英语中的修辞格figure of speech

1、English Figures of SpeechOutline Figures of speech Why are figures of speech used? Why do we have to learn figures of speech? Classification of figures of speech.I. Figures of Speech: a tool of expressing thoughts and the art of using language effectivelyExamples:1)The wind is blowing hard through t

2、he woods.2)The little girl is singing merrily.(literal, plain statements which give mere information about some facts and no more)3)The wind is roaring through the woods.4)The little girl is singing as merrily as a lark.(Figurative statements or figures of speech (some expressed or implied compariso

3、ns are involved). The language in them is called figurative language.)Language is a tool of expressing thoughts and rhetoric is the art of using language more effectively. II. Why are figures of speech used?More examples:5)Stars shine like diamonds in the sky=Stars shine brightly in the sky.6)Imperi

4、alism is a paper tiger =Imperialism appears to be strong but inwardly it is weak. In sentence 5) “like diamonds” is more vivid and colorful than “brightly”. And the “Paper Tiger” is more suggestive of the outward ferocity and inner weakness of the imperialism in sentence 6). The purpose of using fig

5、ures of speech is to call up pictures in the readers or listeners mind, to lend force to an idea, to heighten effect, or to create atmosphere, and to make the writings more appealing. III. Why do we have to learn? A knowledge of these figures, and of how they are best used will be of help to us not

6、only in deepening our understanding of what we read, but also in appreciating more fully the finer points of a writers style. In the process, we might even learn to write better ourselves ,and progress from mere grammatical competence to rhetorical competence.IV. Classification of Figures of Speech

7、It is difficult to be precise about how many figures existed in classical times. The numbers range from 65 to 200 or more. Here only those that are of most universal appeal, and of the greatest practical value, are introduced.The figures of speech are commonly divided into three categories: n A. Lex

8、ical figures of speech (使用词汇手段的修辞格): simile, metaphor, personification, etc.n B. Syntactical figures of speech (使用句法手段修辞格): antithesis, parallelism, repetition, etc.n C. Phonetic figures of speech (使用语音手段的修辞格): alliteration , assonance, onomatopoeia etc. More examples:4. As cold water to a thirsty s

9、oul, so is good news from a far country.5. He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow.6.Tall trees towered like pillars to the sky, while below in the valley, Rivers flowed like streams of jade.7. Flowers, giving off a fragrance like the incense of the gods, while the singing

10、of the birds was like music in heaven.8. The past rises before me like a dream.9. Childhood is like a swiftly passing dream.10. His happiness vanished like the morning dew.11. The waterfall is like a piece of silk hanging down from the edge of a precipice.12. The fighter is as a lion in battle.13. H

11、e seems like a hen on a hot girdle.14. He spent money like water.15. The slept like babies.16. The first time I read an excellent book, it is to me as if I had gained a new friend.17. She is as beautiful as a flower.18. I am as light as a feather, I an as happy as an angel. I am as merry as a school

12、 boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man.n as cold as icen as good as goldn as strong as an ox (horse)n as cunning as a foxn as gentle as a lambn as gay as a larkn as proud as a peacockn as ugly as a toad A metaphor, is in a sense a condensed simile. It is a higher form. It requires greater ability on t

13、he part of the reader to perceive the hidden association, the insight into persons, things or ideas that is implied.More examples:1) He is the soul of the team.2) Campaign posters sprouted across the land like wild flowers after a spring rain.3) I skim over the book to taste the tone of it.4) At las

14、t he felt a ray of hope.5) Those people experienced the ebb and flow of human misery.6) He embarked early on the sea of public life.7) A stream of rush hour traffic flooded down the street.8) He gave her an icy stare which seemed to burn him up.9) Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed, and s

15、ome few to be chewed and digested. (Bacon)10) Spare moments are the gold-dust of time.11) The man is the black sheep of the family.12) I was bale to rise from the ashes.13) A lion in the way a lame duck a dark horsel The effect of metaphor is to achieve freshness, originality, aptness and consistenc

16、y.l A rule to remember is to stick to good plain English if we cannot think up fresh and original comparison.6) Overhead the stars winked mischievously at us.7) I watched the moonlight dancing on the ripples of the lake.8) She listened to the brook murmuring through the hills.9) The ancient mansion

17、spoke to me of bygone days.10) The gentle breeze caressed my cheeks and soothed my anger.4. Metonymy （转喻）l Metonymy is a figure of speech as consists in the use of the name of one thing for the name of another. It expresses an association between the thing spoken of and the thing meant-the mention o

18、f one suggests the other. The most often used ones are as follows :A. Use a container to represent the thing contained, e.g. 1) The kettle is boiling. 2) The hall applauded.B. Use clear signs of an object to represent the object itself, Those big noses, blue eyes and yellow hairs taught them English

19、. ( Big noses, blue eyes and yellow hair stand for foreigners. ) Grey hair should be respected. (Grey hair stands for old people.)C. Use tools to represent actions or the agent 1) His pen proves mightier than his pickax. (his penwhat is written by the pen; books and articles, etc.; pickaxmining (gol

20、d) or prospecting by pickax )2) I was not one to let my heart rule my head. (heartfeelings or emotions; head (brain)wisdom, intelligence, reason)3) He not only has an ear for music but also a ready tongue. ( ear for musictalent for music; ready tongueeloquence )D.Use the names of writers to represen

21、t their writings I like to read Shakespeare . E. Use an organ to represent its function1) He writes a good hand. (His handwriting is legible (good).)F. Use the thing related to represent the thing itself1) He keeps a good table. ( He provides good food.)2) He took to the bottle. ( He took to drinkin

22、g.)3) She took the veil at 20. (She became a nun at 20.)4)He enjoyed a good fame in the bar. ( legal profession)G. Use quotation or proverb to represent characteristics of someone or something. You are all the salt of the earth. Our hope is placed on you. (社会中坚) Little Mary is the apple of her fathe

23、rs eye. (掌上明珠) Everybody has his Achilles heel. (致命弱点)H. Use place names or locations to represent government , business or industrial enterprises Downing Street : the British government or cabinet The White House : the president or Executive branch of the U.S. government The Pentagon: the U.S. mili

24、tary establishment Fleet Street: the British press Wall street: U.S. financial circles Madison Avenue: American advertising industry Hollywood: American film-making industry5. Synecdoche （提喻）Synecdoche means giving the part for the whole or vice versa, using a kind of thing to represent another big

25、kind or vice versa, and using raw material to represent the thing made of it.A. Use the part to represent the whole1)Twenty years later when he came back to his home town, he saw many new faces. (strangers)2) The farms are short of hands during the harvest season. (workers)3) He has a fleet of fifty

26、 sails. (ships)4) Great minds think alike. (great persons)B. Use the whole to represent the part The score is 2 to 1 in favor of China. (Chinese team) The world stands by our side.C.Use a kind of thing to represent another big kind. It is said that the cutthroat still remains at large.D. Use a big k

27、ind of thing to represent another kind of thing The poor creature could no longer endure her sufferings. (a woman)E. Use raw material to represent the thing made of it. The family has been on the boards since the grandfathers time. (the stage)F.Use concrete things to represent abstract things or vic

28、e versa.1) There is a mixture of the tiger and ape in the character of Frenchman. ( tiger and ape stands for the quality of ferocity and cunningness ) 2) All the wit and learning were assembled here. (the witthe clever and wise people; learninglearned people)2) Crafty men condemn studies; simple men

29、 admire them; and wise men use them.3) Speech is silver, silence is gold.4) The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.(邪恶之人， 即使无人追踪， 也会心虚奔逃；方正之人，则坦然无畏，胆壮如狮。) 5）There is only one difference between an old man and a young man: the young man has a glorious future before

30、him and the old man has a splendid future behind him.6) In science, read , by preference, the newest book; in literature, the oldest.7) The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.8) The wise man knows he knows nothing; the fo

31、ol thinks he knows all.9)Everything was on a large scale for him, the highs were higher, the lows lower. Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used to emphasize a point, to create humor, or to achieve some similar effects. For example,1) She was scared to death.2) Id give the worl

32、d to see the Great Wall.3) I told you a thousand times that you shouldnt behave like that.4) Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay. ( A. Pope)5) Her beauty made the bright world dim. (Shelley:她的美丽使世界黯然失色； 沉鱼落雁之容，闭月羞花之貌；倾国倾城之美。）6) Im sick to death of your everlasting chatter. Do be quiet.7) I hav

33、e a sea of trouble.8) You are my lifesaver.（ 你是我的救命恩人）9) You are 100% right.10) My back kills me.（ 我的腰痛的厉害）11) I could sleep for a whole year.（我太困了）12) Were all tired to death.（我们快累死了）13) One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.（一个父亲的作用大于100个教师）14) Its crime to stay inside on such a beautifu

34、l day.（今天阳光明媚，躲在家里实在太可惜了。）15) A drop of ink may make a million think.（一滴墨水写成的文字可让千万人思索。）16) His eloquence would split rocks.17) Her forehead is boiling hot.18) I had millions of interruption this morning.19) She is dying to know what job has been assigned her.Euphemism is a figure of speech in which

35、 indirect words or phrases are used instead of those that are strictly required by truth, or in which mild words and phrases are used instead of unpleasant ones. For example,n If you will allow me , I will call your carriage for you . ( go away)n He is a bit off his head. (crazy)n He was now living

36、at governments expense. (Hes been sentenced to prison.)n He is a bit slow for his age.n He passed away for a few years. (to depart; to go to sleep; to go to heaven)n I am getting on years.( old age, senility) ( past ones prime; feeling ones age; in second childhood)n The child is a slow learner. (un

37、der-achiever = stupid )n Excuse me, Iv got to answer the natures call. (use the bathroom; wash ones hands=go to the toilet.)n military action = invasion, raidn lay off, ease out = dismiss, sackn out of pocket, badly off = pennilessn in embarrassing obligation = in debtn senior citizens = old peoplen

38、 sanitation worker; environmental engineer = dustmann emotional disturbed = madn strategic hamlets concentration campn weight-watchers = fat peoplen business girl = prostitute A transferred epithet is an adjective or descriptive phrase, especially of praise or blame used of a person. Grammatically i

39、t plays the function of an attribute or an adverbial. But it differs from grammatical modifiers in that an epithet emphasizes rhetorical effect while a grammatical modifier cant. Sometimes a rhetorical epithet has no meaning at all, and is only used to create a rhetorical effect. Therefore, it is ca

40、lled a transferred epithet, i.e. an epithet shifter from its proper subject to some allied circumstance. For example,1）The old man put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.2） He said yes to the question in an unthinking moment (He did not think when he said yes)3）He sang with a passionate throat ( He sa

41、ng passionately.)4）We spent an anxious night / sleepless night.5） He gave a wide-eyed answer.6）He is not an easy poet. (His poems is not easy to understand)7） In his quiet laziness he suddenly remembered that strange word.( he is quiet not his laziness)8) The assistant kept a respectful distance fro

42、m his boss when they were walking in the corridor.( to show respect)9) The letters, sad and reproachful, offer me the choice of pleading ignorance or being proved insensitive. ( the writers of the letters were sad at my stand and full of blame.（这封信，有的是对我的观点表示遗憾，有的是对我的观点给予斥责。 他们要我承认不是愚昧无知，就是麻木不仁。）10)

43、 The movement for abolition of death penalty is widespread and articulate.（ 这场废除死刑的运动已遍及世界，而且已宣传得深入人心。）11) His unfriendly tongue surprised her.（不友好的言辞令她吃惊） 12) The plowman homeward plods his weary way.( the weary plowman homeward plods his way)13)F. Roosevelt listened with bright-eyed, smiling atten

44、tion.14) a surprise silence = a silence which makes people feel surprised15. Purposeless days = days in which a person feels purposeless (漫无目的的日子）16) a deadening roll of a thunder = a thunder with a deafening roll（ 一声震耳欲聋的雷鸣）17) A mad doctor = a doctor who treats mad patients（精神病医生） Oxymoron is a fi

45、gure of speech in which words expressing contradictory and incongruous (自相矛盾的)ideas are joined together to produce a peculiar rhetorical effect. It differs from antithesis in that it is a combination in one expression of contradictory terms, whereas in antithesis there is a contrast of ideas brought

46、 about by parallel constructions. For example,1) Bitter-sweet memories2) proud humility (不卑不亢) ( humble, but not servile)3) Orderly chaos: chaos exists, but there is some method or order in the way that things are thrown around.4) The coach had to be cruel to be kind to his trainees. (冷酷的善意)5 ) vict

47、orious defeat6) She read the long-waited letter with a tearful smile. (tearful joy)7) cold pleasant manner (冷漠文雅的举止)8) dully bright (大智若愚)9) a love-hate relationshipIrony is a figure of speech that achieves emphasis by saying the opposite of what is meant, the intended meaning of the words being the

48、 opposite of their usual sense. In everyday life we often hear people using irony in their speech, though they may not be conscious of it. For instance, they may call a very thin boy “Fatty” or a very fat boy “Skinny”. More examples, 1) Robbing a widow of her savings was certainly a noble act. 2)Whe

49、n people are in trouble we must leave them alone and not bother them. (Wilders The Devoted Friends)3) What encouraging news! (when it is quite discouraging.)4)You are very clever indeed. ( to a foolish man)4)Oh, how I love queuing.( when he hates it)5) What a fine weather for an outing. ( It was rai

50、ning.)6) You are a big help.( 你可够“帮忙”啊！）7) Better luck than I did.（ 希望你小子更“走运”！？）8) You are telling stories.（ 你讲的“真动听”啊！）9) It is a real bargain. （这实在“太便宜”了!)10 ) The public is wonderfully tolerant it forgives everything except genius.（ 世人是宽大得惊人的-除了天才以外， 他们宽恕一切。） Understatement is the opposite of hy

51、perbole. It achieves its effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately understating it, impressing the listener or the reader more by what is merely implied or left unsaid than by bare statement. For example,1) I shall not be sorry. (= I shall be glad.) 2) She is no bad singer. (=She is a very good s

52、inger)3) It is no unimportant matter. (=It is really an important matter.)4) I was not a little surprised at the news. (=I was greatly surprised at the news.)5) He was a man of no mean（中等的，普通的）wealth. ( =He was quite rich.)6) Its no laughing matter. (=Its serious matter.)7) I didnt half like it.(I l

53、ike it very much)（ 我不只是稍微喜欢）8) It takes a bit skill to play a good game of golf.( a great deal of skill)9) It is not very courteous to poison a guest.（伤人是不礼貌的）10) London is a village of some size.( quite small in size)11) The whale that wanders round the pole is not a table fish.( quite big, huge)12

54、) It is not unpleasant to see a good film now and then.( It is pleasant to see a good film now ant then.)13) Advanced field training isnt going to be a lark.(戏耍) ( Its not to be easy, or fun) Climax involves that part in a related set or list of events, ideas, expressions, etc. , which is most power

55、ful, interesting, and effective, and which usually comes near the end. For example， I am sorry, I am very sorry, I am so extremely sorry. He threatened to swear at people, beat people and murder people. The audience smiled, chuckled, and finally howled. We are lowwere lowwe are very, very low, as lo

56、w as low can be. (Ernest Jones) I came, I saw, I conquered. (Julius Caesar) Anticlimax, contrary to climax, involves a sudden change from something noble, serious, exciting, etc., to something foolish, unimportant or uninteresting. Anticlimax may be done intentionally for the sake of humor or ridicu

57、le. For example,1) I lost my bag, and with it, my wallet, my I.D. card, and my dirty socks.2) “Who is he ?” “ Why, he has gone the volehas been soldier, ballad-singer, traveling tinker and is now a beggar.”3）Hiroshima, a town known throughout the world for its - oysters.Paradox is a statement which on the surface seems nonse