form. The other major category of figures of speech is the scheme, which involves changing the ''pattern'' of words in a sentence.<o:p></o:p>

Trope comes from the Greek word, ''tropos'', which means a "turn", as in ''heliotrope'', a flower which turns toward the sun. We can imagine a trope as a way of turning a word away from its normal meaning, or turning it into something else.<o:p></o:p>

A large number of tropes have been identified, among them:<o:p></o:p>

metonymy as in ''association''.<o:p></o:p>

irony as in ''contraries''.<o:p></o:p>

metaphor as in ''comparatives''.<o:p></o:p>

synecdocheas in the distribution of the ''whole'' into the ''part''.<o:p></o:p>

An example of a trope is the use of irony, which is the use of word in a way that conveys a meaning opposite to its usual meaning ("For Brutus is an honorable man; / So, are they all, honorable men").<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

During the Renaissance, a time when scholars in every discipline had a passion for classifying all things, writers spent a great deal of energy divising all manner of classes and sub-classes of figures of speech. Henry Peacham, for example, in his ''The Garden of Eloquence'' (1577) enumerated 184 different figures of speech. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

For the sake of simplicity, this article divides the figures between schemes and tropes, but does not attempt further sub-classification (e.g., "Figures of Disorder"). Within each category, words are listed alphabetically. Some of those listed may be considered rhetorical devices, which are similar in many ways.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Schemes<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

*accumulatio: Summarization of previous arguments in a forceful manner.<o:p></o:p>

*alliteration: Repetition of consonants in nearby words.<o:p></o:p>

*anacoluthon: A change in the syntax within a sentence.<o:p></o:p>

*anadiplosis: Repetition of a word at the end of a clause at the beginning of another.<o:p></o:p>

*anaphora: The repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.<o:p></o:p>

*anastrophe: Inversion of the usual word order.<o:p></o:p>

*antimetabole: Repetition of words in successive clauses, in reverse order.<o:p></o:p>

*antistrophe: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.<o:p></o:p>

*antithesis: The juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas.<o:p></o:p>

*aposiopesis: Breaking off or pausing speech for dramatic or emotional effect.<o:p></o:p>

*apposition: The placing of two elements side by side, in which the second defines the first.<o:p></o:p>

*assonance: Alliteration on the first sound in words.<o:p></o:p>

*asyndeton: Omission of conjunctions between related clauses.<o:p></o:p>

*cacophony: The juxtaposition of words for a harsh sound.<o:p></o:p>

*chiasmus: Reversal of grammatical structures in successive clauses.<o:p></o:p>

*Climax : The arrangement of words in order of increasing importance.<o:p></o:p>

*ellipsis: Omission of words.<o:p></o:p>

*enallage: The substitition of forms that are grammatically different, but have the same meaning. <o:p></o:p>

*enthymeme: Informal method of presenting a syllogism.<o:p></o:p>

*epanalepsis: Repetition of a word at the end of a clause at the beginning of another.<o:p></o:p>

*epistrophe: Repetition of a word at the beginning and end of a clause.<o:p></o:p>

*hendiadys: Use of two nouns to express an idea when the normal structure would be a noun and a modifier.<o:p></o:p>

*hendiatris: Use of three nouns to express one idea.<o:p></o:p>

*hypallage: Changing the order of words so that they are associated with words normally associated with others.<o:p></o:p>

*hyperbaton: Schemes featuring unusual or inverted word order.<o:p></o:p>

*isocolon: Use of parallel structures of the same length in successive clauses.<o:p></o:p>

*parallelism: The use of similar structures in two or more clauses.<o:p></o:p>

*paraprosdokian: Unexpected ending or truncation of a clause.<o:p></o:p>

*parenthesis: Insertion of a clause or sentence in a place where it interrupts the natural flow of the sentence.<o:p></o:p>

*perissologia: The fault of wordiness.<o:p></o:p>

*pleonasm: The use of superfluous or redundant words.<o:p></o:p>

*polyptoton: Repetition of words derived from the same root.<o:p></o:p>

*polysyndeton: Repetition of conjunctions.<o:p></o:p>

*synchysis: Interlocked word order.<o:p></o:p>

*synesis: An agreement of words according to the sense, and not the grammatical form.<o:p></o:p>

*synonymia: The use of two or more synonyms in the same clause or sentence.<o:p></o:p>

*tautology: Redundancy due to superfluous qualification; saying the same thing twice.<o:p></o:p>

*tmesis: Insertion of one word between the syllables of a word or between the elements of a compound word.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Tropes<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

*allegory: An extended metaphor in which a story is told to illustrate an important attribute of the subject.<o:p></o:p>

*anacoenosis: Posing a question to an audience, often with the implication that it shares a common interest with the speaker.<o:p></o:p>

*antanaclasis: A form of pun in which a word is repeated in two different senses.<o:p></o:p>

*anthimeria: The substitution of one part of speech for another, often turning a noun into a verb.<o:p></o:p>

*antiphrasis: A word or words used contradictory to their usual meaning, often with irony.<o:p></o:p>

*antonomasia: The substitution of a phrase for a proper name or vice versa.<o:p></o:p>

*aphorismus: Calling into question the meaning of a term.<o:p></o:p>

*aporia: Deliberating with oneself, often with the use of rhetorical questions.<o:p></o:p>

*apostrophe: Addressing a thing, an abstraction or a person not present.<o:p></o:p>

*archaism: Use of an obsolete, archaic, word.<o:p></o:p>

*auxesis: A form of hyperbole, in which a more important sounding word is used in place of a more descriptive term.<o:p></o:p>

*catachresis: A mixed metaphor (sometimes used by design and sometimes a rhetorical fault).<o:p></o:p>

*circumlocution: "Talking around" a topic by substituting or adding words, as in euphemism or periphrasis.<o:p></o:p>

*denominatio: Another word for metonymy.<o:p></o:p>

*euphemism: Substitution of a less offensive or more agreeable term for another.<o:p></o:p>

*hysteron proteron: Reversal of anticipated order of events.<o:p></o:p>

*hyperbole: Use of exaggerated terms for emphasis.<o:p></o:p>

*innuendo *irony: Use of word in a way that conveys a meaning opposite to its usual meaning.<o:p></o:p>

*litotes: Ephasizing the magnitude of a statement by denying its opposite<o:p></o:p>

*malapropism: Using a word through confusion with a word that sounds similar.<o:p></o:p>

*meiosis: Use of understatement, usually to diminish the importance of something.<o:p></o:p>

*metalepsis: Referring to something through reference to another thing to which it is remotely related.<o:p></o:p>

*metaphor: An implied comparison of two things.<o:p></o:p>

*metonymy: Substitution of a word to suggest what is really meant.<o:p></o:p>

*oxymoron: Using two terms that normally contradict each other together.<o:p></o:p>

*parable: An extended metaphor told as an anecdote to illustrate or teach a moral lesson.<o:p></o:p>

*paradox: Use of apparently contradictory ideas to point out some underlying truth.<o:p></o:p>

*paralipsis: Drawing attention to something while pretending to pass it over.<o:p></o:p>

*paronomasia: A form of pun, in which words similar in sound but with different meanings are used.<o:p></o:p>

*pathetic fallacy: Using a word that refers to a human action on something non-human.<o:p></o:p>

*periphrasis: Substitution of a word or phrase for a proper name.<o:p></o:p>

*personification/prosopopoeia/anthropomorphism: Attributing a personality to some impersonal object.<o:p></o:p>

*procatalepsis: Refuting anticipated objections as part of the main argument.<o:p></o:p>

*proslepsis: An extreme form of paralipsis in which the speaker provides great detail while feigning to pass over a topic.<o:p></o:p>

*rhetorical question: Asking a question as a way of asserting something<o:p></o:p>

*simile: An explicit comparison between two things.<o:p></o:p>

*syllepsis: A form of pun, in which a single word is used to modify two other words, with which it normally would have differing meanings.<o:p></o:p>

*synecdoche: A form of metonymy, in which a part stands for the whole.<o:p></o:p>

*transferred epithet: The placing of an adjective with what appears to be the incorrect noun.<o:p></o:p>

*zeugma: a figure of speech related to syllepsis, but different in that the word used as a modifier is not compatible with one of the two words it modifies.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Main figures of speech<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'buzzword' (also known as a 'fashion word') is an idiom, often a neologism, commonly used in technical, administrative, and sometimes political environments. Buzzwords appear ubiquitously but their actual meanings often remain unclear.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Buzzwords are typically intended to create the impression of knowledge for a wide audience. They tend to be non-controversial and universal.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Buzzwords differ from jargon in that they have the function of impressing or of obscuring meaning, while jargon (ideally) has a well-defined technical meaning, if only to specialists. However, the hype surrounding new technologies often turns technical terms into buzzwords.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A buzzword may or may not appear in a dictionary, and if it does, its meaning as a buzzword may not match the conventional definition. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'euphemism' is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

When a phrase is used as a euphemism, it often becomes a metaphor whose literal meaning is dropped. Euphemisms are often used to hide unpleasant or disturbing ideas, even when the literal term for them is not necessarily offensive. This type of euphemism is used in public relations and politics, where it is sometimes called doublespeak. There are also superstitious euphemisms, based (consciously or unconsciously) on the idea that words have the power to bring bad fortune and religious euphemisms, based on the idea that some words are sacred, or that some words are spiritually imperiling.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'metaphor' is a rhetorical trope where a comparison is made between two seemingly unrelated subjects. Typically, a first object is described as being a second object. Some see metaphor as a basic cognitive function, while others prefer the term analogy for this concept. However, metaphor is not always used for practical description and understanding; sometimes it is used for purely aesthetic reasons. Metaphors are commonly confused with similes, which use the words "like" or "as."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'cliché' (from French 'cliché', onomatopoeia for stereotype originally was a printing term for a semi-permanently assembled piece of type which could easily be inserted into the document being printed. It has come to mean a phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force or novelty, especially when at some time it was considered distinctively forceful or novel. By extension, "cliché" applies also to almost any situations, subjects, characterisations, or objects that have similarly become overly familiar or commonplace. Their meanings may also be misunderstood leading to them being often misused. As a result, many feel that they should not be used and are seen as an indicator of lack of creativity, innovation, or sincerity. Because the novelty or frequency of an expression's use varies between different times and places, whether a given expression is a cliché depends largely on who uses it and who makes the judgment. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

On the other hand, there can also be advantages to using clichés. The use of a cliché that is well known to the audience can help keep the storytelling on a fast pace without as much explanation and elaboration. They can also help in connecting with the audience by showing them something with which they are familiar or can relate to.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Example:<o:p></o:p>

Once upon a time... <o:p></o:p>

And they all lived happily ever after<o:p></o:p>

Between a rock and a hard place <o:p></o:p>

What goes around, comes around <o:p></o:p>

'Accumulatio' is a figure of speech, which the points made previously are presented again in a compact, forceful manner. It often employs the use of Climax in the summation of a speech.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The word is from the Latin, and means "to amass."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Anastrophe' is a figure of speech involving an inversion of the natural order of words; for example, saying "echoed the hills" to mean "the hills echoed". In English, with its settled word order, departure from the expected word order emphasizes the displaced word or phrase: "beautiful" is emphasized in the City Beautiful urbanist movement; "primeval" comes to the fore in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's line "This is the forest primeval". Where the emphasis that comes from anastrophe is not an issue, "inversion" is a perfectly suitable synonym.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Antanaclasis is a stylistic trope, in which a single word is repeated, but with a different meaning each time. It is a common device in and in advertising slogans. Some examples:

"Your argument is ''sound''...all ''sound''. Benjamin Franklin <o:p></o:p>

"If you aren't ''fired'' with enthusiasm, you will be ''fired'' with enthusiasm." Vince Lombardi<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

An ''antiphrasis'' is a figure of speech that is a word used in an abnormal sense esp. ironic.<o:p></o:p>

Examples:<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

"He is but a youngster" (describing a middle-aged man)<o:p></o:p>

"The past is strongest in its resurrection; but she will have neither." (succumbing to nostalgia; from "Three-Fold Flowers" by Andrea Duerme)<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Antithesis' Greek for "setting opposite", from ''anti'' = against and ''thesis'' = position) means a direct contrast or exact opposition to something. Hell is the antithesis of Heaven, chaos the antithesis of order.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In rhetoric, it is figure of speech involving the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences, within a parallel grammatical structure, as in the following:---"When there is need of silence, you speak, and when there is need of speech, you are dumb; when present, you wish to be absent, and when absent, you desire to be present; in peace you are for war, and in war you long for peace; in council you descant on bravery, and in the battle you tremble."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Aphorismus' is a figure of speech that calls into question the meaning of a word ("How can you call yourself a man?"). It often appears in the form of a rhetorical question and is meant to imply a distinction between the present subject and the general notion or ideal of the subject.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

It is sometimes confused with the word, "aphorism," which means "a wise saying." <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Apophasis' is a rhetorical figure of speech wherein the speaker or writer invokes a subject by denying that it should be invoked. As such, it can be seen as a rhetorical relative of irony. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The device is typically used to distance the speaker from unfair claims, while still bringing them up. For instance, a politician might say ''I don't even want to talk about the allegations that my opponent is a drunk.''<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The most common English construction is the phrase "not to mention," as in ''She is talented, not to mention rich.'' This construction is so common that it has lost much, if not all, of the device's rhetorical power. "Not to mention" no longer serves here as a device to separate the speaker from the claim of richness, but is just another way of saying "and."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Aporia in rhetoric is a figure of speech that expresses a speakers doubt - often feigned - about his position or asks the audience rhetorically how he or she should proceed. It is also referred to as ''dubitatio''. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

For example (Demosthenes ''On The Crown'', 129)<o:p></o:p>

I am at no loss for information about you and your family; but I am at a loss where to begin. Shall I relate how your father Tromes was a slave in the house of Elpias, who kept an elementary school near the Temple of Theseus, and how he wore shackles on his legs and a timber collar round his neck? or how your mother practised daylight nuptials in an outhouse next door to Heros the bone-setter, and so brought you up to act in tableaux vivants and to excel in minor parts on the stage?<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'brachyology' is a figure of speech that is an abbreviated expression.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples: the omission of "good" in "good morning"<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A bromide is a phrase, or person who uses phrases, which have been used and repeated so many times as to become either insincere in their meaning, or seem like an attempt at trying to explain the obvious.<o:p></o:p>

A few example bromides:

"He is told that lie so often that he believes it himself, now." <o:p></o:p>

"This will be just like taking candy from a baby." <o:p></o:p>

"It is not the heat/cold, it is the humidity." <o:p></o:p>

"I do not know much about art, but I know what I like." <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Catachresis' is the (usually intentional) use of any figure of speech that flagrantly violates the norms of a language community. Compare malapropism.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Common forms of catachresis are:<o:p></o:p>

* Using a word to denote something radically different from its normal meaning: 'Tis deepest winter in Lord Timon's purse – Shakespeare, Timon of Athens<o:p></o:p>

* Using a word out of context: 'Can't you hear that? Are you blind?'<o:p></o:p>

* Using paradoxical or contradictory logic. <o:p></o:p>

* Creating an illogical mixed metaphor: To take arms against a sea of troubles...; Shakespeare, Hamlet<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Catachresis is often used to convey extreme emotion or alienation, and is prominent in baroque literature and, more recently, in the avant-garde.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In rhetoric, 'climax' is a figure of speech, in which words, phrases, or clauses are arranged in order of increasing importance. It is sometimes used with anadiplosis, which uses the repetition of a word or phrase in successive clauses.<o:p></o:p>

Climax is from the Greek word for "ladder".<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples:<o:p></o:p>

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." 1 Corinthians 13:13<o:p></o:p>

"I think we've reached a point of great decision, not just for our nation, not only for all humanity, but for life upon the earth." George Wald ''A Generation in Search of a Future'', March 4, 1969.<o:p></o:p>

"...Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour. William Shakespeare, ''The Passionate Pilgrim, XIII''<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Similarly an 'anti-climax' is an abrupt declension (either deliberate or unintended) on the part of a speaker or writer from the dignity of idea which he appeared to be aiming at; as in the following well-known distich:<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

"The great Dalhousie, he, the god of war,''<o:p></o:p>

''Lieutenant-colonel to the earl of Mar.''<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

An anticlimax can be intentionally employed only for a jocular or satiric purpose. It frequently partakes of the nature of antithesis, as :<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

"Die and endow a college or a cat."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

It is often difficult to distinguish between "anticlimax" and "bathos"; but the former is more decidedly a relative term. A whole speech may never rise above the level of bathos; but a climax of greater or less elevation is the necessary antecedent of an anticlimax.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'double entendre' is a figure of speech similar to the pun, in which a spoken phrase can be understood in either of two ways. The first, literal meaning is an innocent one, while the second meaning is often risqué and requires the hearer to have some additional knowledge. Although a French term, the French generally say ''double entente'' or ''double sens'' for such phrases.<o:p></o:p>

example If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In language, both 'dysphemism' and 'cacophemis' are rough opposites of euphemism, meaning the usage of an intentionally harsh word or expression instead of a polite one.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The latter is generally used more often in the sense of something deliberately offensive, while the former can be either offensive or merely humorously deprecating. <o:p></o:p>

Dysphemism is as common as euphemism in everyday usage. No sports team actually ''slaughters'' or ''annihilates'' another; few companies ''crush'' their competition; no one is ''dumb as a box of hair'' (nor, for that matter, a box of rocks or bricks, or a sack of hammers, with or without their heads).<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

An 'epanadiplosis' is a figure of speech where the sentence begins and ends with the same word.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Example: "Severe to his servants, to his children severe."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The 'epanalepsis' is a figure of speech which consists in the repetition of the beginning word of a clause or sentence in the end. The beginning and the end are the two positions of stronger emphasis in a sentence so, by having the same word in both places, you call special attention to it.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples: ''The king'' is dead, long live ''the king''.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

An 'epanodos' is a figure of speech in which the parts of a sentence or clause are repeated in inverse order.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples: "O more exceeding love, or law more just? Just law, indeed, but more exceeding love!" John Milton.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

An 'epanorthosis' is a figure of speech that signifies emphatic word replacement.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples: "thousands, no, millions!"<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

An 'epizeuxis' is a figure of speech that denotes a phrase or word repeated with emphasis.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples: "The time has come, my man, the time has come!"<o:p></o:p>

An 'eponym' is a person, whether real or fictitious, whose name has (or is thought to have) given rise to the name of a particular place, tribe, discovery, or other item. An 'eponymous' person is the same as an eponym. In contemporary English, the term 'eponymous' is often used to mean "self-titled." The word 'eponym' can also be used for the thing titled.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Glittering generalities' are emotionally appealing words so closely associated with highly valued concepts and beliefs that they carry conviction without supporting information or reason. They appeal to such emotions such as as love of country, home; desire for peace, freedom, glory, honor, etc. They ask for approval without examination of the reason. They are a typically used by politicians and propagandists. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The 'homeoptoton' (from the Greek ''homoióptoton'', «similar in the cases»), is a figure of speech, characteristical of the flexive languages, consisting in ending the last words of single parts of the speech with the same cases: for instance, in Latin, two consecutive and correlated sentences ending both in accusative.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Example:'Am I to praise a man abounding in good luck, but lacking in virtue?'.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In rhetoric, 'litotes' is a figure of speech in which the speaker emphasizes the magnitude of a statement by denying its opposite. The literal meaning of a litotes is "not X (but not necessarily Y)", but a litotes is an understatement, actually meaning "very much Y". As with many figures of speech, the correct interpretation of litotes therefore depends on the cultural setting. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples:<o:p></o:p>

"That edge was not useless / to the warrior now." (Beowulf; about a sword)<o:p></o:p>

"He was not unfamiliar with the works of Dickens."<o:p></o:p>

"The food wasn't bad."<o:p></o:p>

'Meiosis' is a figure of speech which intentionally understates something or implies that it is less in significance, size, than it really is. It is a form of litotes, but where litotes is often uses understatement to amplify the importance of something, meiosis aims to make its subject appear smaller. For example, a lawyer defending a schoolboy who has set fire to his school, might call the act of arson, a "prank."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In rhetoric, a 'merism' is a figure of speech by which a single thing is referred to by a conventional phrase that enumerates several of its parts, or which lists several synonyms for the same thing.<o:p></o:p>

example when God creates ''the heavens and the earth'' (King James Version of the Bible), the two parts combine to indicate that God created the whole universe.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Metalepsis' is a figure of speech in which one thing is referenced by something else which is only remotely associated with it. Often the association works through a different figure of speech, or through a chain of cause-and-effect. Oftentimes ''metalepsis'' refers to the combination of several figures of speech into an altogether new one.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples:<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

"I've got to go catch the worm tomorrow morning.'<o:p></o:p>

'The early bird catches the worm' is a common maxim in english, advocating getting an early start on the day to achieve success.<o:p></o:p>

The subject, by referencing this maxim, is comparing herself to the bird.<o:p></o:p>

Therefore, the subject is conveying that she wishes to awaken early tomorrow in order to achieve success. 'Metalepsis' is a figure of speech in which one thing is referenced by something else which is only remotely associated with it. Often the association works through a different figure of speech, or through a chain of cause-and-effect. Oftentimes 'metalepsis' refers to the combination of several figures of speech into an altogether new one.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

An 'oxymoron' (plural "oxymora") (noun) is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms (e.g. "anarchy rules"). Oxymoron is a Greek term derived from the adjectives ''oxys'' ("sharp, keen") and ''moros'' ("blunt, dull"). Oxymora are a proper subset of the expressions called contradiction in terms. What distinguishes oxymora from other paradoxes and contradictions is that they are used intentionally, for rhetorical effect, and the contradiction is only apparent, as the combination of terms provides a novel expression of some concept.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The most common form of oxymoron involves an adjective-noun combination. <o:p></o:p>

For example, the following line from Tennyson's ''Idylls of the King'' contains two oxymora: "And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true"<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'palilogy' is a figure of speech that is a repetition of word or phrase for emphasis.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples: "He cannot be good, knows not why he is good, but stands good."<o:p></o:p>

"That answer is wrong, wrong, wrong!!!"<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'paralipsis' or 'paraleipsis' (from the Greek: ''leave aside'') is a rhetorical figure or figure of speech in which one emphasises something by pretending not to mention it (also known as ''preterition''). Typically, a paralipsis is introduced by phrases such as ; we need say nothing of, or; not to mention.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Example: The restaurant was dirty and noisy, not to mention the waiters.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'parasyntheton' is a word formed by adding an affix to a compounded phrase.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples: kind-hearted. light-headed<o:p></o:p>

'Periphrasis' is a figure of speech where the meaning of a word or phrase is expressed by many or several words. Also known as ''circumlocution''. (''Periphrasis'' is of Greek origin, while ''circumlocution'' is Latin; both meaning "phrasing around", as in "avoiding the straightforward way of saying it".)<o:p></o:p>

In a general sense, circumlocution and periphrasis mean describing a word with other words, for example: "scissors" = "a thing you use to cut other things". Circumlocution is often helpful while learning a new language, when one does not have the word for a particular thing. In the constructed language Basic English this is used to decrease the size of the necessary vocabulary.<o:p></o:p>

Circumlocution also means replacing a word with another (or others), often in order to sound more polite, to avoid a rude term or to be ironic. In this context, see also euphemism.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'ploce' is a figure of speech in which a word is separated or repeated by way of emphasis.<o:p></o:p>

Examples: "In that great victory, Caesar was ''Caesar''!"<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'power word' (or '''power phrase''') is a word (or a phrase) that is used to make one's statement stronger. It is a form of a loaded language and is an antonym of euphemism; however, it is not always the same thing as either a dysphemism or a cacophemism which imply the use of harsh or vulgar words. Power words are used often in our lives. They are used in politics to sell ideas, in advertisements to sell products, and in religions to sell beliefs. Power words will often create an impression that any logical argument against the speaker is absurd, when that is not always the case. The use of a power word that also has a more general meaning can result in the No True Scotsman fallacy.<o:p></o:p>

'No true Scotsman' is a term coined by Antony Flew in his 1975 book ''Thinking About Thinking.'' It refers to an argument which takes this form:<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Argument: "Ach! No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge." Reply: "But my uncle Angus likes sugar with his porridge."<o:p></o:p>

Rebuttal: "Ah yes, but no ''true'' Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'procatalepsis' is rhetorical figure or strategy in which the writer raises an objection and then immediately answers it; by doing so, the writer seeks to strengthen his argument by dealing with possible objections before his audience can raise counter-arguments.<o:p></o:p>

Example: "It is difficult to see how a pilot boat could be completely immune to capsizing or plunging, but pilot boat design criteria must meet the needs of the industry and pilotage authorities."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Prolepsis' is a figure of speech in which a future event is referred to in anticipation. For example, a character who is about to die might be described as "the dead man", before he is actually dead. The same device can be used in non-verbal media such as film, where it is also called ''flashforward''. <o:p></o:p>

The anticipation of an objection. For example, a speaker might say "'Ah', you say, 'but that is impossible!'" Here the speaker is anticipating the objection 'Ah, but that is impossible!' from his audience - and is probably about to refute that objection before it arises. This form is more accurately called 'procatalepsis'.<o:p></o:p>

'Proslepsis'(from Greek, meaning 'something taken in addition') in rhetoric] is the pretence of passing over a subject while at the same time describing it fully. For example : "I will not dwell on the senator's shady history with the criminal underworld, or on her alcoholic son... such issues should not be brought up in a reasoned debate."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'pun' (also known as '''paronomasia''') is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. A pun can rely on the assumed equivalency of multiple similar words (homonymy), of different shades of meaning of one word (polysemy), or of a literal meaning with a metaphor.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Walter Redfern (in ''Puns'', Blackwell, London, 1984) succinctly said: "To pun is to treat homonyms as synonyms".<o:p></o:p>

"made glorious summer by this son of York" (pun on homophony of "son" and "sun")

The '''knock-knock joke''' is a type of joke, probably the best known format of the pun, and is a "call and answer" exercise. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

It is a roleplay exercise, with a protagonist (the punster) and an antagonist (not in the negative sense; the antagonist here is the recipient of wit). Developmental psychologists study knock-knock-joke usage in younger children, as it provides valuable insight into how children advance their language skills.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The standard format has five lines: <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The punster: ''Knock-knock'' (indicating a door has been struck to gain attention)<o:p></o:p>

The recipient: ''Who's there?'' (an enquiry)<o:p></o:p>

The punster: a response, usually involving a name (to set up the pun)<o:p></o:p>

The recipient: a repetition of the response plus ''who?'' (a request for clarification)<o:p></o:p>

The punster: the punch line, which inevitably involves a punnish misusage of the word set up during the response.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'rhetorical question' is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer. ("How many times do I have to tell you to stop walking into the house with mud on your shoes?"). <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A rhetorical question seeks to encourage reflection within the listener as to what the answer to the question (at least, the answer implied by the questioner) must be. When a speaker declaims, "How much longer must our people endure this injustice?" or "Will our company grow or shrink?", no formal answer is expected. Rather, it is a device used by the speaker to assert or deny something.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Some rhetorical questions become idiomatic English expressions:

"What's the matter with you?" "Don't you know any better?"<o:p></o:p>

"Have you no shame?" "Is the Pope Catholic?" "Do fish swim?"<o:p></o:p>

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" "Are you crazy?" "Who cares?"<o:p></o:p>

"How should I know?" "Are you kidding me?"<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Sarcasm' is sneering, jesting, or mocking a person, situation or thing. It is often used in a humorous or ironical manner and is expressed through vocal intonations such as over-emphasizing the actual statement or particular words.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Simile: Figure of explication in which two things that share at least one attribute are explicitly associated with each other; an overt comparison between two unlike things as though they were similar -- usually with the words "like" or "as".<o:p></o:p>

"The snow was like a blanket". However, "The snow blanketed the earth" is also a simile and not a metaphor because the verb ''blanketed'' is a shortened form of the phrase ''covered like a blanket''.<o:p></o:p>

The phrase "The snow was a blanket over the earth" is the metaphor in this case. Metaphors differ from similes in that the two objects are not compared, but treated as identical, "We are but a moment's sunlight, fading in the grass."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

"I've had some long nights in the stir. Alone in the dark with nothing but your thoughts, time can draw out like a blade. That was the longest night of my life." Delivered by Morgan Freeman (from the movie The Shawshank Redemption)<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

"People in the streets see it now. They're running towards the East River -- thousands of them dropping in like rats. Now the smoke's spreading faster. It's reached Times Square. People are trying to run away from it, but it's no use. They're falling like flies." Delivered by Orson Wells (from the original radio broadcast of War of the Worlds)<o:p></o:p>

Suspicion climbed all over her face, like a kitten, but not so playfully; Raymond Chandler<o:p></o:p>

Love is like the devil; whom it has in its clutches it surrounds with flames; Honoré de Balzac<o:p></o:p>

Exuding good will like a mortician's convention in a plague year; Daniel Berrigan Guiltless forever, like a tree; Robert Browning <o:p></o:p>

Idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean ; Samuel Taylor Coleridge<o:p></o:p>

As good as gold; Charles Dickens<o:p></o:p>

Yellow butterflies flickered along the shade like flecks of sun; William Faulkner<o:p></o:p>

Woo the moon like the tide; Vladimir Mayakovsky<o:p></o:p>

Death has many times invited me: it was like the salt invisible in the waves; Pablo Neruda<o:p></o:p>

Solitude... is like Spanish moss which finally suffocates the tree it hangs on; Anaïs Nin<o:p></o:p>

Jubilant as a flag unfurled; Dorothy Parker<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Syllepsis' is a figure of speech in which one word simultaneously modifies two or more other words such that the modification must be understood differently with respect to each modified word. This creates a semantic incongruity which is often humorous.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Syllepsis is somewhat related to the figure [[zeugma]], but in the latter the modifier does not logically fit one of the words it modifies.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples<o:p></o:p>

He leaned heavily on the lectern and stale jokes.<o:p></o:p>

He lost his hat and his temper.<o:p></o:p>

She went home in a flood of tears and a sedan chair. ; Charles Dickens<o:p></o:p>

He said, as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar and the lamps... ; Flanders and Swann, "Madeira M'Dear"<o:p></o:p>

She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes and his hopes.; Flanders and Swann, "Madeira, M'dear"<o:p></o:p>

You held your breath and the door for me. ; Alanis Morissette, in "Head Over Feet":<o:p></o:p>

... and covered themselves with dust and glory. ; Mark Twain, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"<o:p></o:p>

You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff. ; Groucho Marx<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Synecdoche' (pronounced ''sin-EK-duh-kee'', is a figure of speech that presents a kind of metaphor in which:<o:p></o:p>

* A part of something is used for the whole,<o:p></o:p>

* The whole is used for a part,<o:p></o:p>

* The species is used for the genus,<o:p></o:p>

* The genus is used for the species, or<o:p></o:p>

* The stuff of which something is made is used for the thing.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Synecdoche, as well as forms of metonymy, is one of the most common ways to characterize a fictional character. Frequently, someone will be consistently described by a single body part or feature, such as the eyes, which comes to represent their person. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Also, sonnets and other forms of love poetry frequently use synecdoches to characterize the beloved in terms of individual body parts rather than a whole, coherent self. This practice is especially common in the Petrarchan sonnet, where the idealised beloved is often described part by part, from head to toe.<o:p></o:p>

Examples:<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A part of something is used for the whole<o:p></o:p>

"hands" to refer to workers, "head" for cattle, "threads" for clothing, "wheels" for car, "mouths to feed" for hungry people<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The whole is used for a part<o:p></o:p>

"the police" for a handful of officers, "body" for the trunk of the body, the "smiling year" for spring, "the Pentagon" for the top-ranking generals in the Pentagon building<o:p></o:p>

The species is used for the genus<o:p></o:p>

"cutthroat" for assassin, "kleenex" for facial tissue, "castle" for home, "bread" for food<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The genus is used for the species<o:p></o:p>

"creature" for person, "milk" for cow's milk<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The stuff of which something is made is used for the thing<o:p></o:p>

"willow" for cricket bat, "copper" for penny, "boards" for stage, "ivories" for piano keys, "plastic" for credit card<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Understatement' is a form of speech where a lesser expression is used than what would be expected; a commonly cited example is "The Rocky Mountains are scenic." This is not to be confused with euphemism, where a 'polite' word replaces a vulgar word, or a word with harsher meaning.<o:p></o:p>

Understatement is a staple of British humor. For example, in ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'', a suburban dinner party is invaded by Death, who wears a long black cloak and carries a scythe. He is the Grim Reaper; the party is over; the guests must all go with him. "Well," says one party guest, "that's cast rather a gloom over the evening, hasn't it?"<o:p></o:p>

In another scene from the same movie, an Army officer has just lost his leg. Asked how he feels, he looks down at his bloody stump and says, "Stings a bit."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Epistrophe: (Also called Antistrophe / Epiphora); Figure of repetition that occurs when the last word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is repeated one or more times at the end of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases.<o:p></o:p>

"...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address (here delivered by Jeff Daniels)<o:p></o:p>

"You have the luxury of not knowing what I know -- that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives, and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives." Jack Nicholson (from the movie A Few Good Men)<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." Delivered by George C. Scott (from the movie Patton)

<o:p></o:p>

Scesis Onomaton: Figure of repetition in which a set of two or more different words having the same (or very nearly the same) meaning occurs within the same sentence; a successive series of words or phrases whose meanings are generally equivalent.

"Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters." <o:p></o:p>

"Every time you break the seal on the liquor bottle, that's a Government's seal you're breaking! Oh, I say and I say it again, ya been had! Ya been took! Ya been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok! This is what He does." Delivered by Denzel Washington (from the movie Malcolm X)<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Alliteration: Figure of emphasis that occurs through the repetition of initial consonant letters (or sounds) in two or more different words across successive sentences, clauses, or phrases. Two kinds may be distinguished: 1) Immediate juxtaposition occurs when the second consonant sound follows right after the first -- back-to-back. 2) Non-immediate juxtaposition occurs when the consonants occur in nonadjacent words.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Immediate Juxtaposition: "I think a need a bigger box."

<o:p></o:p>

Non-immediate Juxtaposition: "No one standing in this standing in this house today can pass a puritanical test of purity that some are demanding that our elected leaders take." -- Richard Gephardt <o:p></o:p>

"...Well, sir, I'm Jordan Rivers. And these here are the Soggy Bottom Boys out of... Mississippi -- songs of salvation to salve the soul." Delivered by George Clooney (from the movie 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?)

<o:p></o:p>

Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration of a person, thing, quality, event to emphasize a point external to the object of exaggeration; intentional exaggeration for rhetorical effect.

"So first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address

"The only place where democracy comes before work is in the dictionary." Ralph Nader, 2000 NAACP Address<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Anaphora: Figure of repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is/are repeated at the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases; repetition of the initial word(s) over successive phrases or clauses.

"My Republican Party today -- it is not a conservative Party. It is soft on globalism. It is soft on big government. It is soft on the 2nd Amendment. It is soft on life." Pat Buchanan, Radio interview with Rush Limbaugh

"Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island." Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Pearl Harbor Address

Antimetabole: Figure of emphasis in which the words in one phrase or clause are replicated, exactly or closely, in reverse grammatical order in the next phrase or clause; an inverted order of repeated words in adjacent phrases or clauses (A-B, B-A). <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

"The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence." Carl Sagan

"But we must remember a crucial fact: East and West do not mistrust each other because we are armed; we're armed because we mistrust each other."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Bacis human needs<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Maslow's hierarchy of needs' is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1943 paper ''A Theory of Human Motivation'', which he subsequently extended. His theory contends that as humans meet their basic needs, they seek to satisfy successively higher needs that occupy a set hierarchy. Maslow studied exemplary people such as Albert Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglas rather than mentally ill or neurotic people, writing that "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy" (''Motivation and Personality'', 1987).<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Physiological needs <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The first need for the body is to achieve homeostasis. This is obtained through the consumption of food, drink and air, achieving adequate sleep, a comfortable temperature, and so on. When some needs are unmet, a human's physiological needs take the highest priority. For instance, if one simultaneously experiences the desire for love and the hunger for food, a human is more likely to seek to satisfy the latter need first. As a result of the prepotency of physiological needs, an individual will deprioritize all other desires and capacities. Physiological needs can control thoughts and behaviors, and can cause people to feel sickness, pain, and discomfort.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Safety needs <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

When the physiological needs are met, the need for safety will emerge. Safety or security ranks above all other desires; a properly-functioning society tends to provide security to its members. Recent examples of failure in this area include the cases of societal breakdown in Somalia, Afghanistan and New Orleans. Sometimes the desire for safety outweighs the requirement to satisfy physiological needs; for example, during the Kosovo War many residents of Kosovo chose to occupy a secure area rather than an insecure area, even though the latter provided better access to food.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Love/Belonging needs <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Once a person's physiological and safety needs are largely met, the third layer of human needs starts to become apparent. This involves emotionally-based relationships in general, which includes the perceived need for companionship (both sexual and non-sexual) and/or having a family. There is the sense of community or affiliation; in other words, humans want to belong to groups, whether it be clubs, work groups, religious groups, family, gangs, etc. They need to feel loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others, and to be accepted by them. People also have a constant desire to feel needed. In the absence of these elements, people become increasingly susceptible to loneliness and social anxieties.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Esteem needs <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

There are two versions of esteem needs: the need for the respect of and recognition by others, and the need for self-respect.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Being needs <o:p></o:p>

Though the deficiency needs may be seen as "basic", and can be met and neutralized (i.e. they stop being motivators in one's life), self-actualization and transcendence are "being" or "growth needs" (also termed "B-needs"), i.e. they are enduring motivations or drivers of behaviour.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Self-actualization <o:p></o:p>

Self-actualization (a term originated by Kurt Goldstein) is the ''instinctual'' need of a human to make the most of their unique abilities. Self-actualization means to have self-fulfillments of ones potential. Maslow described it as follows:<o:p></o:p>

''A musician must make music, the artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. This need we may call self-actualisation.'' (''Motivation and Personality'', 1954.)<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Maslow writes of self-actualizing people that:<o:p></o:p>

* They embrace the facts and realities of the world (including themselves) rather than denying or avoiding them.<o:p></o:p>

* They are spontaneous in their ideas and actions.<o:p></o:p>

* They are creative.<o:p></o:p>

* They are interested in solving problems; this often includes the problems of others. Solving these problems is often a key focus in their lives.<o:p></o:p>

* They feel a closeness to other people, and generally appreciate life.<o:p></o:p>

* They have a system of morality that is fully internalized and independent of external authority.<o:p></o:p>

* They judge others without prejudice, in a way that can be termed ''objective''.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

If this need is not met, a person will feel tense and restless and unfilled.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Self-transcendence <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Self-transcendence refers to connecting to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Although Maslow tentatively placed transcendence at the top of his hierarchy, this element has been discounted by most modern psychologists because they feel it really belongs in the domain of religious belief.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Motivation<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In psychology, 'motivation' is the driving force (desire) behind all actions of an organism. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Many textbooks define it as an internal state or condition that activates behavior and gives it direction, desire or want that energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior, or an influence of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behavior.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Motivation is based on emotions, specifically, on the search for positive emotional experiences and the avoidance of negative ones, where positive and negative are defined by the individual brain state, not by social norms: a person may be driven to self-injury or violence because their brain is conditioned to create a positive response to these actions. Motivation is important because it is involved in the performance of all learned responses.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Types of motivation <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Physiological needs<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The easiest kinds of motivation to analyse, at least superficially, are those based upon obvious physiological needs. These include hunger, thirst, and escape from pain. The analysis of the processes underlying such motivations can make use of research on animals, in ethology, comparative psychology, and physiological psychology, and the hormonal and brain processes involved in them seem to have much in common at least across all mammals and probably across all vertebrates. However, in humans, even these basic fundamental motivations are modified and mediated through social and cultural influences of various kinds: for example no analysis of hunger in humans could ignore the issues of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and obesity, for which the parallels in other animals are unclear. Even in animals, it is clear that the earlier homeostatic "depletion-repletion" models of such motivations are no longer adequate, since many animals feed on a precautionary rather than a reactive basis, most obviously when preparing for hibernation.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Other biological motivations<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

At the next level are motivations that have an obvious biological basis but are not required for the immediate survival of the organism. These include the powerful motivations for sex, parenting and aggression: again, the physiological bases of these are similar in humans and other animals, but the social complexities are greater in humans (or perhaps we just understand them better in our own species). In these areas insights from behavioral ecology and sociobiology have offered new analyses of both animal and human behaviour in the last decades of the twentieth century, though the extension of sociobiological analyses to humans remains highly controversial. Perhaps similar, but perhaps at a rather different level, is the motivation for new stimulation - variously called exploration, curiosity, or arousal-seeking. A crucial issue in the analysis of such motivations is whether they have a homeostatic component, so that they build up over time if not discharged; this idea was a key component of early twentieth century analyses of sex and aggression by, for example, Freud and Konrad Lorenz, and is a feature of much popular psychology of motivation. The biological analyses of recent decades, however, imply that such motivations are situational, arising when they are (or seem to be) needed to ensure an animal's fitness, and subsiding without consequences when the occasion for them passes.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Secondary goals<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

These important biological needs tend to generate more powerful emotions and thus more powerful motivation than secondary goals. This is described in models like Maslow's hierarchy of needs. A distinction can also be made between direct and indirect motivation: In direct motivation, the action satisfies the need, in indirect motivation, the action satisfies an intermediate goal, which can in turn lead to the satisfaction of a need. In work environments, money is typically viewed as a powerful indirect motivation, whereas job satisfaction and a pleasant social environment are more direct motivations. However, this example highlights well that an indirect motivational factor (money) towards an important goal (having food, clothes etc.) may well be more powerful than the direct motivation provided by an enjoyable workplace. Motivation, as Stephen Robbins (2000) says, is included one component of performance, that is performance is ability times motivation.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Coercion<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The most obvious form of motivation is coercion, where the avoidance of pain or other negative consequences has an immediate effect. When such coercion is permanent, it is considered slavery. While coercion is considered morally reprehensible in many philosophies, it is widely practiced on prisoners, students in mandatory schooling, and in the form of conscription. Critics of modern capitalism charge that without social safety networks, wage slavery is inevitable. Successful coercion sometimes can take priority over other types of motivation.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Self control<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The self-control of motivation is increasingly understood as a subset of emotional intelligence; a person may be highly intelligent according to a more conservative definition (as measured by many intelligence tests), yet unmotivated to dedicate this intelligence to certain tasks. Victor Vroom's "expectancy theory" provides an account of when people will decide whether to exert self control to pursue a particular goal. Self control is often contrasted with automatic processes of stimulus-response, as in the behaviorist's paradigm of B.F. Skinner.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Controlling motivation <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The control of motivation is only understood to a limited extent. There are many different approaches of ''motivation training'', but many of these are considered pseudoscientific by critics. To understand how to control motivation it is first necessary to understand why many people lack motivation.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In recent years, non-work related activities like Internet surfing have become an increasing concern for employers in industrialized nations. Some companies have used prohibitive tactics to counter this perceived threat, others try to define certain limits, and many merely take action in extreme cases. Even for home users, Internet addiction is increasingly perceived as a risk. Similar concerns accompany the use of video games, television. It is true that for many people, these activities have reached the point of psychological addiction.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

This can be explained with a positive feedback loop. The aforementioned activities can generate quick, positive emotional responses of different types -- the humor of sitcoms, the ersatz family of soap operas, the endorphin release from action movies and video games, or the curiosity satisfied, the loneliness mitigated and the boredom supposedly quenched by visiting "important" news websites. It is known that connections in the human brain's neural network are intensified by repeated activity, which means that it is often easier to continue to do what one is doing than to do something else. This is how a daily habit can, over time, turn into a psychological addiction that is hard to break.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The key question for motivation is then: Which activities generate a positive emotional response, and which ones do not? The answers to this question are increasingly explored by neuropsychology. It is known that, for most people, activities that involve powerful audiovisual input have a stronger emotional effect. Purely text-based information, on the other hand, is usually not very motivating. This seems intuitive given the fact that reading is a trained higher cortical skill, whereas large brain areas are congenitally devoted to processing audiovisual input. For this class of information, there are simply more connections from the processing areas of the brain's cortex to the lower emotional centers of the limbic system. It therefore seems logical to assume that motivation can be created more easily through multimedia input.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Since humans are social animals, it also appears natural that social connections play a crucial role in motivation. Not much is known about the way the human brain deals with social relationships, but for the sake of the argument, it can be assumed that social connections are merely very powerful, emotionally encoded memories connected to others. An idea which is connected to these memories thus triggers the emotions. It follows logically, then, that negative social relationships are likely to decrease motivation, and that intrinsic desire to act has to be substituted within these relationships with coercion. For [[teacher]]s and [[manager]]s alike, it then seems desirable to maintain such positive relationships in order to provide a motivating atmosphere -- however, personal reasons may stand in the way of this goal. This is why many motivation control programs try to teach managers to find outlets for their personal feelings other than their employees.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'quotation' is a fragment of a human expression that is inserted into another human expression. It is most often a written or oral fragment and in such cases it is also called a quote. This latter type of quotation is almost always taken from literature, though speech transcripts, film dialogues, and song lyrics are also common and valid sources. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Besides this, a quotation can also refer to the use of a piece of other artistic works elements of a painting, scenes from a film or sections from a musical composition into another one.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Orator' is a Latin word for 'speaker' (from the Latin verb ''oro'', meaning "I speak" or "I pray").<o:p></o:p>

In ancient Rome, the art of speaking in public (''Ars Oratoria'') was a professional competence especially cultivated by politicians and lawyers.<o:p></o:p>

It later was developed into rhetoric.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Rhetoric' (from Greek ''rhêtôr'', "orator") is one of the three original liberal arts or ''trivium'' the other members are dialectic and grammar in Western culture. In ancient and medieval times, both rhetoric and dialectic were understood to aim at being persuasive. The concept of rhetoric has shifted from time to time during its 2500-year history. Today rhetoric is generally described as the art of persuasion through language. Rhetoric can be described as a persuasive way in which one relates a theme or idea in an effort to convince. However, both the terms "rhetoric" and "sophistry" can be used today in a pejorative or dismissive sense, when someone wants to denigrate certain verbal reasoning as spurious.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Phonation' is one dimension of phonetic voicing. It describes the degree of glottal tension. A second dimension of voicing is timing, called ''voice onset time'' . <o:p></o:p>

Phoneticians define phonation as "use of the larynx to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i.e., sound, which can then be modified by the articulatory actions of the rest of the vocal apparatus." <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A 'voiced' sound is produced when an overpressure of air in the lungs causes the vocal folds to vibrate. This produces a fundamental tone accompanied by several non-harmonic overtones. The resulting sound is modified by movements in the vocal tract, by the volume of the airflow and by the degree of constriction of the folds. The vowells are usually voiced, but there are also voiced consonants.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

If the vocal folds do not vibrate, then the sound (usually a consonant) is called ''voiceless''.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Other sounds may be produced by completely blocking off the airstream and then releasing the folds. The sound of this type produced at the glottis is called a ''glottal stop''.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The voice source is used to change ''intonation'' and the ''tone'' of words by varying the subglottal pressure as well as the tension of the vocal folds. This leads to changes in the frequency of vibration, which are in turn perceived by the listener as modifications in ''pitch'' and/or in ''loudness''. During speech the flow of air is relatively small because of constrictions of the folds. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Subglottal pressure is regulated by a number of factors, namely: the respiratory muscles, gravity and elasticity.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Types of phonation<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

While producing speech, the glottis can have a range of degrees of aperture and tension. Although each language may be somewhat different, it is convenient to classify these into discrete categories. The vocal cords vibrate strongest at an intermediate aperture and glottal tension; this is called ''modal voice'', or simply ''voiced'', and is extremely common. It is the phonation of most vowels and sonorant consonant around the world. A fully open and lax glottis corresponds to ''unvoiced'' phonation; in this position there is the highest airflow, but no vibration of the vocal cords. Unvoiced is the default for obstruents, though modally voiced obstruents are also very common.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

At the other extreme, a fully closed glottis allows no air to pass; with no airflow, there is no vocal cord vibration. This is simply called ''glottal closure'', and when unaccompanied by a place of articulation in the vocal tract, is a glottal stop. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Often a language will utilize some point of this continuum other than its mid or end points. For example, Gujarati language has vowels with a half-lax phonation called ''breathy'' or ''murmured'', and Burmese language has vowels with a half-tense phonation called ''creaky'' or ''laryngealized''. Both of these phonations have dedicated IPA diacritics, an under-umlaut and under-tilde. The Jalapa dialect of Mazatec language is unusual in contrasting both with modal voice.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Languages<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In English language, every voiced fricative corresponds to a voiceless one. The main distinction between the pairs of English stop consonants, however, is not voiced vs. voiceless since English /b d g/ may be voiceless in certain dialects. English /p t k/ are aspirated.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Certain English morphemes have both voiced and voiceless allomorphs, e.g. the ending -s (voiced in ''kids'' but voiceless in ''kits'' or the past tense ending -ed (voiced in ''buzzed'' but voiceless in ''fished'' .<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In languages such as French language, all obstruents occur in pairs of a voiced one and an unvoiced one.<o:p></o:p>

Mandarin Chinese language has pairs of aspirated and unaspirated voiceless plosives and aspiration is the main distinction rather than phonation.<o:p></o:p>

A few languages, such as Finnish language or Alemannic German, have no voiced obstruents but pairs of long and short consonants instead.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'''Fricatives''' (or '''spirants''') are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These are the lower lip against the upper teeth in the case of {f}, or the back of the tongue against the soft palate in the case of German {x}, the final consonant of ''Bach''. This turbulent airflow is called '''frication'''. A particular subset of fricatives are the ''sibilants'' (sometimes referred to as stridents). When forming a sibilant, one still is forcing air through a narrow channel, but in addition the tongue is curled lengthwise to direct the air over the edge of the teeth. English {s}, {z}, {{IPA|[ ? ]}}, and {{IPA|[ ? ]}} are examples of this.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Manner_of_articulation.

<o:p></o:p>

In phonetics, an ''obstruent'' is a consonant sound formed by ''obstructing'' the airway, causing turbulence. Obstruents are subdivided into plosives, fricatives, and affricates. Obstruents are prototypically voiceless, though voiced obstruents are common. This contrasts with sonorants, which are rarely voiceless.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

A ''stop'', ''plosive'', or ''occlusive'' is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. The term ''plosive'' is reserved for oral (non-nasal) stops: that is, stops with a release burst. <o:p></o:p>

All languages in the world have stops. Most have at least [p], [t], [k], [n], [m]. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

''Implosive consonants'' are plosives (rarely affricates) with a glottalic ingressive airstream mechanism. That is, the airsteam is controlled by moving the glottis downward, rather than by expelling air from the lungs as in normal pulmonic consonants. Contrastive implosives are found in approximately 10%-15% of the world's languages.<o:p></o:p>

During the occlusion of the stop, pulling the glottis downward rarifies the air in the vocal tract. The stop is then released. In languages where implosives are particularly salient, this may result in air rushing ''into'' the mouth, before flowing out again with the next vowel. (Thus the name "implosive".) However, in others there is no movement of air at all, contrasting with the burst of the pulmonary plosives. This is the case with many of the Kru languages ( Niger, Congo ), for example. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The vast majority of implosive consonants are voiced, meaning that the glottis is only partially closed. Because the airflow required for voicing reduces the vacuum being created in the mouth, implosives are easiest to make with a large oral cavity. Thus bilabial {{IPA|[ɓ]}} is the easiest implosive to pronounce, and also most common around the world. Velar {{IPA|[ɠ]}}, on the other hand, is quite rare (and uvular {{IPA|[ʛ]}} even rarer). This is the opposite pattern to the [[ejective consonant]]s, where it is the velar articulation that is most common, and the bilabial that is rare.<o:p></o:p>

''Clicks'' are stops produced with two articulatory closures in the oral cavity. The pocket of air enclosed between the two closures is rarefied by a "sucking" action of the tongue. The release of the more forward closure produces what in many cases are the loudest consonants in the language, although in some languages such as Hadza ( Tanzania), clicks are more subtle and may even be mistaken for ejective stops. Clicks appear more stop-like or more affricate-like depending on their place of articulation: clicks involving an apical alveolar or laminal postalveolar closure are acoustically sharp like plain stops, while bilabial, dental and lateral clicks have an acoustically noisier sound, and sound more like affricates.<o:p></o:p>

Le français contient les occlusives suivantes :<o:p></o:p>

· orales sourdes : [p] (pépé), [t] (têtée), [k] (kéké) ; <o:p></o:p>

· orales sonores : [b] (bébé), [d] (Dédé), [g] (gaga) ; <o:p></o:p>

· nasales : [n] (ni), [?] (gnangnan), [?] (à la fin de parking). <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

''Ejective consonants'' are a class of consonants which may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants in a language.<o:p></o:p>

Ejectives are voiceless consonants which are pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis. The glottis is raised while the forward articulation (a [k] ) is held, raising air pressure in the mouth, so that when the [k] is released, there is a noticeable burst of air. The Adam's apple may be seen moving when the sound is pronounced. In the languages where they are more obvious, ejectives are often described as sounding like "spat" consonants, but ejectivity is often quite weak; in some contexts, and in some languages, they are easy to mistake for unaspirated plosives.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Behavior' (or 'behaviour') refers to the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the natural environment. Behavior can be conscious or unconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary. Behavior is controlled by the endocrine system, and the nervous system. The complexity of the behavior of an organism is related to the complexity of its nervous system. Generally, organisms with complex nervous systems have a greater capacity to learn new responses and thus adjust their behavior. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The behavior of people (and other organisms or even mechanisms) falls within a range with some behaviors being common, some unusual, some acceptable, and some deviance. The taboo of behavior is evaluated relative to social norms and regulated by various means of social control. In sociology, behavior is considered as having no meaning, being not directed at other people and thus is the most basic human action. Behavior should not be mistaken with social behavior, which is more advanced action, as social behavior is behavior specifically directed at other people. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Human behavior' is the collection of skill performed by human beings and influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, and/or coercion.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The behavior of people is studied by the academic disciplines of psychology, sociology, and anthropology.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Rejection' may mean:<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In psychology, rejection is an emotion felt by most humans (and possibly other higher animals) when another person denies a personal request, particularly if it is an emotional advance. Repeated rejection (particularly of children) or fear of it, can lead to loneliness and depression .<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

'Acceptance', in spirituality, mindfulness, and human psychology, usually refers to the experience of a situation without an intention to change that situation. Acceptance does not require that change is possible or even conceivable, nor does it require that the situation be desired or approved by those accepting it. Indeed, acceptance is often suggested when a situation is both disliked and unchangeable, or when change may be possible only at great cost or risk. ''Acceptance'' may imply only a lack of outward, behaviora attempts at possible change, but the word is also used more specifically for a felt or hypothesized cognitive or emotional state. Thus someone may decide to take no action against a situation and yet be said to have not accepted it.<o:p></o:p>

Acceptance is contrasted with ''resistance'', but that term has strong political and psychoanalytic connotations not applicable in many contexts. Acceptance is sometimes used with notions of willingness: "Even if an unchosen, undesired, inescapable situation befalls me, I can still willingly choose to accept it."<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Examples of human behavior <o:p></o:p>

life<o:p></o:p>

Dreaming, Sleeping, awake.<o:p></o:p>

Human communication.<o:p></o:p>

Human timescales.<o:p></o:p>

Desire, appetite, hunger, thrist.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Factors affecting Human Behavior<o:p></o:p>

· Attitude - It is the degree to which the person has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of the behavior in question.

· Social Norms - This is the influence of social pressure that is perceived by the individual (normative beliefs) to perform or not perform a certain behavior.

· Perceived Behavioral Control - This construct is defined as the individuals belief concerning how easy or difficult performing the behavior will be <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

In psychology and common use, ''emotion'' is an aspect of a human being's mental state, normally based in or tied to the person's internal (physical) and external (social) sensory feeling. Love, hate, courage, fear, joy, sadness, pleasure and disgust can all be described in philosophical (encompassing theological and non-physiological psychological views) and physiological terms. It is unclear whether animals or all human beings experience emotion.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Emotion is sometimes regarded as the antithesis of reason; as is suggested by phrases such as ''appeal to emotion'' or ''your emotions have taken over''. Emotions play a role in situations that result in undesired internal states and cognitive streams to the individual feeling them, which s/he may wish to control but often cannot, or at least produce consequences or thoughts which s/he may later regret or disagree with but during the emotional state, could not control with his/her other principles. Thus one of the most distinctive and perhaps challenging facts about human beings is this potential for both opposition and entanglement between will, emotion, and reason.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The body frequently responds to Shame by warmth in the upper chest and face, Fear by a heightened heartbeat, increased "flinch" response, and increased muscle tension. Sadness by a feeling of tightness in the throat and eyes, and relaxation in the arms and legs. Desire can be accompanied by a dry throat and heavy breathing.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

http://www.mindperk.com/Communication.htm

<o:p></o:p>

Conversation Power by James K. Van Fleet<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

How to be a Great Communicator by Nido Qubein<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Speaking Without Fear or Nervousness by Helen Sutton<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Best Kept Secrets of Great Communicators by Peter Thomson<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

The Quick & Easy Way to Effective Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie<o:p></o:p>