Paradox, Definition of Paradox, Example of Paradox

Paradox

Paradox is a self-contradictory statement that hides a rational meaning. Example: " Sweet are the uses of adversity."  The surface meaning of this line appears contradictory as, generally, adversity is bitter. But as we go deeper we find the truth that adversity carries within itself the sweetness of advantages.

Metaphor Example & Definition of Metaphor

Metaphor:

Metaphor is an implicit comparison between two different things. It is a compressed form of simile. Liza is a rose is an example of metaphor as there is an implied comparison between the colour, softness, fragrance, etc. of the rose and those of Liza. It becomes a simile if the comparison is made explicit: Liza is like a rose.

Machinery | Definition of Machinery | Example of Machinery

Machinery

The supernatural agents used in an epic or a mock-epic. For example, the whole battalion of the sylphs and nymphs under Ariel's command in The Rape of the Lock is called the machinery of it.

Litotes | Examples of Litotes | Litotes Definition

Litotes

Litotes is a figure in which the negative statement suggests a very strong affirmative. For example, " He is not a bad student" means he is a good student.

Irony | Examples of Irony

Irony

Irony is a statement or a situation which actually means the opposite of its surface meaning. An often quoted example of irony is " Brutus is an honourable man" from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Antony says this in his oration over dead body of Caesar. This appreciation of Brutus really means that Brutus who killed Caesar is an ignoble man. The first sentence of Pride and Prejudice is another example of irony

" It is truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

After reading the novel one, however, finds that it is not the rich man who needs a wife but, quite opposite to it, it is the lady who needs a rich husband.

Heroic couplet | Example of Heroic Couplet

Heroic couplet:

A pair of iambic pentameter verse lines which rhyme together. A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry. It is commonly used for epic and narrative poetry. It refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines

 

Example of Heroic Couplet:

But when/ to mis / chief mor / tals bend / their will

How soon / they find / fit ins / truments/ of ill!

(Pope: The Rape of the Lock)

Each of these lines consists of five iambic feet. In each pair the first syllable is unstressed and the second syllable is stressed. Such five feet arranged in a verse line are called iambic pentameter. When two such iambic pentameter lines end with similar sounds as in these lines (will=ill) they are called heroic couplet.

 

Hamartia | Example of Hamartia | Hamlet's Hamartia

Hamartia: 

Hamartia has often traditionally been described as a hero's fatal flaw. It is called tragic flaw. Hamartia is an error or a flaw for which the hero of a tragedy falls from the zenith of his success to the nadir of his misery.

Example of Hamartia:

Hamlet, for example, suffers from the tragic flaw of indecision. He hesitates to kill his cruel and villainous uncle, which leads to the ultimate tragedy of the play. By struggling with an inherent moral flaw, Hamlet brings about his own destruction. His hesitation, therefore, is the action to which the term hamartia is applied. If the flaw is pride it is called hubris