Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0010322, Fri, 3 Sep 2004 11:38:11 -0700

Subject
Re: Fwd: Re: Nabokov's imagery/'tropes'
Date
Body
I've always been taught that "trope" is the term given to the broad,
overarching category of rhetorical devices that are used in moving
from the literal to the figurative. Tropes are generally divided into
these main subcategories: irony, metaphor, metonymy, and synechdoche.
Here is a link to a website that I've found somewhat helpful in
defining literary terms:http://www.poeticbyway.com/glossary.html. In
his definition of "trope," he notes how the terms "trope" and "figure
of speech" are often confused and used interchangeably (he
distinguishes "trope" as the figurative use of a word or expression,
while "figure or speech" refers to a phrase or sentence used in a
figurative sense), but I think recognizing that the two terms have
quite similar meanings makes it easier to understand their
defenitions. I hope this helps!
-Ashlee Lynn

On Thu, 2 Sep 2004 08:02:47 -0700, Donald B. Johnson
<chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> wrote:
> I'm not sure who posted the message with the 'tropes', quote but it was
> fascinating. Now I have a question:
>
> Can someone give me a decent definition of 'trope', and possibly an
> example, because it's a word I've never been comfortable with no matter
> how often I look it up.
>
> Brian Howell
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>

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