英语修辞手法.docx

英语修辞手法.docx

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英语修辞手法

英语修辞手法

Figuresofspeechareformsofexpressionthatdepartfromnormalwordorsentenceorderorfromthecommonliteralmeaningsofwords,forthepurposeofachievingaspecialeffect.

Ineverydayspeechandwritingandinliteraturethechieffunctionsoffiguresofspeechareprobablytoembellish,toemphasizeortoclarify.Theyareusedtogivetoneoratmospheretodiscourse,toprovidevividexamples,tostimulatethoughtbystartlingthereaderorlistener,togivelifetoinanimateobjects,toamuse,ortoornament.

Figuresofspeechexistinalmostendlessvarietyandmanyarecloselyrelatedorintricatelyoverlap,hencenocompletelysatisfactorysystemofclassificationhaseverbeendevised.Thefollowingmaybeconsideredoneoftheserviceableclassificationsofthepresentday:

1.Figuresofresemblanceorrelationship.Thesearethemostimportant,interesting,andfrequentfiguresofspeech.

2.Figuresofemphasisorunderstatement.Thechieffunctionoftheseistodrawattentiontoanidea.

3.Figuresofsound.

4.Verbalgamesandgymnastics.Someofthesearerareandminorfigures.

1.Figuresofresemblanceorrelationship

1）Simile:

afigurethatinvolvesanexpressedcomparison,almostalwaysintroducedbytheword"like"or"as".Thetwothingscomparedmustbedissimilarandthebasisofresemblanceisusuallyanabstractquality.

a）Ascoldwaterstoathirstysoul,soisgoodnewsfromafarcounty.（Proverb）

b）Thewaterlaygrayandwrinkledlikeanelephant'sskin.（NancyHale）

c）Myverythoughtswereliketheghostlyrustleofdeadleaves.（JosephConrad）

2）Metaphor:

Thesubstitutionofonethingforanother,ortheidentificationoftwothingsfromdifferentrangesofthought.Itisoftenlooselydefinedas―animplied

comparison‖,―asimilewithout?

like‘or?

as‘‖.Metaphorisconsideredbymanythemostimportantandbasicpoeticfigureandalsothecommonestandthemostbeautiful.

a）Boysandgirls,tumblinginthestreetsandplaying,weremovingjewels.

b）Thetownwasstormedafteralongsiege.

c）Snowclothestheground.

d）Heswambravelyagainstthetideofpopularapplause.

Anoteofwarning:

Avoidmixingfiguresofspeech.

a）Thisisnotthetimetothrowupthesponge,whentheenemy,alreadyweakenedanddivided,areontheruntoanewdefensiveposition.（mixedmetaphor;amixtureofprize–ringandbattlefield）

b）ThereiseveryindicationthatNigeriawillbeatowerofstrengthandwillforgeahead.（mixedmetaphor;amixtureofafortressandaship）

3）Personification:

afigurethatendowsobjects,animals,ideas,orabstractionswithhumanform,character,orsensibility.Therearethreechiefkindsofpersonifications:

a）Thatproducedbytheuseofadjectives.

theblushingrose;thethirstyground

b）Thatproducedbytheuseofverbs.

thekettlesings;thewavesdanced

c）Thatproducedbytheuseofnouns.

thesmilesofspring;thewhisperofleaves

4）Metonymy:

thesubstitutionofthenameofonethingforthatofanotherwithwhichitiscloselyassociated.

a）Thepenismightierthanthesword.（Hereyouhavetheinstrument（penorsword）asanameforthepeoplewieldingit.）

b）Grayhairsshouldberespected.（thesymbol（grayhair）asanameforthepersons（oldpeople）symbolized）

c）Heistoofondofthebottle.（=Heistoofondofdrinking;thecontainer（winebottle）asanameforthething（wine）contained）

d）IhaveneverreadLiBai.（thepoet（LiBai）asanameforthethingmade（poemswrittenbyLiBai））

5）Synecdoche:

commonly,thenamingofaparttomeanthewhole,asin"hands"for"menwhodomanuallabour","afleetof50sails"for"afleetof50ships".Butvariousothersuchsubstitutionsarealsoincludedintheterm.

a）Haveyouanycoppers?

（=Haveyouanymoney?

）（coppersstandforcoinsoflowvaluemadeofcopperorbronze;hereitisthenamingofthematerial（copper）forthethingmade（coin））

b）Heisapoorcreature.（thenamingofthegenusforthespecies）

c）HeistheNewtonofthiscentury.（thenamingofanindividualforaclass）

Note:

Synecdochecaneasilybemistakenformetonymy.

6）Antonomasia:

thetermforsomecommonfigurativeusesofnames

a）theuseofanepithetortitleinplaceofaname

hismajestyforakingorthenameoftheking

hishonorforajudgeorthenameofthejudge

theBossforthenameoftheemployer

b）theuseofapropernameinsteadofacommonnoun

aJudas（JudaswasoneofthetwelvedisciplesofJesusChristwhobetrayedJesus）foratraitor

aQuisling（NorwegianfascistpoliticianwholedapuppetregimeduringtheGermanoccupationofNorway,laterexecutedfortreason）foratraitor

HeisourGorky.Gorky,（famousRussianwriter）forafamouswriter

Note:

cf.synecdoche.Thereisacertaindegreeofoverlappinghere.

7）Euphemism:

thesubstitutionofaninoffensiveexpressionforonethatmaybedisagreeable,asintheuseof"passawayorpasson"for"die","misinform"for"lie"in"thegentlemanismisinformed","remains"fora"corpse","visitingthenecessary"for"goingtothetoilet",etc.

2.Figuresofemphasisorunderstatement

1）Hyperbole:

aconsciousexaggerationforthesakeofemphasis,notintendedtobeunderstoodliterally.

a）Thewaveranmountainhigh.

b）AmericalaughedwithMarkTwain.

c）Hisspeechbroughtthehousedown.

d）AlltheperfumesofArabiawillnotsweetenthislittlehand.

2）Litotes:

aformofunderstatementwhichgainsitsparticulareffectbyphrasinginthenegativewhatitwishestosaypositively.

a）Thisisnosmallaccomplishment.（Itmeansthisisanaccomplishmentofconsiderablemagnitude.）

b）TheGermanfleetwasnotanunworthyopponent.（ItmeanstheGermanfleetwasaformidableopponent.）

c）Thisisnotatallunpleasant.（Itmeansitisquitepleasant.）

3）Antithesis:

thesettingofcontrastingphrasesoppositeeachotherforemphasis.Intrueantithesistheoppositionbetweentheelementsismanifestedthroughparallelgrammaticalstructure.

a）ThequestforrighteousnessisOriental,thequestforknowledge,Occidental.（SirWilliamOsler）

b）Goodbreedingconsistsinconcealinghowmuchwethinkofourselvesandhowlittlewethinkoftheotherperson.（MarkTwain）

c）Afriendexaggeratesaman'svirtues,anenemyhiscrimes.

d）Theconventionboughttime;itcouldnotbringsettlement.

e）itsfailuresbecameapartofhistorybutitssuccessesheldthecluetoabetterinternationalorder.

4）Paradox:

astatementthatappearstobelogicallycontradictoryandyetmaybetrue,thepurposeofwhichistoprovokefreshthought.

a）Oneman'sterroristisanotherman'sfreedomfighter.

b）Aloverofpeaceemergedasamagnificentleaderofwar.

c）Mylifeclosedtwicebeforeitsclose.（EmilyDickinson）

（meaningtwotrulyeventfulthingsoccurredinherlifebeforethatlifeceased）

5）Oxymoron:

akindofparadoxorantithesisthatlinkstogethertwosharplycontrastingterms,as"cheerfulpessimist'',"thewisestfoolinChristendom","livingdeaths","freezingfires","gloriousdefeat",etc.

6）Epigram:

ashort,pithystatementinverseorprose,usuallywithatouchofwit,oftenantithetical

a）Conscienceistheinnervoicethatwarnsusthatsomeonemaybelooking.（H.L.Mencken）

b）Necessityisthemotherofinvention.

c）Thechildisfatheroftheman.（Wordsworth）

（theintendedmeaningisthattheactionsofaboyindicatewhatkindofamanheislikelytobecome）

d）Experienceisthenameeveryonegivestohismistakes.

Note:

Theremaybesomeoverlappingofanepigramandaparadox.

7）Apostrophe:

theturningawayfromthesubjectandtheaddressingofanabsentpersonorapersonifiedobjectorabstraction.Theshiftisbothemotionalanddignified,thereforemostappropriateinseriousandstatelycontexts.

a）"YouHeavens,givemethatpatience,patienceIneed!

"（Shakespeare,KingLear）

b）"Envy,besilentandattend!

"（Pope）

c）"Milton,thoushouldstbelivingatthishour:

Englandhathneedofthee."（Wordsworth）

（Milton,famousEnglishrevolutionaryandpoet,whowrote"ParadiseLost".JohnMiltonlivedandwroteinthe17thcenturyandtheEnglishromanticpoet,WilliamWordsworthinthe18thand19thcenturies.）

8）RhetoricalQuestion:

aquestionneitherrequiringnorintendedtoproduceareplybutaskedforemphasis.Theassumptionisthatonlyoneanswerispossible.

a）WasInotatthesceneofthecrime?

（Lesson2）

b）OWind

IfWintercomes,canSpringbefarbehind?

（Shelley:

OdetotheWestWind.）

9）Irony:

theexpressionofactualintentinwordsthatcarrytheoppositemeaning.Itisaneffectiveliterarydevicebecauseitgivestheimpressionofgreatrestraint.

a）...untilwearemarchingbackwardstothegloriousageofthesixteenthcentury（Lesson10）

b）Hewasmyfriend,faithfulandjusttome:

ButBrutussayshewasambitious;

AndBrutusisanhonourableman.

（Shakespeare:

JuliusCaesar）

（Antonyhereissayingjusttheopposite.HemeansthatBrutusisnothonourabte,heisamurderer.）

10）Sarcasm:

acuttingremark,averbalsneer.Sarcasmpretendstodisguiseitsmeaning,butdoesnotintendtobemisunderstood.

a）"Oh,you'rereallyagreatfriend,aren'tyou?

"

（addressedtoonewhowon'tlendthespeaker5Yuan）

b）Heisverygenerousindeed.（referringtoonewhowon'tlendthespeakerhisdictionary）

c）Where'sy'goforit,man–Jamaica?

（Lesson16）

（Hopkins'scuttingremarktoMcNair,thecustodian,fornotbeingquickenoughwiththerum.JamaicaisanislandintheCaribbean,worldfamousforitsrum.）

11）Satire:

Itgenerallyreferstoapieceofliterarywork–prose,poetryordrama–

andgenerallynottoasinglesentence.Itusesridicule'toexpo