Chapter 6, Simile, Metaphor, Symbolism

1、Chapter 6, figurative languageWhat oft was thought, but neer so well expressed. Alexander PopeChapter 6, figurative languageFigurative language, language using figures of speech, is an especially important resource of meanings, which helps express what is other than the actual meaning of the words,

2、or something unspoken and unsaid. Rhetoricians have catalogued more than 250 different figures of speech. We, however, need to be concerned no more than 10 figures. All these figures are used to say one thing and indicate another.Chapter 6, figurative languageThey include metaphor, simile, personifi

3、cation, metonymy, synecdoche, symbol, imagery, hyperbole (overstatement), litotes (understatement), antithesis, etc. Chapter 6, simile What is simile?Simile refers to an explicit comparison between two different things indicated by the word “like” or “as”. For example: “I wondered lonely as a cloud”

4、Literal term figurative term “I” (named) as cloud (named)Chapter 6, Metaphor, What is metaphor? What is the function of metaphor?Metaphor is a literary method used by a writer to denote one kind of thing or action by referring to a distinctly different thing or action, without asserting a comparison

5、. It is created when a figurative term is substitute for or identified with the literal term.The use of metaphor aims for making the literary works more vivid and figurative.Chapter 6, MetaphorFor example:“My love is a red, red rose”“the waves beside them danced; but theyOutdid the sparkling waves i

6、n glee:”Literal term figurative termsMy love (named) rose(named)Waves (named) danced(implied)They (implied) in glee(implied)Chapter 6, PersonificationPersonification consists in giving the attitudes of human being to an animal, an object, or a concept. It is really a subtype of metaphor, an implied

7、comparison in which the figurative term of the comparison is always a human being. For example:“A tree whose hungry mouth is pressAgainst the earths sweet flowing breast;”Chapter 6, Synecdoche, MetonymySynecdoche（提喻） refers to the use of the part for the whole, or the whole for the part, for example

8、 trees for the wood, hands for the laborers, or fruit for an apple. Take John Miltons Paradise Lost as an example.Metonymy（换喻，转喻） refers to the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant. For example, the crown stands for a king, eyes for the soul.“They flash upon that inward eye”

9、Chapter 6, SymbolSymbol can roughly be defined as a word or phrase that signifies an object, and beyond this object. When we read “my love is like a red, red rose”, we know “rose” refers to love, it is used as a simile. When we read the line “she was our queen, our rose, our star”, we know “rose” is

10、 used as a metaphor, indicating the beauty of a female. But when we encounter a line “O Rose, thou art sick.” Chapter 6, SymbolWe could not find any paired subject like “my love” or “she” in the previous two quoted lines to suggest its meaning. It is a rose, yet it is obviously something more than r

11、ose. It is a symbol. Chapter 6, ImageryImage is a picture made out of words. It is used to signify all the objects and qualities of sense perception referred to in a poem or other work of literature. Image signifies figurative language, especially the vehicles of metaphors and similes. Image is used

12、 to make poetry concrete, as opposed to abstract. “My love is a red, red rose.” metaphor is used in this line, yet “rose” is an image.Chapter 6, differenceThe following is the difference between simile, metaphor, image, and symbol.A simile and a metaphor refers to their figurative meaning only; An i

13、mage means only what it is.A symbol functions both literary and figuratively at the same time, which lacks the apparent paired subject. The implication of the symbol is so general that it may suggest a great variety of specific meanings. This richness results from its imprecision.Chapter 6, THE ROAD

14、 NOT TAKEN THE ROAD NOT TAKEN Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;Chapter 6, THE ROAD NOT TAKENThen took the other, as just as fair,And having p

15、erhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wearThough as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same.Chapter 6, THE ROAD NOT TAKENAnd both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to

16、way,I doubted if I should ever come back.Chapter 6, THE ROAD NOT TAKENI shell be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Chapter 6, Simile, Metaphor, Symbolism, ImageryWhat does t

17、he road indicate?Chapter 6, I died for BeautyI died for Beauty-but was scarce Emily Dickinson I died for beauty-but was scarceAdjusted in the TombWhen One who died for Truth, was lainIn an adjoining Room- Chapter 6, I died for BeautyHe questioned softly Why I failed?For Beauty, I replied-And I -for

18、Truth-Themselves are One-We Brethren, are, He said- (brethren: brothers )Chapter 6, I died for BeautyAnd so, as Kinsmen, met a Night-We talked between the Rooms-Until the Moss had reached our lips-And covered up-our names- Chapter 6, The Sick RoseThe Sick Rose William BlakeO rose, thou art sick!The

19、invisible wormThat flies in the night,In the howling storm,Chapter 6, The Sick RoseHas found out thy bedOf crimson joy,And his dark secret loveDoes thy life destroy.Chapter 6, The Sick Rose“The Sick Rose” may be interpreted as the destruction of innocent and pure love by physical love; of innocence

20、by experience; of humanity by evil; of imagination and joy by analytic reason; of life by death; and so on.Rose stands for something beautiful, pure, innocent, valuable, desirable, or good.The worm refers to something destructive, corrupting, and evil. Within these limits, the meaning of the poem is open.Chapter 6, The Soul Selects Her Own SocietyThe Soul Selects Her Own Society Emily DickinsonThe soul selects her own society,Then shuts the door;On her divine majorityObtrude no more. Chapter 6, The Soul Selects