Page 39 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

British Poetry

Notes 4.9 Keywords

4.10 Review Questions

4.11 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• Explain the term synecdoche
• Know about meter in poetry
• Explain the term ode, pastoral poetry, personification
• Discuss the term rhyme, types of rhyme and sonnet.

Introduction

Literary techniques refers to any specific, deliberate constructions or choices of language which an
author uses to convey meaning in a particular way. An author’s use of a literary technique usually
occurs with a single word or phrase, or a particular group of words or phrases, at one single point in
a text. Unlike literary elements, literary techniques are not necessarily present in every text; they
represent deliberate, conscious choices by individual authors.

4.1 Synecdoche

Synecdoche, wherein a specific part of something is used to refer to the whole, is usually understood
as a specific kind of metonymy. Sometimes, however, people make an absolute distinction between a
metonym and a synecdoche, treating metonymy as different from rather than inclusive of synecdoche.
There is a similar problem with the usage of simile and metaphor.
Synecdoche is closely related to metonymy, the figure of speech in which a term denoting one thing
is used to refer to a related thing; indeed, synecdoche is sometimes considered a subclass of
metonymy. It is more distantly related to other figures of speech, such as metaphor.
More rigorously, metonymy and synecdoche may be considered as sub-species of metaphor,
intending metaphor as a type of conceptual substitution. In Lanham’s Handlist of Rhetorical Terms,
the three terms have somewhat restrictive definitions, arguably in tune with a certain interpretation
of their etymologies from Greek:
• Metaphor: changing a word from its literal meaning to one not properly applicable but analo-
gous to it; assertion of identity rather than, as with simile, likeness.
• Metonymy: substitution of cause for effect, proper name for one of its qualities, etc.
• Synecdoche: substitution of a part for whole, species for genus, etc.
The use of synecdoche is a common way to emphasize an important aspect of a fictional character;
for example, a character might be consistently described by a single body part, such as the eyes,
which come to represent the character. This is often used when the main character does not know or
care about the names of the characters that he is referring to.
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.

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