Decide if these statements are ironic or not.

"So you've lost the books I lent you? Well, that's wonderful!" "She gave us a two-hour lecture on how to make a cup of tea. It was really fascinating."

"We can't select you for the play. It doesn't feature simpletons." "Yes, put the baby next to the fire. That will be the safest place." "Don't look at me in that way - unless you want a thick ear!" It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a for­tune must be in want of a wife.

Assignment 1. Match each figure of quantity with its main stylistic feature:

1. Hyperbole. 2. Meiosis. 3. Litotes.

a) positive sense of a structure with double negation;

b) a deliberate exaggeration;

c) a deliberate diminution.

Assignment 2. Indicate separately the cases of: a) hyperbole; b) meiosis; c) litotes:

1. English and American hands were as scarce as hen's teeth in this _unhealthy place. (W. Foster). 2. He would give the world for her fair eyes. 3. Dear aunt, you frightened me out of my senses. (H. Fielding). 4. A smile crossed Natt's face from ear to ear. (H. Caine). 5. An unfortunate man would be drowned in a tea-cup. 6. A watched pot never boils. 7. He said: "I thought I'd come up and have a word with you, father." (A. Cronin). 8. I have not seen you for ages. 9. To write a novel is as simple for him as falling off a chair, I suppose. 10. You make noise enough to wake the dead. 11. We'll be back in three shakes of a dead lamb's tail. (J. Conroy). 12. He seemed to me to be frightened all to pieces. (A. Doyle). 13.1 don't speak empty words. 14. It hadn't been for nothing after all. 14. No man is indispensable. 15. These cabins aren't half bad. (H. Wells). 16. Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. 17. I've had such a lot of worry lately that I don't know whether I'm on my head or heels. (H. Lawson). 18. And the floors! They haven't seen water for ages. (J. Steele). 19. An old dog barks not in vain. 20. "Well, that's not a bad idea," he said finally. (M. Wilson). 21. He proceeded very slowly and cau­tiously, an inch at a time. (J. London). 22. He was a good-for-nothing fellow. 23.1 wouldn't say it is beyond your purse to buy that book.

Assignment 3. Match each metonymic figure of quality with its main stylistic feature:

1. Metonymy. 2. Synecdoche. 3. Periphrasis. 4. Euphemism.

a) replacement of a direct name of a thing/phenomenon by the description of some of its quality;

b)naming the whole object by mentioning part of it, or naming a constitu­ent part by mentioning the whole object;

c) replacement of an unpleasant, impolite word or expression with a mild­er and decent one;

d)transference of a name of one object to another based upon contiguity.

Assignment 4. Match each metaphoric figure of quality with its ^main stylistic feature:

1. Metaphor. 2. Epithet. 3. Antonomasia. 4. Personification. 5. Allegory.

a) an attribute describing an object expressively, pointing out an implied figurative connotation;

a) Satan b) a bug, bed-bug, clinch c)God   d) a swindler e) a lawyer, judge   a) a soldier military man b) a woman c) the Nile d) a peasant woman e) a an impudent woman   a) an eagle b) a tavern-keeper c) death d) a crocodile e) a (black)smith, farrier   a) the sun b) an adventurer, gambler c) a tramp, vagrant, hobo d) herring e) a lion   a) a cowardice b) a writer, journalist, clerk c) stock exchange d) stars e) a veteran

 

b) an abstract notion in a concrete image, embodied throughout a whole text, often possessing the features of a human being and having its proper name*

c) transference of a name of one object to another based on similarity;

d) usage of common nouns as proper names based on similarity of quali­ties, or usage of proper names as common nouns;

e) ascribing human behaviour, feelings, thoughts and actions to inanimate objects.

Assignment 5. Match the periphrases with the notions they rep-