FigurativeSpeech英语修辞总结

1、figures of speech/rhetorical devicesi. introductionby figures of speech we refer here to those rhetorical devices termed tropes in classical rhetoric. tropes have to do with the way words are made to mean other than what they would normally imply, and therefore involve deviation from the ordinary an

2、d literal meaning of words. they are ways of making our language figurative.a knowledge of the figures, and of how they are best used will be of help to us not only in deepening our understanding of what we read, but also in appreciating more fully the finer points of a writer s style. in the proces

3、s, wemight even learn to write better ourselves.the number of figures ranged from 65 to 200 in classical times. we will only choose those that are of most universal appeal, and of the greatest practical value.ii. simile and metaphor 1. simile:it is a comparison between two distinctively different th

4、ings and the comparison is indicated by the word as, like, as if, than. a simile is made up of three parts, the tenor, the vehicle, and the indicator of resemblance or simile marker.a simile is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or cha

5、racteristic in common. the comparison is purely imaginative, that is, the resemblance between the two unlike things in that one particular aspect exists only in our minds, in our “ inwardeye ” and not in the nature of the things themselves. to make the comparison, words like as, as as, as so, like,

6、as if, as though|asito, to bear a resemblance to, and comparative structure, prepositional phrases, and other collocations are used to transfer the quality we associate with one to the other. sometimes the association is between unfamiliar and familiar things, or between abstract and concrete images

7、. the stronger the association that is felt, the greater the force of the comparison, the stronger the power of suggestion and the sharper the image produced.1) likea. and then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morningface, creeping like snail unwillingly to school(shakespeare)b. h

8、e was like a cock who thought the sun had risen for him to crow.c. records fell like ripe apples on a windy day.d. mother was short and plump and pretty. her eyes were blue, and her brown hair was like a bird s smiooth wings e. habit may be likened to a cable; every day we weave a thread, and soon w

9、e cannot break it.2) asa. men fear death, as children fear to go in the dark: and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other.b. as the lion is king of beasts, so is the eagle king of birds.3) as if, as thougha. she spoke hurriedly, as if her heart had leaped into her t

10、hroat at the boy s words.b. he was a beautiful horse that looked as though he had come out of a painting by velasquez.4) whata. reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.b. what salt is to food, that wit and humour are to conversation and literature.5) thana. he has no more idea of money t

11、han a cow.b. a home without love is no more than a body without a soul.6) anda. a word and a stone let go cannot be recalled.b. love and cough cannot be hid.7) witha. with the quickness of a long cat, she climbed up into the nest of cool-bladed foliage.2. metaphor:it is the use of a word which origi

12、nally denotes one thing to refer to another with a similar quality. it is also a comparison between two distinctively different things, but the comparison is implied, not expressed with the word as or like. metaphor is also called condensed simile. metaphors are used not only after verb to be, and n

13、ot only nouns can be used metaphorically, adjectives , adverbs, verbs can also be used metaphorically.1) n.a. the parks are the lungs of our city.b. money is a lens in a camera.2) v.a. applications for jobs flooded the employment agency.3) adj.a. the mountainous waves swallowed up the ship.4) of phr

14、asethe bridge of friendship, the valley of despair, a flower of a girl iii. analogy, allegory, metonymy, synecdoche and allusion 1. analogyit is also a form of comparison, but unlike simile or metaphor, which usually concentrates on one point of resemblance, analogy draws a parallel between two unli

15、ke things that have several common qualities or points of resemblance. analogy is chiefly used for the purpose of persuasion or for the explanation or exposition of an idea. analogy could be a simile or a metaphor, it is a combination of different figurative usages.a. a thechess-board is the world;

16、the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature. the player on the other side is hidden from us.”b. it s with our judgments as with our watches; none go just alike, yet each believes his own.c. judicious praise is to children what the sun is to

17、 flowers.d. the inspiration for a story is like“ a pull on the line the outside signalthat has startled or moved the creative mind to complicity and brought the story to active being ”analogy looks like simile in form, but the difference is: analogy provide the reason for the differences while simil

18、e and metaphor remain unexplained. 2. allegory:it is a milder figurative use than metaphor, it applies concrete images to illustrate abstract notions, it leads the readers to get to the nature of things or profound concepts through concrete images and easy facts.a. no rose without a thorn.b. it s ti

19、me to turn swords into ploughs.names of books: pilgrim s progress; animal farmmany allegories come from classical myths, some english proverbs and idioms are good examples of allegory.all that glisters is not gold. (from the merchant of venice)3. metonymy:it is substituting the name of one thing for

20、 that of another with which it is closely associated. there are four kinds:1) the container for things contained (bottle for wine, kettle for water, pot for soup)a. the kettle is boiling.2) the instrument for the agent(pen writing, gun/sword fighting)a. the pen is stronger than the sword.3) the sign

21、 (cradle childhood, crown king, throne king)a. he must have been spoilt from the cradle .b. the grey hair should be respected.c. what is learned in the cradle is carried to the grave.d. having finished the law school, he was called to the bar.e. she has the eye for the fair and the beautiful.4) othe

22、rsjournalists often use metonymy to refer to all kinds of people or things. it is very brief and humorous.a. romeo: loverb. helen: beautiful womanc. john bull: england/ the english peopled. downing street: the british government/cabinete. the pentagon: the u.s. military establishmentf. big apple: ne

23、w york4. synecdoche:when a part is substituted for the whole or the whole is substituted for a part, synecdoche is applied. (hand man, bread food, creature woman) a. more hands (working men) are needed at the moment.b. we had dinner at ten dollars a head (each person).c. all the plants in the cold c

24、ountry are turning green in this smiling year (the spring).5. allusion:it is a brief reference to a person, place, phrase, or event drawn from history or literature. allusions are effective not because of the meaning of the words themselves but because of the associations or connotations that allusi

25、ve words carry for the intelligent reader. the use of allusion allows poets to reinforce an argument by illustration, to compress complex ideas into brief phrases, and to suggest thoughts they may not wish to state directly. names are the most common forms of allusion and the easiest to identity. th

26、ere are different sources of allusions, like nursery rhymes, fairy tales, myths, legends, fables and literary works, etc.a. cinderella: pretty girl, mistreated by stepmother but helped by fairy godmother to win her prince charming: a rags-to-riches theme.b. ”open sesame” : code word to the treasure

27、cave in story of ali baba and the forty thieves; the key to hidden treasures, knowledge, etc.c. sour grapes: a fox called the grapes it couldn t reach sour. when we canget what we want, we often disparage it.d. noah and his arke. solomon: a wise man, who can judge between right and wrong, true and f

28、alse.f. judas: the disciple who betrayed christ to his enemies for 30 pieces of silver. exercises: identify the figures of speech in the following sentences:a. in rivers the water that you touch is the last of that has passed and the first of that which comes: so with time present. (analogy)b. greec

29、e was the cradle of western culture. (metaphor)c. laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone. (allegory)d. the city has it philharmonic but also its poverty. (metonymy)e. i took a last drowning look at the title as i gave the book into her hand.(metaphor)f. he was like a cock who t

30、hought the sun had risen to hear him crow. (simile the suggestion of overwhelming conceit in the man)g. then he cut me open and took out the appendix and stitched me up again.(synecdochecut his abdomen open)iv. personification, zoosemy and onomatopoeia1. personification:it is to treat a thing (inclu

31、ding an animal) or an idea as if it were human or had human qualities. it is also a kind of figurative usage, esp. a metaphor.a. the sun kissed the green fields.b. the youth were singing, laughing and playing the music instruments. the trees and flowers around them danced heartily as if touch by mer

32、ry mood.c. the little goat was so fussy that he often cried for wolf.d. death feeds on his mute voice, and laughs at our despair.2. zoosemy:it is to treat a person as a thing (including an animal, plant, lifeless thing,abstract notion, etc.).a. his spoilt children are ill- gotten goods that ll never

33、 prosper.b. “ a lucky dog you are! ” exclaimed jim.c. children are flowers of our country.d. o, my love is like a red, red, red rose.e. he slept like a log.3. onomatopoeia:the formation of words that are like natural sounds.chortle, snigger, snore, mumble, cackle, baa, clink, clank, bump, boom, grum

34、ble, crack, splash, buzz, hum, tinkle, chatter, rumble, hiss, smack, etc.v. irony, paradox, oxymoron, innuendo, sarcasm1. irony:t appear init is the use of words which are clearly opposite to what is meant, in orderto achieve a special effect. words expressing the real meaning don the sentence.a. it

35、 must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one s pocket.b. by midmorning a forty-one-year-old teacher had been shot dead, with his security card in hand, and another teacher struck by two nine-millimeter bullets, was extraordinarily lucky to be alive. two others narr

36、owly escaped nicholas elliot s bullets.c. they are almost as wise as the wise men of gotham. (a village of fools)2. oxymoron:in oxymoron apparently contradictory terms are combined to produce a special effect. words are contradictory, appearing in the sentence at the same time but they might not be

37、the same part of speech.a. living deathb. tearful joyc. cold pleasant mannerd. poor rich guyse. dully brightf. falsely trueg. hasten slowlyh. groan loudlyi. love-hate relationshipj. the sound of silence3. pun and paradox:an ambiguous statement that is intended to be humorous is called a pun.puns alm

38、ost invariably attain their effect by using one of the thousands of word pairs in english (called homonyms) that are identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning.a. you will go nuts for the nuts you get in nux. (an ad.)b. try our sweet corn. you ll smile from ear to ear.c. drunk drivers

39、put the quart before the hearse.d. why is an empty purse always the same? because there is never change in it.e. we would like very much to have you for dinner.just as a pun is a form of ambiguity that plays on words, a paradox plays on ideas. in general, a paradox involves a contradiction between t

40、he physical or material meaning of words and their spiritual, emotional, or supernatural connotation.f. more haste, less speed.g. in fact, it appears that the teachers of english teach english so poorly largely because they teach grammar so well.h. paradoxically, the faster he tried to finish, the l

41、onger it seemed to take him.4. innuendo:it is a mild form of irony, hinting in a rather roundabout way at something disparaging or uncomplimentary to the person or subject mentioned.a. “ the weatherman said it would be warm. he must take his readings in a bathroom. ” (the author is hinting at the in

42、accuracy of the weatherman s weather report. the weather is cold, rather than warm.)b. have you finished my book yet? sorry, i stopped at page 412, with 40 pages to go.5. sarcasm:it is just the opposite of innuendo. it attacks in a taunting and bitter manner, and its aim is to disparage, ridicule an

43、d wound the feelings of the subject attacked.a. “ in the evening the poor wounded boy was taken to that experienced doctor, who by applying some poisonous concoction of crushed leaves to his left eye, succeeded in blinding him!”b. when children call a boy“ four eyes ” because he wears glasses, they

44、arespeaking in sarcasm.vi. hyperbole, understatement, euphemism1. euphemism:it is the substitution of a mild or vague expression for a harsh or unpleasant one.a. garbageman g-manb. butcher meat technologistc. lavatory bathroom, restroom, washroom, ladies /gentlemens roomd. fat plump/overweighte. thi

45、rd class - business class, economic classf. die pass awayg. old to be elderly/seniorh. pregnant to be expectingi. mean economic/thrifty2. overstatement/hyperbole understatement:in overstatement the diction exaggerates the subject, and in understatement the words play down the magnitude or value of t

46、he subject.overstatement:a. for she was beautiful her beauty madethe bright world dim, and everything besideseemed like the fleeting image of a shade.b. only here can you have such jeans of the best quality and the lowest price at downtown.understatement:c. sorry, this is in fact more than i can pro

47、mise.d. the piece of work is nothing to be proud of.e. if this regime is out of power, no tear in to be shed.3. litotes:a way of expressing a thought by its opposite, esp. with words like not or no.a. from his mouth flowed speech sweeter than honey.b. they almost died laughing.c. that s no laughing

48、matter. (thatious matterserd. she was not without ambition.vii. alliteration, assonance, consonance1. alliteration:it refers to the appearance of the same initial consonant sound in two or more mise, problem and provision; as proud as a peacock2. assonance:it is the repetition in two or mor

49、e nearby words of similar vowel sounds (chalk wall fall).the rain in spain stays mainly in the plain.3. consonance:it is the repetition in two or two more nearby words of similar consonant sounds preceded by different accented vowels (chalk, pluck, knock).rough and tough; a blessed ghostviii. contra

50、st, parallelism and antithesis1. contrast:it is used to show clearly the differences. the elements in a contrast form contrast in meaning, but the structure remain different.a. let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of laboring those problems which divide us.b. let us never negotiate

51、out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.2. parallelism:it is over-regularity in language use. the creative writer may restrict himself in language choice by using paralleled structures, which shows parallelism or repetition.a. to err is human, to forgive divine.b. in good weather, the passag

52、e from england to america could take twenty days; but in bad weather, it could take more than two months.c. he had plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.d. studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.3. antithesis:it is a combinat

53、ion of parallelism and contrast, that is to say, the elements in the sentence should be paralleled in structure and contrastive in meaning. a. “ the brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. -abraham li” ncolnb. if a free society

54、 cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. john. f. kennedyc. they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.ix. transferred epithet, syllepsis and zeugma1. transferred epithet:an epithet is an adjective or descriptive phrase that serves to characterize somebody or something.

55、 a transferred epithet is one that is shifted from the noun (or pronoun) it logically modifies to a word associated with that noun.a. a dizzy height: a height that causes people to feel dizzyb. a sweet voice: (taste to hearing)c. a sleepless nightd. a happy childhoode. there was an amazed silence. slowly alexander turned away.f. the big man crashed down on a protesting chair.2. syllepsis:it has two connotation