英语写作基础教案修辞篇.doc

IV. Idioms Refined and sanctified by long usage, idioms have been described as the crystallization of language. Without idioms our language would become dull and dry, whereas an appropriate use of them in our speech and writing will add to the strength and vividness posed of few words, contain an extremely profound and rich meaning; for another most idioms carry a vivid image. An idiom is a fixed group of words with a special meaning which is different from the meanings of the words that form it. To “read a book”, for instance, is not an idiom, for the meaning of the phrase is the meanings of the three words put together, and “a book” can be replaced by other words like “a newspaper” or “a magazine”. To “read between the lines” is different. The four words that form the idiom give no hint as to what it means and none of the words can be changed to form another understandable phrase.English is rich in idioms. The following types of idioms are most common:1. Phrasal verbse.g. put up with: tolerate; live with turn out: prove look forward to: expect carry on: conduct or transactcome across: be confronted with2. N. + prep. + n.e.g. a straw in the wind: a slight hint that shows which way things may develop the apple of ones eye: sb. or sth. dearly loved like a fish out of water: feel uncomfortable or awkward because of being in unfamiliar surroundings in a world of ones own: live a life of fantasy without communicating with other people; in private 3. Prep. + n.e.g. in kind: (of payment) in goods or natural produce, not in money on the air: broadcasting at length: eventually, at last; in great detail (come off/through) with flying colors: make a great success of sth. 4. V. + n.e.g. wont hold water: (of theories) to be not sound when tested slip ones mind: forget kill two birds with one stone: get twice the result with half effort go to the dogs: (of an organization, institution, etc.) change so that it is no longer as efficient, productive, etc. as before 5. As ase.g. as big as life: as big as the actual size of (Believe it or not, he was here yesterday .) as easy as pie/ABC as different as night and day/black and white as poor as a church mouse as innocent as an angel as wise as Solomon as cunning as a fox/an ape as greedy as a Jew/bear as cruel as a tiger as stubborn as a bear/mule as hard as rock/stone as steady as iron as round as a ball as light as air/a feather as red as rose as silent as the Sphinx as rich as a millionaire as soft as silk as white as snow as dark as coal/pitch/ink as proud as a peacock/rooster as cool as cucumber as cold as ice as heavy as lead as swift as an antelope/wind as merry as a lark/cricket/king/prince as silly as an ass/a goose as strong as a horse/an ox as mute as a fish as nimble as a goat as clear as crystal as brave as a lion as blind as a bat as busy as a bee as scarce as chicken teeth as slippery as an eel as firm as rock as timid as a hare/rabbit as fit as a fiddleas good as gold6. Pairs of wordse.g. (to stand) wear and tear: to last well high and dry: (of a ship) stranded; aground He left her in a strange country without any money. touch-and-go: uncertain as to the result It was whether we would get to the airport in time. The patient is out of danger now, but it was i.e. uncertain whether he would survive for a while. (to have sth. done) in black and white: (have it) recorded in writing or print safe and sound fair and square vim and vigor fair or foul pots and pans odds and ends weal and woe thicks and thins at sixes and sevens Tweedledum and Tweedledee neither fish nor flesh to mind ones Ps and Qs hither and thither7. SayingsOne mans meat is another mans poison.A stitch in time saves nine.Take it or leave it.Dont count your chickens before they are hatched: First catch your hare, then cook it.To run after two hares, you can catch neither.When the cats away, the mice will play.Jack of all trades and master of none.Grasp all, lose all.Man proposes, God disposes.Once bit/bitten, twice shy.A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.Where there is a will, there is a way.When there is life, there is hope.The child is father of the man.There is no smoke without fire.Dont you see the writing on the wall?No cross, no crown.An idle youth, a needy age.Follow love, and it will flee; flee love, and it will pursue.As you sow, so will you reap.Many a pickle makes a nickel.Money makes the mare to go.V. Figures of Speech (修辞手法)Words used in their original meanings are used literary, while words used in extended meanings for the purpose of making comparisons or calling up pictures in the readers or listeners mind are used figuratively. As a Chinese idiom goes, “With all its beauty the peony needs the green of its leaves to set it off.” The rich and colorful content of writing can be expressed through such artistic devices as figures of speech, which contribute much to its expressive and emotional power.A knowledge of various figures of speech commonly used in writing will help us not only to appreciate beauty of language, but also learn to use the various rhetorical figures in our own writing.The most common of figures of speech are the following:1. Simile Simile is a direct comparison, in which subject, reference and indicator of resemblance are all present, its formula being: Subject + indicator of resemblance + reference.Time flies like an arrow.One day apart seems like three years to miss somebody very much.like a duck to water: to feel just like a fish in water.as dry as saw dust: It is like chewing wax insipid.like a cat on hot bricks: like an ant on a hot pan.He is something of a musician/a political chameleon.soft as doves down William Shakespearefree as mountain winds (Ibid.)rapid as the shadow of a cloud Thomas Hardy happy as a rose tree in sunshine William M.ThackerayI wandered lonely as a cloud William Wordsworth2. Metaphor Metaphor is an implied comparison in which both subject and reference are used, but no indicator of resemblance. Metaphor is more advanced than simile, for comparison is implied in the structure, instead of being expressed by an indicator of resemblance. Its formula is: Subject + to be + reference:Time is money.An inch of time is an inch of gold.With money you are a dragon; without it you are a worm.Money becomes the king.Many retirees are couch potatoes.The newspaper is a jungle of ads.It takes two to tango.Its lonely at the top.Some special interest groups hijack the people through uncontrolled profit and inflation.My life is one long curve, full of turning points.All the world is a stage.He has a heart of stone.She is a bookworm. She is really a Barbby.Sometimes you go into what I call a bubble boom. Every bubble bursts.Efficiency is undermined in a jungle of red tape.The scandal took a lot of luster off the presidents status.Life is but a dream.Lifes but a walking shadow. William ShakespeareTOEFL/IELTS is a bridge to foreign universities. His friend has become a thorn in his side.You are your mothers glass.3. Personification Personification is a figure of speech in which human beings are compared to inanimate things or vice versa. Being new, original and impressive, personification can make an abstract truth more vivid and expressive.In the following sentences human attributes are given to abstract qualities, to objects or to animals:Action speaks louder than words.Walls have ears beware of eavesdroppers.Failure is the mother of success.a walking dictionary (cf. a living dictionary; know-it-all)an old stick-in-the-mud: someone who is old-fashioned and fights change. (old diehard; old fogey )A rolling stone gathers no moss: It implies that a person who is constantly moving and changing from one place or occupation to another will never gain a steady, established position.(cf. A rolling stone gathers no moss; constant change of ones profession accumulates no wealth. )The autumn wind is sighing.Spring awakened, and all nature smiled.Clothes can make the man.Dusk came stealthily.This time fate was smiling to him.Thunder roared and a pouring rain started.A lie goes halfway around the world before truth has time to get its trousers on.The match will soon be over and defeat is staring us in the face.Money wont buy time. Fortune smiled on me; I got the scholarship.Flu/SARS stalked about, touching one here and there with his evil finger.4. Metonymy Metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of one thing is substituted for another associated with or suggested by it. The thing spoken of and the thing meant may be wholly unlike, but the relation between them is such that the mention of one suggests the other, e.g. “The drunkard loves his bottle.” Here there is no resemblance, but very close relation.In writing when metonymy is well employed, brevity and vividness may be achieved:The early bird catches the worm.Rats desert a sinking ship.Any ox that can pull the plough is a good ox, whether its red or black.a drowned rata rat in a holea black sheepa wolf in sheeps clothing (a dressed-up beast; a friend in human form)The kettle is boiling.He drank a cup.He ate another bowl.Gray hairs should be respected.The gray-haired have my sympathy.from the cradle to the gravefrom the womb to the tombHave you ever read Lu Xun?Who is the best pen of the day?He has never earned an honest penny in his life.Ive come to pick your brains.Her behavior when her husband is away causes the neighbors to raise their eyebrows.As a player, he spent most games on the bench.The whole city went out to hail Mr. Huang, for the hero succeeded in having caught LHZ, the Criminal.Are you fond of the bottle?He indulged in glass.Whats your favorite dish?A fair face may hide a foul heart. (a beast in human shape)Is there anybody in our class who is going to enter the bar after college?Do you have an ear for music?Please be all ears to me.Who do you think is the best pen of our class?The whole class love me because Im a bit stupid.Uncle Sam the United Statescf. Washington/BeijingFleet Street the British pressFoggy Bottom U.S. State DepartmentHollywood American film-making industry10, Downing Street the residence and office of the British prime minister (PM)Ivan the Russian people the girl in red the girl in red shirt/dress/one-piece dress or pantdresswomen in furs or men in grand coats the rich black gown American college studentsthe gray hair the old (people)the egg head the baldhead/baldythe ivory tower colleges or universitiesAny cat that can catch the mouse is a good cat, whether its white or black. (The end justifies the means. The end crowns all.)The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.Only a knife could save him. (operation)cf. Two heads are better than one.5. SynecdocheSynecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is used for a whole, or vice verse.The factory employs 100 hands.The farmer sold 50 head of cattle.China (the Chinese table tennis team) beat Japan (the Japanese TTT) at table tennis.Two heads are better than one.Many hands make light work.He toiled all day long to earn his bread.Class 1 is superior to Class 2 in the crossword games.He won her hand in marriage.The world is still ignorant of the fact.He has many mouths to feed in his family.They counted fifty sails in the harbor.He is a valiant heart.The poor man is now left without a roof.The doctor cut me open and took out the appendix and stitched me up again.a glib tongue an eloquent personOne day apart seems like three years.to go the way of all flesh: to die6. Euphemism Euphemism is a figure of speech in which a mild or vague expression is substituted for a harsh or unpleasant one. In other words, by euphemism one speaks in gentle and favorable terms of some person, object, or event, which is ordinarily seen in a less pleasing light. What characterizes this figure is that it makes the meaning all the more mild yet implicit, thus affording much food for thought.e. g. to lie is substituted by such expressions as to distort the facts, misrepresent the facts and to distort the truth. Retarded children have been replaced by slow learners or underachievers.to be ill to be under the weather(ill health to worry about gathering firewood 采薪之忧) to take the rosy path to live fast to lead a loose lifeto degenerate to go on the spree to go to the bad to be going to dogs to go west/to departto go to glory/to be no moreto join the majorityto die to go the way of all fleshto pass awayto go to the ancestorsto leave sb.ones heart has stopped beating plump fat stout chubby weight watcher carolie count-down lean slim, slender thin willowy lithe svelte ugly plain, homelyheart attack heart conditionvenereal disease social disease (syphilis, aids)asylum mental homemad emotionally disturbedold elderly, senior, past ones primeold people senior citizensfuneral memorial servicegraveyard memory gardenpoor needy, underprivileged, the indigent debt cash advance bankrupt out of the gamedismissal lay offslum substandard housingviolence actionto murder to take care of prison correctional centerused car predriven classicsecond-hand furniture antiquescostume jewelry fashion jewelry dustman sanitation workermaid, housekeeper domestic help, day-help, live-in helphead-waiter captain air-hostess service managerbarber, hairdresser beautician The student is obtuse. He is a bit slow for his age. He seems to be mentally retarded. He has failed (flunked) many major courses. He has got less than a passing grade for a few major courses. Im sorry to find him an underachiever for some major courses.The student is lazy. Im afraid he has to exert himself in his study. Probably he has to devote himself more diligently to his studies. He is sure to go far if he can use his resources fully. Hell get somewhere if he is highly motivated. He needs to raise his ambition level a bit. Hed better take his lessons more seriously.The student is noisy. He needs to develop quieter habits of communication.The student is a bully. He is quarrelsome and often browbeats, frightens or hurts smaller or weaker pupils. He needs help in learning to use his leadership qualities democratically. He lies. He is likely to embroider the truth a bit. He may occasionally fall into terminological inexactitude. He can be categorically inaccurate sometimes. He has difficulty in distinguishing between imaginary and factual information. The student cheats. He needs to learn how helpful in learning to adhere to rules and standard of fair play. The student must mend his ways. He needs to be brought back into the mainstream. 与委婉语同时并存的，当代还有一种对立的倾向。按其程度和取向，似乎可以分为直言化和粗俗化两个层次。直言化 (Call a Spade a Spade), 即：直言不讳，崇尚求实，这是现代人的思维特点。自从卢梭 (Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712 1778) 提出返朴归真 (Return to nature) 以后，人们深受影响，言语上无所隐晦 (Return to plain speaking) 也就成了继承卢梭的一个方面：conjugal infidelity adulterylady of easy virtue whoreanswer natures call pass urineThe Pentagon is looking for a cheap, quick kill. Below are the euphemistic expressions of “pregnancy”:She has cancelled all her social engagements. (1856)She is in an interesting condition. (1880)She is in a delicate condition. (1895)She is knitting little booties. (1910)She is in a family way. (1920)She is expecting. (1935)She is pregnant. (1956)(日本学者：国弘正雄)从中可以看出一条历史性的语体变化规律：与委婉倾向同时并存的还有直言倾向。这两种倾向相互依存，相互补充，在一定条件下相互转化，但不能相互替代。粗俗化 (Dysphemism) 是与委婉语截然相反的 (diametrically opposed) 倾向。有时，甚至很多受过高等教育、有很体面的社会地位的人也喜欢说些有伤大雅的亵渎话 (profanities) 或粗俗话(vulgarities):The journalist has a sexy way of treating a tedious story. (sexy = a way to make sth. interesting)This big job is really going to be a bitch.(bitch = not desirable)A dishonest salesman truly fucked me over.(fuck/screw = cheat)That story he told us was a lot of shit. (shit = not true)In 1972, Richard Nixon remarked, “I dont give a shit about lira.”Tell the Soviets that I Ronald Reagan was one stubborn S.O.B.7. Irony Irony is a figure of speech in which the surface meaning of words is different from, sometimes opposite to their underlying, intended meaning:Youve got us into a nice mess! (“nice” means “bad”, “unsatisfactory”)Food in the Soviet Union is fine, if you like pork tartare.Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.A new broo