Stylistic classification of the english vocabulary

a) Simile

The intensification of some feature of the concept in question is realized in a device called simile.

The simile is a stylistic devise expressing a likeness between different object.

The formal elements of the simile are the following conjunctions and adverbs: as, like, as like, such as, as if, seem etc.

The simile is based on the comparison of objects be­longing to different spheres. Eg.:

Mr. Dombey took it (the hand) as if it were a fish.

We must not confuse ordinary comparison and simile as a stylistic device which represent two diverse proces­ses. Comparison implies estimation of two objects which belong to one class of objects with the purpose of establishing the sameness or difference. Comparison takes into consideration all the properties of the two objects. E.g.: "The boy seems to be as clever as his mother" is or­dinary comparison. "Boy" and "mother" belong to the sa­me class of objects - human beings.

The nature of simile is to compare two (or several) objects which belong to different class of objects. Simile finds one or several Features, which are common to the ob­jects compared.

The sun was as red as ripe new blood (J.Stein­beck)

Different features may be compared in simile: the state, actions, manners.

My heart is like a singing bird; The body was tensed as a strong leaf of spring A simile consists of three components:

1. 
   What is compared (the subject of a simi­le);
   
2. 
   With what the comparison is made (the object of the simile);
   
3. 
   T1 ¹ ' ""
   

Similes enrich English phraseology: like a squirrel in a cage, to sleep like a log, busy as a bee, blind as a bat. These phraseological units are trite similes and have beco­me cliches.

The simile must not be confused with a metaphor, though they are both based on a likeness between objects:

2. 
   My verses flow like streams.
   
3. 
   My verses flow in streams.
   

The linguistic nature of these two stylistic devises is different. The metaphor is based on the interaction betwe­en the logical and the contextual logical meanings of a word, whereas the simile employs a word in its direct meaning. For this reason they belong to different groups of lexical stylistic devices, though they serve practically the same stylistic purpose, that of producing the desired effect on the reader:

"Delia's beautiful hair fell about her ripping

and shining like a cascade of brown water...

(O'Henry)

In a metaphor an ideas is expressed by a word used in a figurative meaning: "Down rippled the brown cascade of her hair". In the first sentence the word "cascade" has re­tained its direct meaning (waterful), in the second example it is used in a figurative meaning as a metaphor (wave-like fall of the hair).

Besides the original similes created by writers the­re are a great number of so-called traditional similes in the language, which must be regarded as phraseological units. The image suggested by such similes is usually trite.

In these traditional similes the names of animals, plants, natural phenomena are frequently used.

Strong like a lion, hard as a rock, to twinkle like a star, busy as a bee, to work like a horse, to fly like a bird, stubborn as a mule, thirsty as a camel, slow as a tortoise.

These combinations have ceased to be genuine simi­les and have become cliches in which the second com­ponent has become merely an intensifier.

Traditional similes are often employed by writers in the direct speech of characters, thus individualizing their speech; and are seldom represented in the author's narra­tive.

In the author's narrative traditional similes are most often used to stress the highest degree of quality:

1. 
   "It was mournful that her tears began to flow..., they flew down like rain." (Dickens)
   
2. 
   "He sat as still as a stone." (M. Twain)
   

The simile usually serves as a means to clearer mea­ning. By comparing the object the writer makes his des­cription clearer and more picturesque.

Besides making a narrative more concrete and defini­te, the simile helps the author to reveal certain feelings of his own as well.

The stylistic function of simile is 1) imaginative cha­racterization of a phenomenon and 2) to produce a humo­rous effect by its unexpectedness. Eg.: A nice old man, hairless as a boiled onion.