Sunday, October 28, 2007

synecdoche

A synecdoche is a figure of speech in which the one of the following (or its reverse) is expressed:

-A part stands for a whole
-An individual stands for a thing
-A material stands for a thing

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.

C. Erik Troedsson

1 comment:

P.J. said...

Erik:
Could you please give us some specific examples of synecdoche from the texts we've studied, and offer some insights as to how the synecdoche works figuratively and structurally in these instances? - PJE