How to Write a Synecdoche
In order to write a synecdoche,
- Examine a sentence for objects or ideas which have parts or are part of a whole.
- Replace a part with a whole or a whole with a part.
Here are a few examples of how to turn a normal sentence into a sentence with synecdoche:
Consider a football announcer.
Normal Sentence:
Harry Myers of University of Tennessee scored a touchdown after outrunning his pass coverage Mike Glenn of University of Alabama.
Although this sentence is correct, and appropriate for live-game coverage, a shortened version could be used for a recap by replacing parts, the individual players, with wholes, their teams.
Sentence with Synecdoche:
Tennessee just scored a touchdown against Alabama.
For a second example, imagine a very hungry friend:
Normal Sentence:
I could go for a spicy chicken sandwich, a quesadilla, some fries, and a big ol’ chocolate milkshake.
For brevity’s sake, your friend can use synecdoche:
Sentence with Synecdoche:
I could go for a Cookout Combo for lunch.
In this example, synecdoche serves to replace a collection of parts with the whole.
When to Use Synecdoche
Synecdoche may be used in everyday conversation, speeches, stories, poems and plays, and movies and songs. It is a common element of discussions of any matter of organizations, including sports teams, universities, governments, societies, and mass movements, allowing the whole—The Dallas Cowboys, the University of Alabama, or the Civil Rights Movement for example—to speak for individual members of that whole. It can be a source of nicknames which emphasize certain traits such as “long legs” or “green eyes.” Synecdoche can also provide us with catchy, poetic, or interesting references ranging from “bringing home the bacon” for bringing home a paycheck which pays for food and bills, to “plastic” for the credit card which pays those bills.