In each school, in literature classes, children are taught what epithets, personification, comparison, metaphors are. These are the main figurative definitions that create an artistic picture of reality in literature. The ability to clearly distinguish between these definitions guarantees a more accurate understanding of literary texts.
The nature of figurative definitions
The very concept of fiction foresees the presence of certain means that form a vivid imagery, make the text a work of art. In music, these are sounds, in painting, colors, in a poem and a novel, words.
Thus, a vivid figurative definition is a figurative and expressive tool in fiction, with the help of which a bright reality is created from words.
There are several types of figurative definitions. The most common are epithets, metaphors, avatars, and comparisons. There are also hyperbolas and litots, anaphora and epiphora. But their use has a deeper meaning, and they are worse than simple analysis.
Artistic Definition
The simplest and most understandable artistic means in literature are epithets. They are used in almost any work and add imagery and volume to it.
Epithet is a vivid figurative definition that indicates additional qualities of the image characterized by it. As a rule, they are expressed using the names of adjectives: a clear sun, a dull time, a gray-eyed king.
It is noteworthy that adjectives do not always act as epithets in a literary text. For example: green grass is a standard definition that does not provide additional figurative characteristics. Green grass is always under normal conditions. But the burnt out autumn grass is already epithets that add volume to the overall perception of the artistic picture in the text.
Epithets can be permanent and random. Constants are found in folk art: black horse, red maiden. Random - this is the result of individual creativity of the authors. Sometimes such epithets are never found in other works.
The revival of the inanimate in literature
Literary texts tend to show inanimate objects through their living manifestation. This technique is called personification. Such a vivid figurative definition is a way to revive the surrounding reality in order to give it greater expression: frost is cracking, the wind is howling, trees are singing.
The description of inanimate nature, as if it were alive, makes it possible to more accurately form a picture of artistic reality. Here the following trick works: a person better perceives an emotional mood, if he can empathize with him. To this end, subjects are assigned human qualities.
What effect the author wants to receive depends on the number of avatars in the text. If the whole work is filled with this figurative definition, the impression of an unrealistic picture of what is happening is created. This is characteristic of mystical and surrealistic works.
In fairy tales, avatars also play a major role. Young children learn the world more easily if the characters are not people, but animate and inanimate nature.
Compare to better present
Based on a comparison of different similar or dissimilar objects, another vivid figurative definition is created. Comparison is the creation of a picture of the world in which the qualities of the second appear against the background of one phenomenon. Famous words - “The white birch under my window was covered with snow, like silver” - will serve as a vivid example of this artistic means of expression. Here, fresh snow shining in the sun is compared to precious metal. From this, the picture acquires a certain raid of nobility and solemnity.
Comparisons can be of several types. Based on the similarity of objects, this vivid figurative definition is most often formed: a dark tan, like a chocolate bar; fresh as fluff, snow . But for greater expressiveness and contrast, comparisons in real life of few similar objects can be used: stuck like a bee in syrup; as white as soot on a chimney sweep . This technique can be called even more expressive, since it carries a much stronger emotional charge.
Comparison without comparison
For literature, a vivid figurative definition is a means of artistic transformation of reality. The peak of skill in this process is considered a metaphor.
Briefly, the essence of this tool is expressed in such words - comparison without comparison. Its essence lies in the fact that the name of one phenomenon of reality is replaced by another on the basis of their similarity or any kind of adjacency: “shoes go down the street” instead of “people walk in shoes”, “eat a plate” instead of “eat all food from a plate”, “Chocolate girl” instead of “chocolate tan girl”.
Metaphors come in several forms, but they all have one thing in common - some similarity or belonging to reality with the compared object.
The difficulty in analyzing metaphors is that the motives for such a comparison are not always transparent and clear. Sometimes it seems that the complex metaphor of the text is not justified, although in fact it may simply not be enough factual knowledge to reveal the essence of the author’s imagery.
The ability to reveal the inner meaning of metaphors is the highest skill in the analysis of literary texts.
The role of artistic means of expression
We have already figured out what epithets, personification, comparison, metaphors are. It remains not entirely clear why to confuse the text so that you can later sit and analyze what the author wanted to say with these definitions?
In fact, only professional literary scholars and critics are engaged in in-depth analysis. In most cases, ordinary readers are not familiar with their work.
Analysis of artistic definitions in everyday life takes place on an intuitive level and the level of perception of the text. At school, children are taught to read works correctly, understanding that behind a simple comparison there is a lot more sense than can be seen on the surface.
An experienced reader is a person with a good imagination who can recreate the picture described in the work in his head. To make it more detailed and emotional, the authors use these tools.
There are several synonyms for the word "figurative definition", the main of which can be called visual-expressive means. The task of metaphor and epithet is to depict reality as the author sees it, and to express their attitude to it in such a way that the reader also understands this.
Appearance story
The development of fiction is rooted in hoary antiquity. It is difficult to say exactly when the expressive means of vocabulary appeared: epithet, comparison, metaphor. It is known that people always gravitated to the beautiful, so they wanted to embellish even simple pictures of everyday life.
By the complexity of the analysis, it can be assumed that in the first place the simplest figurative definitions arose, such as epithet and personification. Comparison requires a certain life experience from the narrator and listener, so it may have appeared a little later.
Of course, a metaphor is the pinnacle of artistic excellence. It is quite complex and voluminous both in its meaning and in the process of its formation. Metaphoricality is more characteristic of modern literature. In ancient times, its replacement was an allegory, which today is much less common.
Methodology for determining figurative means of expression
Any work on figurative expressions begins with their definition in the text. Next, you need to understand what they mean and what they indicate.
The next step is to determine the goal of the author. Creating such an expression, he wanted to achieve a certain emotional effect. And finally, it’s worthwhile to figure out exactly how this metaphor or epithet answers what the author wanted to say.
In practice, a vivid figurative definition is a complex multi-level phenomenon that is disclosed as fully as the reader’s experience of a person perceiving a literary text is enough.