2. Explain what is litota

Seminar 11

Questions:

1. Define the notion of simile

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. The object of a simile is to spark an interesting connection in a reader's or listener's mind. A simile is one of the most common forms of figurative language. Examples of similes can be found just about anywhere from poems to song lyrics and even in everyday conversations.

Similes and metaphors are often confused with one another. The main difference between a simile and metaphor is that a simile uses the words "like" or "as" to draw a comparison and a metaphor simply states the comparison without using "like" or "as".

An example of a simile is: She is as innocent as an angel. An example of a metaphor is: She is an angel. Do you see the difference? The simile makes a direct comparison, the metaphor's comparison is implied but not stated.

2. Explain what is litota.

Litotes is a figure of speech and a form of understatement in which a sentiment is expressed ironically by negating its contrary. For example, saying "It's not the best weather today" during a hurricane would be an example of litotes, implying through ironic understatement that the weather is, in fact, horrible.

Some additional key details about litotes:

Litotes is pretty simple in the way it works: instead of stating something directly, you state that the contrary statement is not true.

Typically, the contrary statement will be phrased as some sort of superlative (for example, "he's not the sharpest tool in the shed"). This is part of what makes litotes an example of understatement, since what's actually being expressed is "He's far from the sharpest tool in the shed."

Litotes must contain a negative statement (as in, "not the best weather").

3. Define the climax.

Climax Definition

Climax, a Greek term meaning “ladder,” is that particular point in a narrative at which the conflict or tension hits the highest point. It is a structural part of a plot, and is at times referred to as a “crisis.” It is a decisive moment or a turning point in a storyline at which the rising action turns around into a falling action. Thus, a climax is the point at which a conflict or crisis reaches its peak, then calls for a resolution or Denouement (conclusion). In a five-act play, the climax is close to the conclusion of act 3. Later in the 19th century, five-act plays were replaced by three-act plays, and the climax was placed close to the conclusion or at the end of the play.

The Passionate Pilgrim (By William Shakespeare)

See how William Shakespeare achieves climax in the passage below, taken from his Sonnet The Passionate Pilgrim:

“Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good;

A shining gloss that vadeth suddenly;

A flower that dies when first it gins to bud;

A brittle glass that’s broken presently:

A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower,

Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour.”

The phrase “dead within an hour” is placed at the very end, as it marks the climax of the fate of beauty, which he introduces as “a vain and doubtful good.”