Speaking about artistic techniques for displaying thoughts, we must not forget about one of the most used ones - comparison. What is comparison in literature? Let's try to figure it out.

What is the comparison method

This is a way to compare the homogeneous properties of an object or process, highlight similar ones and point out the differences. It is for this reason that this method is used in science, in everyday life, and in literature:

• at the oral conversational level, the method displays similar and different features of the subject in question,
• In mathematical science, the term "comparison" is identical to the term "relation". The ratio is calculated between numbers and displays their equality or, on the contrary, inequality.
• in sociology - allows us to talk about the similarities and differences of the features and traits of social objects,
• in philosophy and psychology - comparison describes the advantages and disadvantages of the described object or process.

Features of the comparison method in the literature

It is important to understand that the concept of comparison in literary genre has a slightly different meaning. This method is mainly used to display coincident phenomena, to give literary speech special color. The way to fit such a method into the subject of the test can be both simple (direct) and complex (indirect). The first use of comparison involves the use of simple words, so to speak, for connection. These are “as if”, “as”, “as if”, “exactly”. The second method is more complicated. Bright example - application noun in the work of the immortal author “Onegin Lived as an Anchorite”.

Metaphors in literature

At its core, metaphor is equal to the method of comparison. After all, in exactly the same way it enhances the impression of the written lines read. A metaphor, if taken literally, is an expression in a figurative sense. Considering that a metaphor is a comparison, which is expressed indirectly, we can talk about some similarities between these two techniques. For example, A. Blok wrote: “The streams of my poems run.” It is logically clear that poetry cannot flow in streams. AND last word used for the beauty of the syllable.

Types of comparison in the literature.

An excellent example of detecting similarities and identifying contrasts are folk epics: “Not two clouds converged in the sky, two daring knights converged.” It seems that the author of these lines finds a comparison between heroes and celestial objects. But at the same time, it paints a picture of denial - these are not clouds, but knights.

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“It’s not the huntsman who trumpets the oak wood, it’s the crazy guy who cackles - after crying, it’s the young widow who chops and chops wood,” wrote A. Nekrasov. In essence, the last part is already clear that the young girl had a grief, she became a widow. But only by using a comparison of the first part of the lines, the reader becomes clearer about the extent and scale of the misfortune that befell the heroine.

Often, authors use characteristic and familiar objects to convey the properties of an object or process: sweet honey, salty blood, sour vinegar. This the most powerful way expressing the author’s thoughts, giving the events described a special color. For example, M.Yu. Lermontov pointed out: “Harun ran faster than a deer, faster than a hare from an eagle.” Of course, the essence of the lines is that Harun ran quickly, with great acceleration. But in the author's interpretation, the text looks more impressive.

Answering the question: “What is comparison in literature?”, one may not express an unambiguous point of view. It is with its help that it is possible to express the completeness of the author’s thoughts, send a powerful information message to the reader and make the lines of the works more beautiful and understandable. And together, these methods make it possible to fully make prose and poetry interesting and varied.

» » What is comparison in literature and what is it used for?

Epithets, metaphors, personifications, comparisons - all these are means artistic expression, actively used in the Russian literary language. There is a huge variety of them. They are necessary in order to make the language bright and expressive, to strengthen artistic images, to draw the reader’s attention to the idea that the author wants to convey.

What are the means of artistic expression?

Epithets, metaphors, personifications, comparisons refer to different groups means of artistic expression.

Linguistic scientists distinguish between sound or phonetic visual arts. Lexical are those that are associated with a specific word, that is, a lexeme. If an expressive device covers a phrase or a whole sentence, then it is syntactic.

Separately, they also consider phraseological means (they are based on phraseological units), tropes (special figures of speech used in figurative meaning).

Where are the means of artistic expression used?

It is worth noting that the means of artistic expression are used not only in literature, but also in various fields communication.

Most often, epithets, metaphors, personifications, comparisons can be found, of course, in artistic and journalistic speech. They are also present in colloquial and even scientific styles. They are playing huge role, as they help the author to realize his artistic concept, his image. They are also useful for the reader. With their help, he can penetrate into the secret world of the creator of the work, better understand and delve into the author's intention.

Epithet

Epithets in poetry are one of the most common literary devices. It is surprising that an epithet can be not only an adjective, but also an adverb, noun and even a numeral (a common example is second life).

Most literary scholars consider the epithet as one of the main devices in poetic creativity, decorating poetic speech.

If we turn to the origins of this word, it comes from the ancient Greek concept, literally meaning “attached”. That is, it is an addition to the main word, the main function of which is to make the main idea clearer and more expressive. Most often, the epithet comes before the main word or expression.

Like all means of artistic expression, epithets developed from one literary era to another. So, in folklore, that is, in folk art, the role of epithets in the text is very large. They describe the properties of objects or phenomena. Their key features are highlighted, while extremely rarely addressing the emotional component.

Later, the role of epithets in literature changes. It is expanding significantly. This means of artistic expression is given new properties and filled with functions that were not previously inherent in it. This becomes especially noticeable among the poets of the Silver Age.

Nowadays, especially in postmodern literary works, the structure of the epithet has become even more complex. The semantic content of this trope has also increased, leading to surprisingly expressive techniques. For example: the diapers were golden.

Function of epithets

The definitions epithet, metaphor, personification, comparison come down to one thing - all of this artistic media, giving prominence and expressiveness to our speech. Both literary and colloquial. The special function of the epithet is also strong emotionality.

These means of artistic expression, and especially epithets, help readers or listeners to visualize what the author is talking or writing about, to understand how he relates to this subject.

Epithets serve to realistically recreate a historical era, a specific social group or people. With their help, we can imagine how these people spoke, what words colored their speech.

What is a metaphor?

Translated from ancient Greek, metaphor is “transfer of meaning.” This characterizes this concept as well as possible.

The metaphor could be like as a separate word, and the whole expression, which is used by the author in a figurative meaning. This means of artistic expression is based on a comparison of an object that has not yet been named with some other one based on their common feature.

Unlike most other literary terms, metaphor has a specific author. This is a famous philosopher Ancient Greece- Aristotle. The initial birth of this term is associated with Aristotle’s ideas about art as a method of imitating life.

Moreover, the metaphors that Aristotle used are almost impossible to distinguish from literary exaggeration (hyperbole), ordinary comparison or personification. He understood metaphor much more broadly than modern literary scholars.

Examples of the use of metaphor in literary speech

Epithets, metaphors, personifications, comparisons are actively used in works of art. Moreover, for many authors, metaphors become an aesthetic end in themselves, sometimes completely displacing the original meaning of the word.

As an example, literary researchers cite the famous English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. For him, what is often important is not the everyday original meaning of a particular statement, but the metaphorical meaning it acquires, a new unexpected meaning.

For those readers and researchers who were brought up on the Aristotelian understanding of the principles of literature, this was unusual and even incomprehensible. So, on this basis Leo Tolstoy did not recognize Shakespeare’s poetry. His point of view in Russia in the 19th century was shared by many readers of the English playwright.

Moreover, with the development of literature, metaphor begins not only to reflect, but also to create the life around us. A striking example from classical Russian literature is Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's story "The Nose". The nose of the collegiate assessor Kovalev, who went on his own journey around St. Petersburg, is not only a hyperbole, personification and comparison, but also a metaphor that gives this image a new unexpected meaning.

An illustrative example is the futurist poets who worked in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Their main goal was to distance the metaphor as far as possible from its original meaning. Vladimir Mayakovsky often used such techniques. An example is the title of his poem “A Cloud in Pants.”

Moreover, after October Revolution The use of metaphor became much less frequent. Soviet poets and writers strived for clarity and straightforwardness, so the need to use words and expressions in a figurative sense disappeared.

Although it’s completely without metaphor to imagine work of art, even by Soviet authors, is impossible. Almost everyone uses metaphor words. In Arkady Gaidar's "The Fate of a Drummer" you can find the following phrase - "So we parted ways. The stomping has stopped, and the field is empty."

In Soviet poetry of the 70s, Konstantin Kedrov introduced the concept of “meta-metaphor” or, as it is also called, “metaphor squared”. The metaphor has a new one distinguishing feature- she is constantly involved in development literary language. As well as speech and culture itself as a whole.

For this purpose, metaphors are constantly used when talking about the latest sources of knowledge and information, and they are used to describe modern achievements of mankind in science and technology.

Personification

In order to understand what personification is in literature, let us turn to the origin of this concept. Like most literary terms, it has its roots in ancient greek language. Literally translated it means “face” and “do”. With the help of this literary device, natural forces and phenomena, inanimate objects acquire properties and signs, inherent in man. It’s as if they are animated by the author. For example, they can be given the properties of the human psyche.

Such techniques are often used not only in modern fiction, but also in mythology, and religion, in magic and cults. Personification was a key means of artistic expression in legends and parables, in which ancient man explained how the world works, what is behind natural phenomena. They were animated, endowed with human qualities, associated with gods or supermen. This made it easier for ancient man to accept and understand the reality around him.

Examples of avatars

Examples of specific texts will help us understand what personification is in literature. Thus, in a Russian folk song, the author claims that "bast is girded with grief".

With the help of personification, a special worldview appears. It is characterized by an unscientific idea of natural phenomena. When, for example, thunder grumbles like an old man, or the sun is perceived not as an inanimate cosmic object, but as a specific god named Helios.

Comparison

In order to understand the main modern means artistic expression, it is important to understand what comparison is in literature. Examples will help us with this. At Zabolotsky we meet: "He used to be loud, like a bird"or Pushkin: "He ran faster than a horse".

Very often comparisons are used in Russian folk art. So we clearly see that this is a trope in which one object or phenomenon is likened to another on the basis of some characteristic common to them. The purpose of comparison is to find in the described object new and important properties for the subject of artistic expression.

Metaphor, epithets, comparisons, personifications serve a similar purpose. The table, which presents all these concepts, helps to clearly understand how they differ from each other.

Types of comparisons

For a detailed understanding, let us consider what comparison is in literature, examples and varieties of this trope.

It can be used in the form comparative turnover: the man is as stupid as a pig.

There are non-union comparisons: my home is my fortress.

Comparisons are often formed by using a noun in the instrumental case. Classic example: he walks like a nog.

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. Surely you have heard the expressions BRAVE LIKE A LION or CLINY LIKE A FOX more than once?! belong to one of the most expressive lexical devices which is called comparison.

Most often this can be found in literature, and some comparisons have already migrated into our everyday speech. Thanks to them, the author strengthens the image many times over.

After all, you must agree - it’s one thing to come home and say “I’m hungry”, and quite another thing “I’M HUNGRY AS A WOLF!” The second option is stronger, and most importantly, everyone immediately understands that you shouldn’t delay dinner for even a second.

Comparison is a visual technique in which two objects (actions or phenomena) are compared in order to enhance the characteristics of one of them. Moreover, in comparisons two elements are always mentioned - what is being compared and what is being compared with.

The villages are burning, they have no protection.
The sons of the fatherland are defeated by the enemy,
AND GLOW, LIKE ETERNAL,
Playing in the clouds frightens the eye.

In this quatrain, Mikhail Lermontov compares the light from fires with a celestial body, thereby focusing on how bright it is.

Another example from literature (poetry):

Crazy years faded FUN
I'm having a hard time, LIKE A HAPPY HANGOVER.
But, LIKE WINE, THE SADNESS of days gone by
In my soul, the older, the stronger.

And this is Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich. In this quatrain he has two comparisons at once, and both are related to the topic of alcohol (understandable to many in our country).

Firstly, from the phrase “fun - hangover”, we understand that joy is a thing of the past, and it has been replaced by melancholy. And secondly, the vivid image of “sadness - wine” creates a feeling of hopelessness.

Ways to create comparisons using examples

There are several basic ways to create comparisons:

1. using comparative conjunctions “as”, “as if”, “as if”, “what/than”, “exactly”;
2. using nouns in the instrumental case;
3. using an adjective or adverb in comparative form;
4. using the words “similar” and “similar”.

Now let's give examples for each type of comparison.

Comparative prepositions

1. He ran faster than a horse. (Pushkin)
2. On Red Square, as if through the fog of centuries, the outlines of the towers were clearly visible. (Nekrasov)
3. Lightning in the sky not only flashed, but also fluttered, LIKE the wing of a dying bird. (Turgenev)
4. And they stand behind the oak nets, LIKE forest evil spirits, stumps. (Yesenin)
5. Every village here is so beautiful, as if it contains all the beauty of the Universe. (Yashin)

Nouns in instrumental case

1. Farewell tears flowed like a HAIL from the chopped old birch tree. (Nekrasov)
2. Birds appeared like a fabulous vision from the surface of the water. (Alekseev)
3. The moon slides like a PANCAKE in sour cream. (Parsnip)
4. A patterned clean TOWEL hangs a rainbow from the birch trees. (Rubtsov)

Adjectives and adverbs in comparative form

1. There is no beast stronger than a cat. (Krylov)
2. These eyes are GREENER than the sea and our cypresses are DARKER (Akhmatova)
3. A girl's eyes are BRIGHTER than roses. (Pushkin)
4. LIGHTER than the sun throne room (Tsvetaeva)

1. Motherland is SIMILAR huge tree, on which you can’t count the leaves. (Peskov)
2. Your eyes are LIKE the eyes of a cautious cat. (Akhmatova)

Examples of extended comparisons

Sometimes writers and poets use not one or two words as comparisons, but whole sentences. This allows you to create a very vivid image and more accurately convey the mood of the entire work.

Here is one of the striking examples - the poem by Konstantin Zabolotsky “Voice on the Phone”.

He used to be loud, JUST A BIRD,
LIKE A SPRING, it flowed and rang,
As if pouring out all in radiance
I wanted to use a steel wire.
And then, like a distant sob,
AS A FAREWELL with the joy of the soul,
It began to sound full of repentance,
And disappeared into an unknown wilderness.

In the poem itself there is no subject that is being compared. It's hidden in the title. And all the quatrains are a continuous comparison combined with metaphors. And using these techniques, Zabolotsky very colorfully describes past love. After all, this is exactly what we are talking about, as you might have guessed.

Huge comparisons are also found in prose. Here, for example, is an excerpt from Homer’s famous “Iliad.”

AJAX rushed at the ENEMIES, LIKE A HUNGRY LION at the frightened huddled SHEEP who had lost their shepherd, who were left without protection, defenseless, LIKE CHILDREN without supervision, and could only timidly moan and back away in fear of the lion’s thirst for blood and murder, which seizes the predator like madness, intensifying when he senses the horror of the doomed...

There are two comparisons here. One “Ajax is a lion”, and the other even turned out to be double “enemies - sheep - children”. Moreover, note that the main words are heard only at the very beginning, and the rest of the rather massive piece of text is devoted to comparison. And this very poetically describes the nature of the battle.

And now I would like to return to where we started. Some comparisons already firmly entered our vocabulary. We have already mentioned three of them, here are more:

1. Eyes like a bottomless lake;
2. Red as a lobster;
3. Sweet like honey;
4. Like a bull in a china shop;
5. Frozen like a monument;
6. Spun around like a top/spinning like a squirrel in a wheel;
7. Run like you're on fire;
8. He looks like a ram at the new gate.

And a few more examples:

By the way, such stable expressions. That is, this is the next step after comparisons. But you can read about this in another article on our website.

Good luck to you! See you soon on the pages of the blog site

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In everyday life, we are constantly forced to compare various objects in quantitative, qualitative or other aspects. Comparing numbers, determining which one is greater and which one is smaller, is taught in mathematics lessons in primary school schools.

However, it turns out that comparisons are also used in the literature. Let's consider what a comparison is and how it differs from other visual techniques.

Comparison is a common artistic technique, which is used in literary works to increase the expressiveness and imagery of descriptions. It is based on comparing the described objects or phenomena with others according to some characteristics.

The author either conveys his own impressions of what he saw, or attributes it to his characters. As a rule, a comparison includes three mandatory components: the object or phenomenon itself, the object with which the comparison is being made, and some characteristic common to the objects being compared.

It is interesting that the feature may not be mentioned in the comparison, however, based on the context, the reader or listener still understands perfectly well what is being said.


Writers and poets have used comparisons in their speech since ancient times. We can find this one literary device in “The Odyssey”, “Song of Roland”, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, epic folk art, in almost every literary work, which has survived to this day. Modern writers no less widely use comparisons in their works of various genres.

For human thinking, comparison is the most used and effective technique: we always make our judgment about something new based on comparison with already known similar objects. That's why literary comparisons always clear and convincing.

In the process of development of Russian literature, several types of comparisons were created: simple (union), non-union, negative, comparisons through instrumental case, through an adverb and through genitive.

Comparison is no less widely used in ordinary colloquial speech. Every day we sweeten our phrases with dozens of comparisons, without even noticing it and without thinking about how the thought is formulated.

At the same time, philologists distinguish two degrees of comparison for adjectives: comparative ( bigger, longer, taller etc.) and excellent ( biggest, widest).

Both comparative and superlative degrees of comparison have a simple complex form. For comparative degree the simple form is formed using suffixes -her or -to her (higher, faster), and a complex form - using particles “more” or “less” ( tastier, less common).


For superlatives simple form adjectives are formed using suffixes –aysh And –eysh (rarest, simplest). Complex shape superlatives are distinguished by the particles “least”, “most” and “most” ( least desirable, most difficult, most beautiful).

Simple comparison: fast as lightning, light as feathers.

Non-union comparison: the house is a full cup, your tongue is your enemy.

Negative comparison: not a mouse, not a frog, but an unknown animal.

Comparison through the instrumental case: the rider flies like a bird.

Comparison through an adverb: to live with wolves - howl like a wolf.

Comparison through the genitive case: rush with the speed of the wind.

Metaphor is based on the transfer of qualities of one phenomenon or object to another: the sunset was blazing, a hail of bullets, the quiet whisper of the waves .

At the same time, comparison consists in likening one object to another according to certain characteristics: the sunset is bright, like a blazing flame, bullets fly like hail, the sound of the waves is quiet, like a whisper .

Essentially, it is hidden comparison: while a comparison calls for comparing some qualities of two objects or phenomena, an epithet does this in a hidden artistic form.


Examples:

eyes as gray as steel – comparison, steel eyes – epithet;

bared his teeth like a wolf – comparison, wolfish grin of the mouth - epithet.

Comparison- this is a special literary device based on the comparison of two objects or phenomena between which egalitarian relations can be established. Using comparison artistic speech becomes more vivid and expressive, the character of the characters is revealed more fully.

In the literature, comparisons are created in several ways:

Using comparative unions as if, as if, as, exactly etc.

Form of the instrumental case.

Comparative degree of an adjective or adverb.

With words similar And like.

Some comparisons, due to frequent use, have become stable expressions, therefore they have turned from comparisons into phraseological units. For example:

Comparison in Russian means a comparison of various objects or phenomena in order to explain an object with another object or one phenomenon with another phenomenon. In other words, comparison means the likening of one object to another by identifying common features or characteristics.

Here are some examples:

Sunny smile - here the smile is compared to the sun, meaning just as bright and warm.

His eyes are as deep as the sea - his eyes are compared to the depths of the sea;

She is as beautiful as the rose of May - she is compared to the rose of May.

In Russian comparisons(lat. comparatio) is one of the artistic stylistic devices designed to more fully express one’s thoughts so that the reader can vividly imagine the pictures and events being described. This is likening, contrasting two different objects, in order to then assert that they are similar or different, identifying their common features.

1.Simple Comparison Method- with the use of words: as, exactly, as if, as if, as if.

Rose petals turned red on the snow, How drops of blood.

Her eyes sparkled as if diamonds.

She was so thin as if reed.

The face was so white exactly carved from marble.

2.Indirect comparison method(used with a noun in the instrumental case)

He lived hamster- He pulled everything into his hole. Compare: He lived How hamster. those. the previous words are not applied, but are implied.

3.Non-union comparisons:

My home is my fortress.

4.Comparison by metaphor(Expression used in a figurative sense).

A. Typical metaphor- We read from A. Blok Streams of my poems run - the poems are called streams.

B. Negative metaphor- More often in ancient Russian epics, songs and tales - It’s not thunder that rumbles, it’s not a mosquito that squeaks, it’s godfather to godfather dragging pike perch.

IN. Comparisons - set phrases - comparisons:

Sweet like honey, sour like vinegar, bitter like pepper.

G. Animal comparisons:

Line M.Yu. Lermontov: Harun ran faster than a deer, faster than a hare from an eagle

D. Comparisons are frightening visual images:

Fate, you are like a market butcher, whose knife is bloody from tip to handle (Khakani).

The talent of a writer is manifested in the ability to use comparisons, and therefore for one it is bright pictures, and for another it is incoherent babble.

It is the process of comparing several objects and their qualities/characteristics. For example, in literature it is often used to give the story even greater expressiveness.

There are several types of comparisons (for example, using conjunctions AS, AS WHAT, etc.; using metaphors, etc.):

For example,

He is as strong as a bull.

Comparison in any language (and in Russian in particular) is, in essence, rhetorical figure, formed by various linguistic primas. This term can be called both linguistic and literary at the same time. Any trope, including comparison, is studied in vocabulary, but is also used in spoken language, and in any other styles; and in fiction.

It can be explained to students this way:

In order to figuratively and beautifully compare two (or several) people, animals, two objects or two qualities, writers and poets use comparisons.

Similes and metaphors are different language concepts, so there is no need to confuse them. Otherwise we will make a mistake.

Since the question was sent to the zone of the Russian language, in particular syntax, then, when considering comparisons, we now need to focus specifically on the linguistic primaries of comparison.

Here are some of my examples with explanations:

1. Natasha’s cheeks turned pink, as if (as if, like, as if, as if, exactly) two apples (the usual, simplest comparison, using a comparing conjunction).
2. Natasha's cheeks looked like (resembled) two pink apples (the same simple comparison, but instead of conjunctions there are other parts of speech).
3. Natasha's cheeks turned pink like red apples (the object with which the comparison is being made is put in the Instrumental case).
4. Natasha's cheeks and apples became more and more pink (the two objects being compared are connected by a hyphen).
5. Natasha's apple cheeks were pinker than ever (an unusual definition was used for comparison purposes).

• Comparison is a stylistic device in language when a phenomenon or concept is clarified and clarified by comparing it with another phenomenon or concept. Comparisons can be negative and detailed.

  Examples of comparisons and ways to express them:

  

  A comparison is a stylistic device that is based on a figurative comparison of states or several objects. Writers very often use comparisons in their works and this expresses their subtext very well. For example, the words of A. S. Pushkin

  Also in nature it is very well expressed and applied

  Comparison- identifying a common feature by comparing (assimilating) one phenomenon to another. Stylistic device in Russian language and literature. The letter is separated by commas. Comparison can be simple (as if) or indirect.

  Comparison in Russian is a stylistic device through which you can describe the properties of one object by comparing its qualities with another. There are various methods of comparison in Russian, for example, using degrees of qualitative adjectives:

  • positive degree (qualitative);
  • comparative (better quality);
  • excellent (best quality).

  There is also a figurative comparison. An example of such a comparison can be found in books - this is when a certain object is compared with a certain image. For example: The weather is cold, like winter. Here the word weather is a subject of comparison, and like winter is an image.

  Comparison in Russian is the comparison in oral or written speech of two objects or phenomena that have common characteristics. Can also be used to explain one phenomenon in terms of another.

  Examples of comparisons.