Here is the answer and explanation to the question What are the functions of figures of speech?
What are the functions of figures of speech?
Some functions of figures of speech include emphasizing words and ideas, persuading an audience of an argument, and drawing attention to beauty.
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There are many different functions of figures of speech. In general, figures of speech are used to emphasize the significance of words and ideas and to appeal to imagination. When writers and speakers use figures of speech, they help their audience visualize a topic in a specific way, which can have many effects. However, the function of a figure of speech depends in part on what the particular figure of speech is.
For example, in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream,” speech he uses many figures of speech like metaphors to emphasize the need for racial justice. Consider how he highlights the plight of the Black community when he says they have been “battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.” They have not been battered by literal storms and winds, but by using this metaphor, King compares the severity of racial injustice to the severity of an intense storm. Doing this helps him underscore the need for change.
Figures of speech can also help a writer draw attention to the beauty of something. For example, in William Wordsworth’s poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” Wordsworth personifies daffodils by saying they were “tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” The flowers were not actually dancing, but by using this figure of speech, the poet helps the reader reflect on the joy and beauty to be found in the natural world.
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