Rhetoric_Devices修辞格的使用

Rhetoric Devices:(修辞) (Stylistic Devices, Figures of Speech)1.Alliteration:（头韵）( repetition of initial consonant sound :The initial consonant sound isusually repeated in two neighbouring words (sometimes also in words that are not next to each other). Alliteration draws attention to the phrase and is often used for emphasis. Examples:If neighbouring words start with the same consonant but have a different initial sound, the words are not alliterated. Examples:1）. a C anadian c hild….2）. h onoured and h umbled (the ‘h’ in honoured is silent)2. Allusion:(引喻) indirect reference to a person, event or piece of literatureAllusion is used to explain or clarify a complex problem. Note that allusion works best if you keep it short and refer to something the reader / audience is familiar with, e.g.: famous people ; history ; (Greek) mythology ; literature ; the bible .If the audience is familiar with the event or person, they will also know background and context. Thus, just a few words are enough to create a certain picture (or scene) in the readers’ minds. The advantages are as follows:1）. We don’t need lengthy explanations to clarify the problem.2）. The reader becomes active by reflecting on the analogy.3）. The message will stick in the reader's mind.Examples:1）. The software included a Trojan Horse. (allusion on the Trojan horse from Greek mythology) 2）. Plan ahead. It was not raining when Noah built the Ark. (Richard Cushing) (allusion on the biblical Ark of Noah)Many allusions on historic events, mythology or the bible have become famous idioms. Examples:1）. to meet one’s Waterloo (allusion on Napoleons defeat in the Battle of Waterloo)2）. to wash one’s hands of it. (allusion on Pontius Pilatus, who sentenced Jesus to death, but washed his hands afterwards to demonstrate that he was not to blame for it.)3）. to be as old as Methusalem (allusion on Joseph’s grandfather, who was 969 years old according to the Old Testament)4）. to guard sth with Argus’s eyes (allusion on the giant Argus from Greek mythology, who watched over Zeus’ lover Io.)3. Anaphora:（首语重复法）successive clauses or sentences start with the sameword(s)4.Antithesis : （对照法）contrasting relationship between two ideasAntithesis emphasises the contrast between two ideas. The structure of the phrases / clauses is usually similar in order to draw the reader's / listener's attention directly to the contrast. Examples:5. Transferred epithet:(转类形容词) an adjective or adjective phrase appropriately qualifying a subject (noun) by naming a key or important characteristic of the subject, as in "laughing happiness," "sneering contempt," "untroubled sleep," "peaceful dawn," and "lifegiving water." Sometimes a metaphorical epithet will be good to use, as in "lazy road," "tired landscape," "smirking billboards," "anxious apple." Aptness and brilliant effectiveness are the key considerations in choosing epithets. Be fresh, seek striking images, pay attention to connotative value. A transferred epithet is an adjective modifying a noun which it does not normally modify, but which makes figurative sense:1. At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth of thieves and murderers . . . . --George Herbert2. In an age of pressurized happiness, we sometimes grow insensitive to subtle joys.6. Hyperbole: （夸张法）deliberate exaggerationUsed sparingly, hyperbole effectively draws the attention to a message that you want to emphasize. Example:7. Hypophora （自问自答）question raised and answered by the author / speakerThe author / speaker raises a question and also gives an answer to the question. Hypophora is used to get the audience's attention and make them curious. Often the question is raised at thebeginning of a paragraph and answered in the course of that paragraph. Hypophora can also be used, however, to introduce a new area of discussion. Example:1）Why is it better to love than be loved? It is surer. (Sarah Guitry)2）How many countries have actually hit […] the targets set at Rio, or in Kyoto in 1998, for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions? Precious few8. Litotes：（反语法）form of understatementLitotes is a form of understatement which uses the denied opposite of a word to weaken or soften a message. Examples:1）That's not bad. (instead of: That's good/great.)2）Boats aren't easy to find in the dark. （instead of: Boats are hard/difficult to find in the dark.)9. Metaphor:(隐喻，暗喻) figurative expressionMetaphor compares two different things in a figurative sense. Unlike in a simile (A is like B.), “like” is not used in metaphor (A is B.). Example:10. Metonymy: (转喻) figurative expression, closely associated with the subjectMetonymy (unlike metaphor) uses figurative expressions that are closely associated with the subject in terms of place, time or background. The figurative expression is not a physical part of the subject, however (see synecdoche). Examples:11. Onomatopoeia: (拟声法)word imitating a soundThe pronounciation of the word imitates a sound. Onomatopoeia is used because it's often difficult to describe sounds. Furthermore, a story becomes more lively and interesting by the use of onomatopoeia. Examples:12. Parallelism: (并行体，对句法，平行句) parallel sentence structureSuccessive clauses or sentences are similarly structured. This similarity makes it easier for the reader / listener to concentrate on the message. Example:1. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interest, and teach us what it means to be citizens.2. The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates.The great teacher inspires. (William A. Ward)3. The mistakes of the fool are known to the world, but not to himself. The mistakes of the wise man are known to himself, but not to the world. (Charles Caleb Colton)4. Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn. (Benjamin Franklin)Note: When writing, parallelism is a useful device for instructions. Due to the parallel structure, the reader can concentrate on the message and will immediately know what to do (see examples below).Example 1 (no parallelism):Open the book first.You must read the text now.There are pictures in the book–Look at them.The questions must be answered.Example 2 (parallelism):Open the book.Read the text.Look at the pictures.Answer the questions.You surely agree that the second instruction is easier to follow (and to remember) than the first one. The change of structure in the first example is confusing and distracts the reader from the actual message. It might be okay with simple messages like the ones we used here. But following more complex instructions is really hard if they are not in parallel structure.13. Parenthesis: (插入语) additional informationThe normal progression of a sentence is interrupted by extra information or explanations enclosed in commas, brackets or dashes. The extra information can be a single word, a phrase or even a sentence. Examples:1. We ( myself, wife Lorraine and daughters Caroline and Joanna) boarded our boat 'Lynn', a Duchess class vessel barely a year old, at Black Prince Holidays' Chirk boatyard.2. The boats have remarkably few controls and we were given a thorough briefing about 'driving' ours–along with advice on mooring, lock operation and safety considerations–by Pauline, who even set off with us for a few minutes to ensure we were confident.Depending on the importance attached to it, additional information can be enclosed in bracket, commas or dashed.Brackets –not importantConnor (A my’s boyfriend) bought the tickets.Commas –neutralConnor, A my’s boyfriend, bought the tickets.Dashes- emphasizedConnor—Amy’s boyfriend –bought the tickets14. Personification: （拟人）attribution of human characteristics to animals, inanimate objects or abstractionsAnimals, inanimate objects or abstractions are represented as having human characteristics ( behavior, feelings, character etc.). Personification can make a narration more interesting and lively. Examples:15. Repetition: (重复法) repeating words or phrasesWords or phrases are repeated throughout the text to emphasize certain facts or ideas. Examples:16. Rhetorical Question: (修辞问句) question without a direct answerThe author / speaker raises a question, but doesn't answer it directly as he/she sees the answer (usually Yes or No) as obvious. Rhetorical questions are used to provoke, emphasize or argue. Examples:1. When public money brings windfalls to a few, why should the state not take a share?2. But was the best way to win them over to threaten to ignore them altogether? Like so many things this week, the administration's diplomacy needs a smoother touch.(Note that the sentence following the question is not an answer to it.)17. Simile: (明喻) direct comparisonTwo things are compared directly by using 'like' (A is like B.).Other possibilities are for example:A is (not) like BA is more/less than BA is as … as BA is similar to BA is …, so is BA does …, so does BExamples:1. concrete box-style buildings are spreading like inkblots2. The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel3. Personality is to a man what perfume is to a flower. (Charles Schwab)4. My friend is as good as gold.18. Synecdoche: (提喻法) using a part instead of the whole or vice versaSynechdoche is some kind of generalization or specification that uses a part,a member or a characteristic of what is meant. The following possibilities are common: Part used instead of the whole: Example:1. Turning our long bo at round […] on the last morning required all hands on deck … (hands = people)Whole used instead of a part: Example:1. Troops halt the drivers (troops = soldiers)Specific term used instead of a general one: Example:1. A major lesson Americans need to learn is that life consists of more than cars and television sets. [Two specific items substituted for the concept of material wealth]2. Give us this day our daily bread. --Matt. 6:113. If you still do not feel well, you'd better call up a sawbones and have him examine you.19. Understatement: (低调陈述) weaken or soften a statementA statement is deliberately weakened to sound ironical or softened to sound more polite.Note that understatement is a common feature of the English language (especially British English) used in everyday-life situations. Examples:1. I know a little about running a company. (a successful businessman might modestly say.)2. I think we have slightly different opinions on this topic. (instead of: I don't agree with you at all.)20) Analogy: (类比）It is also a form of comparison, but unlike simile or metaphor which usually uses comparison on one point of resemblance, analogy draws a parallel between two unlike things that have several common qualities or points of resemblance.21) Euphemism: (委婉）It is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive(无冒犯) expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. For instance, we refer to "die" as " pass away".22) Antonomasia (换喻）It has also to do with substitution. It is not often mentioned now, though it is still in frequent use. For example, Solomon for a wise man. Daniel for a wise and fair judge. Judas for a traitor.23) Pun: (双关语）It is a play on words, or rather a play on the form and meaning of words. For instance, a cannon-ball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms. (Here "arms" has twomeanings: a person's body; weapons carried by a soldier.)24) Syllepsis: (一语双叙）It has two connotations.In the first case, it is a figure by which a word, or a particular form or inflection of a word, refers to two or more words in the same sentence, while properly applying to or agreeing with only on of them in grammar or syntax(句法). For example, He addressed you and me, and desired us to follow him. (Here us is used to refer to you and me.)In the second case, it a word may refer to two or more words in the same sentence. For example, while he was fighting , and losing limb and mind, and dying, others stayed behind to pursue education and career. (Here to losing one's limbs in literal; to lose one's mind is figurative, and means to go mad.)25) Zeugma: (轭式搭配）It is a single word which is made to modify or to govern two or more words in the same sentence, wither properly applying in sense to only one of them, or applying to them in different senses. For example, The sun shall not burn you by day, nor the moon by night. (Here noon is not strong enough to burn)26) Irony: (反语）It is a figure of speech that achieves emphasis by saying the opposite of what is meant, the intended meaning of the words being the opposite of their usual sense. For instance, we are lucky, what you said makes me feel real good.27) Sarcasm: (讽刺）It Sarcasm is a strong form of irony. It attacks in a taunting and bitter manner, and its aim is to disparage, ridicule and wound the feelings of the subject attacked. For example, laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps break through.28) Paradox: (似非而是的隽语）It is a figure of speech consisting of a statement or proposition which on the face of it seems self-contradictory, absurd or contrary to established fact or practice, but which on further thinking and study may prove to be true, well-founded, and even to contain a succinct point. For example more haste, less speed.29) Oxymoron: (矛盾修饰）It is a compressed paradox, formed by the conjoining(结合) of two contrasting, contradictory or incongruous(不协调) terms as in bitter-sweet memories, orderly chaos(混乱) and proud humility(侮辱).30) Epigram: (警句）It states a simple truth pithily(有利地) and pungently(强烈地). It is usually terse and arouses interest and surprise by its deep insight into certain aspects of human behavior or feeling. For instance, Few, save the poor, feel for the poor.31) Climax: (渐进）It is derived from the Greek word for "ladder" and implies the progression of thought at a uniform or almost uniform rate of significance or intensity, like the steps of a ladder ascending evenly. For example, I came, I saw, I conquered.32) Anti-climax or bathos: (突降）It is the opposite of Climax. It involves stating one's thoughts in a descending order of significance or intensity, from strong to weak, from weighty to light or frivolous. For instance, But thousands die, without or this or that, die, and endow(赋予) a college, or a cat.33) Apostrophe：(顿呼）In this figure of speech, a thing, place, idea or person (dead or absent) is addressed as if present, listening and understanding what is being said. For instance, England! awake! awake! awake!34). Oxymoron：（矛盾修饰法）is a paradox reduced to two words, usually in an adjective-noun ("eloquent silence") or adverb-adjective ("inertly（惰性的）strong") relationship, and is used for effect, complexity, emphasis, or wit:1. I do here make humbly bold to present them with a short account of themselves and their art.....--Jonathan Swift2. The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read,/ With loads of learned lumber in his head . . . .--Alexander PopeOxymoron can be useful when things have gone contrary to expectation, belief, desire, or assertion, or when your position is opposite to another's which you are discussing. The figure then produces an ironic contrast which shows, in your view, how something has been misunderstood or mislabeled:1. Senator Rosebud calls this a useless plan; if so, it is the most helpful useless plan we have ever enacted.2. The cost-saving program became an expensive economy.35.Epistrophe: （结句反覆）(also called antistrophe) forms the counterpart to anaphora, because the repetition of the same word or words comes at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences:1. Where affections bear rule, there reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is subdued, and all things else that withstand evil, for ever are subdued. --Wilson2. And all the night he did nothing but weep Philoclea, sigh Philoclea, and cry out Philoclea. --Philip Sidney36. Chiasmus:(交错法) might be called "reverse parallelism," since the second part of a grammatical construction is balanced or paralleled by the first part, only in reverse order. Instead of an A, B structure (e.g., "learned unwillingly") paralleled by another A,B structure ("forgotten gladly"), the A,B will be followed by B,A ("gladly forgotten"). So instead of writing, "What is learned unwillingly is forgotten gladly," you could write, "What is learned unwillingly is gladly forgotten." Similarly, the parallel sentence, "What is now great was at first little," could be written chiastically as, "What is now great was little at first." Chiasmus is easiest to write and yet can be made very beautiful and effective simply by moving subordinate clauses around:1. Tell me not of your many perfections; of your great modesty tell me not either.2. Just as the term "menial" does not apply to any honest labor, so no dishonest work can be called "prestigious."。