修辞学课件：metaphor

1、 In a simile, the words like, as, asso are used to make the comparison, as in: Jim was as cunning as a fox. The world is like a stage. In a metaphor, however, the comparison would appear simply as (1a) Jim was a fox. (2a) The world is a stage. A metaphor, then, is in a sense a condensed simile, diff

2、ering from the latter only in form and artistry. It is a higher form, though, and not all metaphors can be recast (to give a new shape to) as similes. It requires greater ability on the part of the reader to perceive the hidden association, the insight into persons, things or ideas that is implied.

3、For whereas in a simile the particular aspect of the point of resemblance between two unlike elements is given, in a metaphor nothing is stated. Taking the sentence “Jim was as cunning as a fox” for example, we can see that the aspect of cunningness in both man and fox is compared, but in “Jim was a

4、 fox” this aspect is not indicated. To summarize, a metaphor shows a closer relation between the tenor and the vehicle. As a result of its condensed form (compared with a simile), it is more suitable to express the more vivid images/feelings. The traditional view of metaphor: only regarded it as a l

5、inguistic phenomenon, a figure of speech, to ornament languages. Whereas cognitive linguists propose that it belongs not only to the category of language, but also to the category of thinking and cognition. It is regarded as basic thinking, cognitive and conceptualization modes. How does it come int

6、o being? Metaphorization, that is: structures are projected from one conceptual domain (source domain) onto the other one (target domain) Entities in the source domains are generally more familiar, more concrete and more tangible; whereas entities in the target domains are more unfamiliar, more abst

7、ract. Thus the more abstract entities, processes, ect. can be well explained in terms of more tangible, more concrete entities. 1). Central cases: A is B. She is really a duck, he thought. (Galsworthy) 他心里想，她真是一个可爱的人。 Habit is a cable, every day we weave a thread, and soon we cannot break it. 习惯乃绳缆，

8、我们每天编进一根线，很快它就结实不断。 The past is the bank in which we store our most valuable possessionthe memories that give meaning and depth to our lives. All the world is a stage, And all the men and women are merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, H

9、is acts being seven ages. -Shakespeare, As You Like It 大千世界是个舞台， 所有男男女女不外是戏子； 各有登场和退场， 一生扮演着那么些角色， 七样年龄分七幕。 2) Extended cases: There are a variety of linguistic forms of the extended cases. Verb-metaphors: a. 1. Also, he had money in his pocket, and as in the old days when a pay day, he made the mon

10、ey fly. 2.The river snaked its way through the jungle. 那条小河蛇行斗折穿过丛林。 3. Dont monkey with the new radio. 4. He wolfed down his supper.5. The Duchess (the wife of a duke) of Croydon kept firm, tight rein on her racing mind. 克罗伊顿公爵夫人牢牢地控制着飞快奔驰的思绪。(把思绪当作奔马来写)b. His misery beggared description.c. 1. I ha

11、ve been wrestling with this problem. 2. He shrugged off my suggestion.d. 1. A good teacher plants the love of learning in students. 2. Jack wilted under the pressure.e 1. His followers melted away at first sight of danger. 2. We bubbled over with excitement. 3. The energy, the faith, the devotion wh

12、ich we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it, and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. (J. F. Kennedy) 我们从事这一事业的那种精力，信念和献身精神将照耀我们的国家和一切为此出力的人们。这一火焰发出的光芒将真正照亮这个世界。（把精力，信念和献身精神当作火光来描写）4. The charm of conversation is that it does not really start from anywhere

13、, and no one has any idea where it will go as it meanders or leaps and sparkles or glows.(H. Fairlie) 谈话的魅力就在于它没有专门话题作为起点，当谈话像流水一样缓慢徜徉或急湍直下，像火焰一样熠熠闪烁，没有人知道它会向什么方向发展。（把谈话当作流水和火焰来写）Noun Metaphor (the, etc)+ vehicle + of + tenor1. A carpet of green grass covered the slopes of the mountain.2. She was an

14、 angel of wife. 3. That is our idiot of guide.4. a tyrant of a father5. the mountain of a wave Her brute of a husband 她野兽般的丈夫 A boy of a girl 男孩子气的女孩子 A girl of a boy 女孩子气的男孩子 Adjective MetaphorIt is a thorny problem.His speech touched off a stormy protest.Metaphor in Idioms1.No smoke without fire.2

15、.Bad news has wings.3. a bad appleA：Oh, my God! What happened? Why are you black and blue?B：I got beaten by Peters brother.A：Thats a bad apple! Lets think up a way and teach him a lesson. 4. a dog in the manger A：Give the skates to me! B：You shut up! A：If you dont know how to skate, why dont you giv

16、e the skates to me? Dont be a dog in the manger. 5. a gay dog A：Its strange they should get along so well! B：Thats nothing unusual. A：You dont know much about the couple. One likes to be alone, but the other is a bit of a gay dog. 6. a hard nut A：Bob refused all his classmates invitations.B：I really

17、 couldnt understand him.A：Hes surely a hard nut, nobody likes approaching him.B：Wed better also leave him alone. 7.no pains, no gains. 8. fat cat A：Wherere those popular actresses in our school time?B：Get into marriage.A：Can everyone find a fat cat?B：Everyone wants to, but not everyone succeeds.meta

18、phors in contexts(语篇)：In this book, best-selling science writers Heather Couper and Niger Henbest take you on a vivid journey of discovery through the mystery of the creation of the Universe. They follow the Universe from its infancy and turbulent youth to the present and through to its old age, tri

19、llions and trillions of years in the future. Along the way, they investigated the weird particles that populated the early Universe, how the Universe managed to avoid self-destruction, the echoes of the Big Bang, and how we know there was a Big Bang. 在本书中，畅销科普书作家希瑟.库伯和尼吉尔.亨贝斯特带我们走入探索宇宙生成奥秘的奇妙之旅。他们追随

20、了宇宙的幼年期，狂暴的青年期，现在及至老年数万亿年后的将来。沿途中，他们探究了聚集在早期宇宙的奇异粒子、宇宙如何成功地防止自我毁灭、大爆炸的回声，以及我们如何知道有大爆炸。 Descriptive: draw sharper pictures in the mind than could possibly be done by any other means, and with much more brevity. (1) The hallway was zebra-striped with darkness and moonlight. (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.) (A des

21、cription of the alternate bands of light and shade in the hall, like a zebras stripes) (2) Campaign posters sprouted across the land like wild flowers after a spring rain. (Here a simile is used as well as to “illustrate” the metaphor) Illuminative: to give deeper insight into persons, things, ideas

22、, even problems, through suggestive association; to throw light, as it were, onto what would otherwise be inconceivable to ordinary people. (1) New York was never Mecca to me. (Th. Griffith) (2) The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots. It is its natural man

23、ure. (Thomas Jefferson) (the suggestion here is that liberty cannot be achieved or defended without bloodshedthe shedding of the blood of both the defenders and the oppressors of liberty in a violent struggle. Blood (manure) nurtures liberty. ) Illustrative: to explain abstract or complicated ideas

24、or processes in simple, concrete imagery. Youth By Samuel Erman Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human beings heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of whats next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long as you are young. 无论