What is comparison in literature examples. Comparison in literature is a special technique
A figurative simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. The purpose of a comparison is to create an interesting connection in the mind of the reader or listener. Simile is one of the most common forms of figurative language. Figurative comparisons can be found anywhere from poems to song lyrics and even in everyday conversations.
Similes and metaphors are often mixed together. The main difference between a simile and a metaphor is that a simile uses the words "as" to compare, while a metaphor simply states the comparison without using "as". An example of a comparison is: she is as innocent as an angel. Example of metaphor: She is an angel.
Comparisons in everyday language
Comparisons are used in literature to make speech more vivid and powerful. In everyday speech they can be used to convey meaning quickly and effectively, since many frequently used expressions are similes. For example, when someone says, “He is as busy as a bee,” it means that he is working hard, as bees are known to be very hardworking and busy.
Some other well-known comparisons that you often hear:
- Happy as an elephant.
- Light as a feather.
- Innocent as a lamb.
- Tall like a giraffe.
- White as a ghost.
- Sweet like sugar.
- Black as coal.
As with a lot of figurative language, when you're talking to someone from a different region or don't speak their native language, they may not understand the meaning of many comparisons.
Comparisons add depth to your speech
Figurative comparisons can make our language more visual and pleasant. Writers often use comparisons to add depth and emphasize the point they are trying to convey to the reader or listener. Comparisons can be funny, serious, mundane or creative.
Figurative similes are a great tool to use in creative language. Not only do they make what you write or say more interesting, but they can often intrigue the reader. When creating your own comparisons, watch out for clichés and try to go beyond the obvious comparisons.
We can talk endlessly about the beauty and richness of the Russian language. These arguments are just another reason to join such a conversation. So, comparisons.
What is comparison
In fact, this term is ambiguous. This fact is confirmed by the endless examples of comparison that we observe in everyday life. In colloquial speech, it is rather a likening of different objects, a statement that they are equal or similar.
In mathematics, the term “comparison” is intertwined with the similar concept of “relation.” By comparing numbers for equality or inequality, we find the difference between them.
Comparison is also the process of comparing the similarities and differences, disadvantages and advantages of several objects. As examples show, comparisons in sciences such as philosophy, psychology, sociology are a kind of cognitive operations that underlie reasoning about the similarities and differences of the objects being studied. With the help of comparisons, various characteristics of these objects or phenomena are revealed.
Comparison in the literature: definition and examples
Stylistic and literary comparisons have a slightly different meaning. These are figures of speech, stylistic devices in which some phenomena or objects are likened to others according to some common characteristic. The comparison method can be simple, then certain words are usually present in circulation. Among them are: “as”, “as if”, “as if”, “exactly”. But there is also an indirect method of comparison: in this case, the comparison is made using a noun in the instrumental case without a preposition. Example: “Onegin lived as an anchorite” (“Eugene Onegin” by A. S. Pushkin).
Similes and metaphors
Comparisons are inextricably linked with another literary concept, metaphor - an expression used in a figurative sense. Actually, the basis of the metaphor is a comparison that is not directly expressed. For example, A. Blok’s line “The streams of my poems run” is a typical metaphor (the word “streams” is used in a figurative sense). But this same line is also a comparison: poems flow like streams.
It is interesting to use metaphorical devices in the case of the so-called negative comparison. Examples of comparison can be easily found in epics. “Not two clouds converged in the sky, but two daring knights converged” - in this example of the Old Russian epic, the similarity of formidable warriors with dark terrible clouds is simultaneously emphasized, and their identity is denied, and an absolutely amazing overall picture is drawn.
Negative comparisons, more typical of works of folk art and their folklore stylizations, play a special role in the perception of the artistic image. Here is a line from A. Nekrasov’s work: “It’s not the huntsman who trumpets the oak wood, it’s the wild head who cackles—after crying, the young widow chops and chops wood.” The second part of the expression (After crying...) is self-sufficient in itself and fully conveys the required meaning. But only the combination of both parts of the sentence allows you to feel all the bitterness, all the tragedy of what happened.
Means of expressive language
Comparisons help explain concepts or phenomena by comparing them with other objects - sweet like honey, sour like vinegar. But the main goal is not to emphasize the characteristic properties of the object. The main thing is the figurative, most accurate expression of the author's thoughts, because one of the most powerful means of expressiveness is comparison. Examples from literature brilliantly illustrate its role in the formation of the image desired by the author. Here is a line of creation from M.Yu. Lermontov: “Harun ran faster than a deer, faster than a hare from an eagle.” One could simply say: “Harun ran very fast” or “Harun ran at great speed.” But, being absolutely true in their essence, such phrases would not achieve even a small degree of the effect that is inherent in Lermontov’s lines.
Peculiarities
Paying tribute to comparisons as powerful exponents of the peculiarities of Russian speech, many researchers were amazed at the rationality of these comparisons. It would seem, what does rationality have to do with it? After all, no one demands special accuracy or literalness from comparisons! But here are dissimilar comparison examples, strings belonging to different people. “There were fire-faced elands here, like glasses of bloody wine” (N. Zabolotsky) and “Fate, you look like a market butcher, whose knife is bloody from tip to handle” (Khakani). Despite all the dissimilarity of these expressions, they are distinguished by a common feature. Both phrases tell about completely ordinary things (about red flowers, about the difficult human fate) and, written in a slightly different form, could easily be lost in any text. But the use of comparisons (“glasses of bloody wine,” “butcher’s knife”) turned out to be exactly the touch that deliberately added special expressiveness and emotionality to simple words. This is probably why in songs and romantic poems, where the emotional mood is already strong, comparisons are even less common than in realistic narratives.
Examples of comparisons in Russian
Russian language is considered one of the most difficult. And at the same time, the creations of domestic classics are recognized throughout the world as the most brilliant, original, and talented. It seems that there is an inextricable connection between these facts. The difficulty of learning a language lies in the considerable number of features, possibilities, and rules present in it. But this also opens up enormous scope for a talented writer who has managed to master cunning techniques. The Russian language is indeed very rich: it contains truly limitless possibilities that allow you to turn an ordinary word into a vivid visual image, make it sound in a new way, so that it remains forever in memory. Poetic works are especially conducive to this. “Our life in old age is like a worn-out robe: it’s both a shame to wear it and a pity to leave it.” This line by P. Vyazemsky is an excellent example of the use of comparisons in literary work.
About the work of A.S. Pushkin
The great poet was a recognized genius in mastering the most complex literary techniques. The comparisons used in his poems and poems are striking in their unexpectedness and at the same time accuracy and precision.
“His beaver collar is silvered with frosty dust” - this is a line from the poem “Eugene Onegin”. Only a few words, but the capital’s boulevard, covered with snow, and a young dandy heading to the ball emerge before my eyes. And then there’s the episode at the ball: “He walked in: and the cork hit the ceiling, the current flowed out from the comet.” If Pushkin had written that a footman had opened a bottle of champagne, he would not have deviated from the truth. But would this picture of extraordinary, festive, sparkling fun have emerged so clearly then?
And this is from the poem “The Bronze Horseman”: “And before the younger capital, old Moscow faded, like a porphyry-bearing widow before the new queen.” Is it possible to more accurately convey the atmosphere of a certain patriarchy and even abandonment that reigned in Moscow after the city of Petra was named the capital of Russia? “Let the Finnish waves forget their ancient enmity and captivity!” - this is about how the waters of the Neva were encased in granite. Yes, probably, this could be stated without comparisons, but would the pictures drawn by the author appear so clearly before the eyes?
And more about Russian poetic creativity
There are plenty of wonderful examples of the use of comparative images in the works of other Russian poets. Amazing comparisons in Bunin's poem “Childhood” accurately convey the atmosphere of a hot summer day, the sensations of a child who enjoys the sun and the aromas of the forest. The author’s sand is silk, the tree trunk is a giant, and the sun-drenched summer forest itself is sunny chambers.
No less remarkable, although completely different examples are present in the works of other Russian wordsmiths. Comparisons in Yesenin’s poem “Good morning!” reveal to the reader a summer dawn. Golden stars are dozing, instead of river water there is a mirror of the backwater, there are green catkins on the birch trees, silver dews are burning, and the nettles are dressed in bright mother-of-pearl. In fact, the entire poem is one big comparison. And how beautiful it is!
We can talk about comparisons in S. Yesenin’s works for a long time - they are all so bright, imaginative and at the same time different. If in the work “Good Morning” the atmosphere is light, joyful, pleasant, then when reading the poem “Black Man” there is a feeling of heaviness, even disaster (it is not for nothing that it is considered a kind of requiem by the author). And this atmosphere of hopelessness is also formed thanks to unusually accurate comparisons!
“The Black Man” is a tragically unique poem. A certain black man who appeared either in a dream or in the author’s feverish delirium. Yesenin is trying to understand what kind of vision this is. And then a whole series of brilliant comparisons: “Just like a grove in September, the brain is showered with alcohol,” “My head flaps its ears like the wings of a bird, its legs can no longer loom on its neck,” “In December in that country the snow is pure as hell, and snowstorms make merry spinning wheels.” You read these lines and see everything: the bright frosty winter, and enormous human despair.
Conclusion
You can express your thoughts in different ways. But for some it is faded and dull phrases, or even completely incoherent babble, while for others it is luxurious, flowery paintings. Comparisons and other artistic techniques allow us to achieve figurative speech, both written and oral. And you should not neglect this wealth.
Hello, dear readers of the blog site. Surely you have heard the expressions BRAVE LIKE A LION or CLINY LIKE A FOX more than once?! belong to one of the most expressive lexical devices which is called comparison.
Most often this can be found in literature, and some comparisons have already migrated into our everyday speech. Thanks to them, the author strengthens the image many times over.
After all, you must agree - it’s one thing to come home and say “I’m hungry”, and quite another thing “I’M HUNGRY AS A WOLF!” The second option is stronger, and most importantly, everyone immediately understands that you shouldn’t delay dinner for even a second.
Comparison is a visual technique in which two objects (actions or phenomena) are compared in order to enhance the characteristics of one of them. Moreover, in comparisons two elements are always mentioned - what is being compared and what is being compared with.
The villages are burning, they have no protection.
The sons of the fatherland are defeated by the enemy,
AND GLOW, LIKE ETERNAL,
Playing in the clouds frightens the eye.
In this quatrain, Mikhail Lermontov compares the light from fires to a celestial body, thereby focusing on how bright it is.
Another example from literature (poetry):
Crazy years faded FUN
I'm having a hard time, LIKE A HAPPY HANGOVER.
But, LIKE WINE, THE SADNESS of days gone by
In my soul, the older, the stronger.
And this is Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich. In this quatrain he has two comparisons at once, and both are related to the topic of alcohol (understandable to many in our country).
Firstly, from the phrase “fun - hangover”, we understand that joy is a thing of the past, and it has been replaced by melancholy. And secondly, the vivid image of “sadness - wine” creates a feeling of hopelessness.
Ways to create comparisons using examples
There are several basic ways to make comparisons:
- using comparative conjunctions “as”, “as if”, “as if”, “what/than”, “exactly”;
- using nouns in the instrumental case;
- using an adjective or adverb in comparative form;
- using the words “similar” and “similar”.
Now let's give examples for each type of comparison.
Comparative prepositions
- He ran faster than a horse. (Pushkin)
- On Red Square, as if through the fog of centuries, the outlines of the towers were clearly visible. (Nekrasov)
- The lightning in the sky not only flashed, but also fluttered, LIKE the wing of a dying bird. (Turgenev)
- And they stand behind the oak nets, LIKE forest evil spirits, stumps. (Yesenin)
- Every village here is so beautiful, as if it contains all the beauty of the Universe. (Yashin)
Nouns in the instrumental case
- Farewell tears flowed like a HAIL from the chopped old birch tree. (Nekrasov)
- Birds appeared like a fabulous vision from the surface of the water. (Alekseev)
- The moon slides like a PANCAKE in sour cream. (Parsnip)
- A patterned clean TOWEL hangs a rainbow from the birch trees. (Rubtsov)
Adjectives and adverbs in comparative form
- There is no beast stronger than a cat. (Krylov)
- These eyes are GREENER than the sea and our cypresses are DARKER (Akhmatova)
- A girl's eyes are BRIGHTER than roses. (Pushkin)
- LIGHTER than the sun throne room (Tsvetaeva)
- The homeland is LIKE a huge tree on which you cannot count the leaves. (Peskov)
- Your eyes are LIKE the eyes of a cautious cat. (Akhmatova)
Examples of extended comparisons
Sometimes writers and poets use not one or two words as comparisons, but whole sentences. This allows you to create a very vivid image and more accurately convey the mood of the entire work.
Here is one of the striking examples - the poem by Konstantin Zabolotsky “Voice on the Phone”.
He used to be loud, JUST A BIRD,
LIKE A SPRING, it flowed and rang,
As if pouring out all in radiance
I wanted to use a steel wire.
And then, like a distant sob,
AS A FAREWELL with the joy of the soul,
It began to sound full of repentance,
And disappeared into an unknown wilderness.
In the poem itself there is no subject that is being compared. It's hidden in the title. And all the quatrains are a continuous comparison combined with metaphors. And using these techniques, Zabolotsky very colorfully describes past love. After all, this is exactly what we are talking about, as you might have guessed.
Huge comparisons are also found in prose. Here, for example, is an excerpt from Homer’s famous “Iliad.”
AJAX rushed at the ENEMIES, LIKE A HUNGRY LION at the frightened huddled SHEEP who had lost their shepherd, who were left without protection, defenseless, LIKE CHILDREN without supervision, and could only timidly moan and back away in fear of the lion’s thirst for blood and murder, which seizes the predator like madness, intensifying when he senses the horror of the doomed...
There are two comparisons here. One “Ajax is a lion”, and the other even turned out to be double “enemies - sheep - children”. Moreover, note that the main words are heard only at the very beginning, and the rest of the rather massive piece of text is devoted to comparison. And this very poetically describes the nature of the battle.
And now I would like to return to where we started. Some comparisons already firmly entered our vocabulary. We have already mentioned three of them, here are more:
- Eyes like a bottomless lake;
- Red as a lobster;
- Sweet like honey;
- Like a bull in a china shop;
- Frozen like a monument;
- Spun around like a top/spinning like a squirrel in a wheel;
- Run like you're on fire;
- He looks like a ram at the new gate.
And a few more examples:
By the way, such stable expressions. That is, this is the next step after comparisons. But you can read about this in another article on our website.
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Epithets, metaphors, personifications, comparisons - all these are means of artistic expression that are actively used in the Russian literary language. There is a huge variety of them. They are necessary in order to make the language bright and expressive, enhance artistic images, and attract the reader’s attention to the idea that the author wants to convey.
What are the means of artistic expression?
Epithets, metaphors, personifications, comparisons belong to different groups of means of artistic expression.
Linguistic scientists distinguish sound or phonetic visual means. Lexical are those that are associated with a specific word, that is, a lexeme. If an expressive device covers a phrase or a whole sentence, then it is syntactic.
Separately, they also consider phraseological means (they are based on phraseological units), tropes (special figures of speech used in a figurative meaning).
Where are the means of artistic expression used?
It is worth noting that the means of artistic expression are used not only in literature, but also in various spheres of communication.
Most often epithets, metaphors, personifications, comparisons can be found, of course, in artistic and journalistic speech. They are also present in colloquial and even scientific styles. They play a huge role, as they help the author to realize his artistic concept, his image. They are also useful for the reader. With their help, he can penetrate into the secret world of the creator of the work, better understand and delve into the author's intention.
Epithet
Epithets in poetry are one of the most common literary devices. It is surprising that an epithet can be not only an adjective, but also an adverb, noun and even a numeral (a common example is second Life).
Most literary scholars consider the epithet as one of the main devices in poetic creativity, decorating poetic speech.
If we turn to the origins of this word, it comes from the ancient Greek concept, literally meaning “attached”. That is, it is an addition to the main word, the main function of which is to make the main idea clearer and more expressive. Most often, the epithet comes before the main word or expression.
Like all means of artistic expression, epithets developed from one literary era to another. So, in folklore, that is, in folk art, the role of epithets in the text is very large. They describe the properties of objects or phenomena. Their key features are highlighted, while extremely rarely addressing the emotional component.
Later, the role of epithets in literature changes. It is expanding significantly. This means of artistic expression is given new properties and filled with functions that were not previously inherent in it. This becomes especially noticeable among the poets of the Silver Age.
Nowadays, especially in postmodern literary works, the structure of the epithet has become even more complex. The semantic content of this trope has also increased, leading to surprisingly expressive techniques. For example: the diapers were golden.
Function of epithets
The definitions epithet, metaphor, personification, comparison come down to one thing - all these are artistic means that give prominence and expressiveness to our speech. Both literary and colloquial. The special function of the epithet is also strong emotionality.
These means of artistic expression, and especially epithets, help readers or listeners to visualize what the author is talking or writing about, to understand how he relates to this subject.
Epithets serve to realistically recreate a historical era, a specific social group or people. With their help, we can imagine how these people spoke, what words colored their speech.
What is a metaphor?
Translated from ancient Greek, metaphor is “transfer of meaning.” This characterizes this concept as well as possible.
A metaphor can be either a separate word or a whole expression that is used by the author in a figurative sense. This means of artistic expression is based on a comparison of an object that has not yet been named with some other one based on their common feature.
Unlike most other literary terms, metaphor has a specific author. This is the famous philosopher of Ancient Greece - Aristotle. The initial birth of this term is associated with Aristotle’s ideas about art as a method of imitating life.
Moreover, the metaphors that Aristotle used are almost impossible to distinguish from literary exaggeration (hyperbole), ordinary comparison or personification. He understood metaphor much more broadly than modern literary scholars.
Examples of the use of metaphor in literary speech
Epithets, metaphors, personifications, comparisons are actively used in works of art. Moreover, for many authors, metaphors become an aesthetic end in themselves, sometimes completely displacing the original meaning of the word.
As an example, literary researchers cite the famous English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. For him, what is often important is not the everyday original meaning of a particular statement, but the metaphorical meaning it acquires, a new unexpected meaning.
For those readers and researchers who were brought up on the Aristotelian understanding of the principles of literature, this was unusual and even incomprehensible. So, on this basis Leo Tolstoy did not recognize Shakespeare’s poetry. His point of view in Russia in the 19th century was shared by many readers of the English playwright.
At the same time, with the development of literature, metaphor begins not only to reflect, but also to create the life around us. A striking example from classical Russian literature is Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's story "The Nose". The nose of the collegiate assessor Kovalev, who went on his own journey around St. Petersburg, is not only a hyperbole, personification and comparison, but also a metaphor that gives this image a new unexpected meaning.
An illustrative example is the futurist poets who worked in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Their main goal was to distance the metaphor as far as possible from its original meaning. Vladimir Mayakovsky often used such techniques. An example is the title of his poem “A Cloud in Pants.”
Moreover, after the October Revolution, metaphors began to be used much less frequently. Soviet poets and writers strived for clarity and straightforwardness, so the need to use words and expressions in a figurative sense disappeared.
Although it is impossible to imagine a work of art, even by Soviet authors, without metaphor. Almost everyone uses metaphor words. In Arkady Gaidar's "The Fate of a Drummer" you can find the following phrase - "So we parted ways. The stomping has stopped, and the field is empty."
In Soviet poetry of the 70s, Konstantin Kedrov introduced the concept of “meta-metaphor” or, as it is also called, “metaphor squared”. Metaphor has a new distinctive feature - it constantly participates in the development of literary language. As well as speech and culture itself as a whole.
For this purpose, metaphors are constantly used when talking about the latest sources of knowledge and information, and they are used to describe modern achievements of mankind in science and technology.
Personification
In order to understand what personification is in literature, let us turn to the origin of this concept. Like most literary terms, it has its roots in the ancient Greek language. Literally translated it means “face” and “do”. With the help of this literary device, natural forces and phenomena, inanimate objects acquire properties and signs inherent in humans. It’s as if they are animated by the author. For example, they can be given the properties of the human psyche.
Such techniques are often used not only in modern fiction, but also in mythology, religion, magic and cults. Personification was a key means of artistic expression in legends and parables, which explained to ancient people how the world works and what is behind natural phenomena. They were animated, endowed with human qualities, and associated with gods or supermen. This made it easier for ancient man to accept and understand the reality around him.
Examples of avatars
Examples of specific texts will help us understand what personification is in literature. Thus, in a Russian folk song, the author claims that "bast is girded with grief".
With the help of personification, a special worldview appears. It is characterized by an unscientific understanding of natural phenomena. When, for example, thunder grumbles like an old man, or the sun is perceived not as an inanimate cosmic object, but as a specific god named Helios.
Comparison
In order to understand the basic modern means of artistic expression, it is important to understand what comparison is in literature. Examples will help us with this. At Zabolotsky we meet: "He used to be loud, like a bird"or Pushkin: "He ran faster than a horse".
Very often comparisons are used in Russian folk art. So we clearly see that this is a trope in which one object or phenomenon is likened to another on the basis of some characteristic common to them. The purpose of comparison is to find in the described object new and important properties for the subject of artistic expression.
Metaphor, epithets, comparisons, personifications serve a similar purpose. The table, which presents all these concepts, helps to clearly understand how they differ from each other.
Types of comparisons
For a detailed understanding, let us consider what comparison is in literature, examples and varieties of this trope.
It can be used in the form of a comparative phrase: the man is as stupid as a pig.
There are non-union comparisons: My home is my castle.
Comparisons are often formed by using a noun in the instrumental case. Classic example: he walks like a nog.
A comparison is a trope in which the text contains a basis for comparison and an image of comparison; sometimes a sign can be indicated. Thus, in the example “God’s name is like a big bird” (O.E. Mandelstam), God’s name (the basis of the comparison) is compared with a bird (the image of the comparison). The characteristic by which the comparison is made is wingedness.
Literary scholars distinguish several varieties.
Types of comparisons
1. Comparison expressed using comparative conjunctions as, as if, as if, exactly, like and others.
For example B.L. Pasternak uses the following comparison: “The kiss was like summer.”
2. Comparison expressed using adjectives in the comparative degree. You can add words to such phrases seems, seems, looks like and others.
For example: “Girls’ faces are brighter than roses” (A.S. Pushkin).
3. Comparison for which it is used. For example: “A wounded beast suffers from the frost” (N.N. Aseev).
4. Comparison expressed by the accusative without. For example: “The living room was decorated with expensive red gold wallpaper.”
5. Comparison expressed in a descriptive non-union phrase. For example: “The nightmares of the night are so far away that a dusty predator in the sun is a naughty man and nothing more” (I.F. Annensky).
6. There are also negative comparisons. For example: “The sun is not red in the sky, the blue clouds do not admire it: then the formidable Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich sits at a meal in a golden crown” (M.Yu. Lermontov).
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