What is a figure of speech?

An example of a figure of speech would be your hands are as clean as mud. There are many different kinds of such like irony, simile, and metaphors.

d.) then bernice winced as marjorie tossed her own hair over her shoulders and began to twist it slowly into two long blond braids until in her cream-colored negligée she looked like a delicate painting of some saxon princess. fascinated, bernice watched the braids grow. heavy and luxurious they were, moving under the supple fingers like restive snakes—and to bernice remained this relic and the curling iron and a to-morrow full of eyes.

self-monitoring is in other words holding back your emotions for the better good. usually, people who can't hold their excitement, temper, or any other emotions, need to self-monitor themselves.   lol