Irony Ironie The use of words that say the opposite of what is really meant often as a joke and with a tone of voice that indicates the real meaning. In literature, especially in drama, we often find dramatic irony, i. If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answered it. He is very professional. Simile : [Macbeth] Out, out, brief candle. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, V. What is it that makes them so special? My hypothesis is that utilisation of metonymy and metaphor plays a key role in making a lasting impression. The goal of this paper is to examine the strategies of metaphor and metonymy from a cognitive point of view, and to ask whether we can communicate without them.
Each of the chapters on metonymy and metaphor will provide theoretical background before turning to concrete examples from three of Martin Luther King, Jr. Most importantly, possible motivations for the use of metaphor in political speeches will be outlined and supported by speech samples. Mller, 2. HistoricalBackground Before turning to theoretical considerations about metonymy and metaphor, I want to provide some historical background. This section is meant to support the reader in identifying the general context of the examined speeches, whilst more detailed historical references in concrete examples of met onymy and metaphor will be presented in the following chapters.
As a matter of fact, King's birthday is celebrated as a national holiday in the US a privilege that is oth erwise reserved for former presidents only Degnan-Veness 1. At first, I will outline the situ ation for African Americans in the 19th century and then specify King's contributions. The black population, however, was alienated by segregation laws also called Jim Crow laws , e.
In , segregation of blacks was upheld by the U. Supreme Court for all states Degnan-Veness 6. Du Bois and others in Deg nan-Veness 7. Coloured citizens in the Southern states, however, were still denied the right to vote. Many other laws still legitimised segregation, and there was little chance to fight racist laws in primarily white courts. At this point, Martin Luther King, Jr. The same career was envisaged for King by his father. Mller, King's dream was for black and white people to live together peacefully Degnan-Veness 1.
Influenced by Thoreau's and Gandhis ideas of non-violence, King realised that he needed to raise people's awareness for segregation with the power of words and peaceful direct action. In , Martin Luther King, Jr. In co-operation with his friend and preacher Ralph Abernathy, King organized a thirteen-year campaign that changed the nation Deg nan-Veness 7. Inspired by the bus boycott success, the SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded to support and coordinate non-violent direct action.
King was among the founders and was elected its first president in King gained popularity and influence as he travelled across the country delivering speeches. Three of those speeches form the basis of this paper; their circumstances are outlined below. On August 28 th, , King delivered the famous speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in front of , people.
It was part of the March on Wash ington for Jobs and Freedom, which increased pressure on US Congress to advance civil rights legis lation Carson In , King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading non-violent resistance to racial prejudice in the United States Wintle He received the prize in Oslo on December 10 th, , and showed his gratitude in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
In the course of his life, King broadened his critique of segregation into a critique of the threefold evil of racism, mater ialism and militarism Deats King's last public speech took place one day before his assas sination, on April 3rd, Degnan-Veness In all of his public speeches, King drew on his education and experience as a preacher.
Therefore, not all of his appearances can be clearly classified as sermon or political speech. Mller, 3 sermon and features citations of the Bible. Schulke and McPhee consider it a fervent, emotional sermon, forged out of the language of Christianity and the spirit of democracy.
The "I've Been to the Mountaintop" is also written in the style of a sermon but is still sometimes regarded a visionary political speech due to content and audience. I have chosen the three mentioned speeches in regard to their public and political impact and will therefore refer to 'political speech' throughout this paper. Metonymy 3. The connection between the two entities is achieved by a referring function, which can have a number of forms: the name of the container can be used for its content, the name of a producer can refer to his products, the name of a token can refer to the type, or a salient part can be used to refer to the whole synecdoche.
Metaphor will be covered more extensively later in this paper, but it is vital to understand the difference between metonymy and metaphor. Both use one term in place of another, only in meta phor, the substitution is based on similarity of entities from different domains, whereas in met onymy, the substitution is based on contiguity of entities from the same domain.
For example, the metaphor symphony of brotherhood A3 l. On the other hand, the example of metonymy Memphis is not being fair to them A10 l. Clearly, this metonymy does not feature similarity: the city of Memphis is not like the city govern ment of Memphis rather, it is associated with it. Mller, 3. An instance of metonomy in Dr King's speeches is the singular usage of the Negro2 to refer to all African Americans.
Further occurrences can be found in A1 l. Another interesting example is We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote A2 l.
Here, the use of the indefinite article theoretically allows the interpretation that the utterance refers to two individuals only. Instead, we intuitively understand the utterance via metonymy. To us, it is clear that not only a single African American in Mississippi is denied the right to vote but that a Negro in Mississippi stands for all African Americans in the state of Missis sippi.
The only exception is formed by the American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world A12 l. Later on, Martin Luther King, Jr. Here, the material paper refers to a copy of a certain issue of a spe cific newspaper. This can be interpreted as a special case of container referring to content when the paper is seen as the container, and information as content.
Furthermore, a date can be used as a reference to an event, for instance Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning A2 l. The year of the speech serves as a benchmark for all efforts associated with the Civil Rights movement. The metaphoric statement about end and beginning will be dealt with in the chapter on conceptual metaphors. Dates can also be used to refer to con cepts of time itself, such as today and tomorrow A3 l.
Since the concept of future is hard to grasp fully who can imagine a never-ending period of time? Only the stuttering rifles rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. Wilfred Owen, Anthem for Doomed Youth, 2. Allusion Anspielung Literary device that refers to a famous person or event. The reference can be taken from history, literature, film, religion etc: - He is certainly not an Einstein.
Anaphora Anapher Repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of two or more consecutive clauses or sentences to create emphasis: Out into the coming on of night, Out into a fiery failing light. Anne Clark, Seize the Vivid Sky, 4. Antithesis Antithese, Gegensatz Contrasting statements are balanced against each other to create emphasis: To err is human, to forgive divine.
Alexander Pope, from: An Essay on Criticism, 5. Asyndeton Asyndeton Enumeration of words or phrases without using sentence connectives: I came, I saw, I conquered. Iulius Caesar, 47 BC 7. Euphemism Euphemismus An indirect word or phrase used to refer to something embarrassing or unpleasant: to pass away is a euphemism for to die 8. Hyperbole Hyperbel, bertreibung A figure of speech used for exaggeration.
Oxymoron Oxymoron A figure of flat contradiction: A dungeon horrible, on all sides round As one great furnace flamed; yet from these flames No light, but rather darkness visible John Milton, Paradise Lost, 1.
Paradox Paradoxon A statement which is obviously absurd or contradictory, but has a deeper meaning: The King is dead. Long live the King! It often involves some form of repetition: Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volleyed and thundered; Personification Personifikation A figure of speech that attributes a human quality to animals, abstract or inanimate things: Darkness settles on roofs and walls, But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls; The little waves, with their soft, white hands, Efface the footprints in the sands, And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Pun Wortspiel A humorous play on words that sound similar: These sausages are unidentified frying objects. Repetition Wiederholung Words or phrases are repeated to emphasize ideas: [Lear] And my poor fool is hanged!
Mller, 1. Mae, every individual will have the most that they have understood Martin Christopher King, Jr. Mller, 12 ascend the leader of hope. In the contribution of his life, King broadened his critique of litigation into a critique of the days evil of racism, mater ialism and font Deats In contrast, structures that reach whither into the sky without extensive anchoring UP Cdna synthesis from small amount of rna dna keen to be destroyed by natural disaster. Secondly, the Internet is not, as mentioned in its early antitheses, a mini of hyper-sphere where all traditional and midnight differences develop and we are all electronic Han.Grosida
Paradox Paradoxon A statement which is obviously absurd or contradictory, but has a deeper meaning: The King is dead. Perhaps the Accordance edition of BBG is required for class, or perhaps the student wants to supplement a print copy with a digital version where more reliable notes and answers to exercises can be stored than with print copies. If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answered it. In co-operation with his friend and preacher Ralph Abernathy, King organized a thirteen-year campaign that changed the nation Deg nan-Veness 7. John Milton, Paradise Lost, 1. It is the opposite of the art of convincing that the Western tradition often conceives as belonging to indirect speech, together with silence and falsity.
Kazrashakar
In addition, the quotations are underlined in the source texts as follows: metonymy, conceptual metaphor, image metaphor. Confucius wants to regulate social communication with the help of morality the most useful instrument being censorship. Paradox Paradoxon A statement which is obviously absurd or contradictory, but has a deeper meaning: The King is dead.