英语中修辞方法

1、高级英语 修辞By figures of speech we refer 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 and literal meaning of words. They are ways of maki

2、ng our language figurative. 1Simile(明喻) Simile develops out of the Latin word "similis" meaning "like". A simile is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic in common. The comparison is purely imaginativ

3、e. To make the comparison, words like as, as.so, and like are used to transfer the quality we associate with one to the other. Simile(明喻)一词源于拉丁语，意思是：象、如 一样。明喻直接比较两个或两个以上不同的人或事物，英语中常用的喻词是like和as。明喻比较的不同的人和事物之间必须至少有一个共同点，而所进行的比较纯属想象。 1. I was interrupted in my meditations by a noise like the Scotch ex

4、press going under a bridge. It was Honoria Glossop laughing. -by P.G. Wodehouse 一阵犹如直快火车在桥下隆隆驶过的响声打断了我的思路。原来是格洛思蒲在笑。 2. He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow. - by George Eliot 这个人就像一只骄傲自负的公鸡，以为太阳升起是为了听它啼鸣。 3. One blinks before the dirty houses as one blinks before a man

5、with his face shot away. - H.L.Mencken 人们看到这所肮脏的房子，就像看到一个脸被子弹崩掉的人一样，惊愕不已。 4. Mary and her mother are as like as two peas. 玛丽和她母亲长得酷似。 2Metaphor(隐喻) A metaphor, like a simile, also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlike a simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated. A me

6、taphor is in a sense a condensed simile, differing from the latter only in form and artistry. Let's compare: Metaphor(隐喻)和明喻一样，也是两个不同事物之间的比较，但它有别于明喻，这种比较是隐含的，非陈述的。隐喻是一种浓缩的明喻，只是形式和表现手法不一样。Let's compare:Jim was as cunning as a fox. ( simile )Jim was a fox. ( metaphor )The world is like a stage

7、. ( simile )The world is a stage. ( metaphor )Let's look at more examples: 1. They wanted to get into the fun before the whole thing turned belly up. 它们要在这场战争结束之前也过一下打仗的瘾。 analysis For description, a dead fish which would be belly up implies the end of the thing. In translation, the implied rhet

8、orical meaning is given instead of the literary meaning of the original. 2.Malone accused Bryan of calling for a duel to the death between science and religion.Then the court broke into a storm of applause that passed that for Bryan. The crowd seemed to feel that their champion had not scorched the

9、infidels with the hot breath of his oratory as he should have.-John Scopes 马隆呼吁学术自由，指责布赖恩挑起科学与宗教之间的殊死斗争。.听众们似乎觉得他们的雄辨家布赖恩并没有能象往日那样以其三寸不料之舌击败马隆那些异教徒们。 analysis The write uses the words "duel" and "storm" and "scorched" to mean metaphorically "the dead struggle betwe

10、en science and religion", the idealistic support of the mass and the unreasonable resentment of them against reasonable ideas. "决斗"，"暴风雨"和"烧焦" 3. His eyes came out of his head like a prawn's, and once more his moustache foamed up against his breakwater of a nos

11、e.-by Mr. Woodhouse 他那两只对虾眼在头上凸出来，鼻孔中喷出的热气把胡须吹得飘来飘去。 4. Of all the arts, tragedy is the proudest, the most triumphant; for it builds its shining citadel in the very center of the enemy's country, on the very summit of his highest mountain; from its impregnable watch-towers, his camps and arsenal

12、s, his columns and forts are all revealed.-Bertrand Russell 悲剧是艺术之巅，是艺术的骄傲，因为悲剧把自己辉煌的城堡建造在敌人心脏地区的峰项上，在坚不可摧的敌人的防区扎起营房、设下火药库、排好队列并且造起炮楼。 5. Knowledge began to increase as soon as the thoughts of one individual could be communicated to another by means of speech. Then knowledge began to be accumulated

13、according to a systematic plan. The trickle became a stream; the stream has now become a torrent.-by G. N. M. Tyrell 语言一旦成为人们交流思想的工具，知识就开始增加，随后就是知识的系统化积累。点点滴滴的知识汇成潺潺涓流，涓涓溪流又汇成汪洋大海，取之不尽、用之不绝。 6.The hall way was zebra-striped with darkness and moonlight.-Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 月光射进回廊，在黑暗中投下条条光影。 3Metonymy(

14、换喻) Originating from Greek, metonymy means "a change of name", that is, the use of one thing for another related to it, as "the Bench" for the magistrates or judges sitting in court, "a silk " for a Queen's Counsel, "the bottle" for alcoholic liquor. Meton

15、ymy(换喻)一词来源于希腊语，意思是：名称的变换。换喻就是用一个事物的名称替换与它有连带关系的另一事物的名称，例如，用法官坐的"板凳"替换"法庭的法官"；用法官穿的"丝服"表示"英国王室的法律顾问"；用盛酒的"瓶子"替换"酒"。 The glories of our blood and state,Are shadows, not substantial things;There is no armor against fate;Death lays his icy han

16、d on kings;Scepter and CrownMust tumble downAnd in the dust be equal madeWith the poor crooked Scythe and Spade.(Shirley, The Glories of Our Blood)Metonymy can be derived from various sources-from names of persons, from animals, professions, locations, or names of places:A. Names of persons1. John B

17、ull: England, or the English people2. Uncle Sam: The United States of AmericaB. Animals1. British Lion: England or the English government2. the bear: The former Soviet union or the Soviet governmentC. Parts of the body1. heart: feelings or emotions2. gray hair: old ageD. Professions1 the bar: the le

18、gal profession;.2. the bench: position (office) of judge or magistrate;3. the veil: vocation of a nun;4. the press: newspapers; newspaper reporters;E. Locations of government, of business or industrial enterprises1. Downing Street: the British government or cabinet2. The White House: the President o

19、r Executive branch of the U. S. government.3. Capitol Hill: the Legislative branch of the U.S. government.4. the Pentagon: the U.S. military establishment5. Kremlin: the government of the former Soviet Union6. Fleet Street: the British press7. Wall Street: U.S. financial circles8. Madison Avenue: Am

20、erican advertising industry 9. Hollywood: American film-making industry10. Foggy Botton: U.S. State DepartmentLet's look at some examples: 1 Lands belong to the crown. 普天之下皆王土。 2 The kettle boils. 壶里的水开了。 3 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. 为了生存，人皆要劳动。 作者原文中用"汗水"替代"劳动

21、"；用"吃面包"替代"生存"。 4Synecdoche(提喻) Synecdoche has often been confused with metonymy, and sometimes even treated synonymously. This is not surprising, as both figures of speech involve substitution，only metonymy involves substitution of the name of one thing for that of another

22、closely associated with it, whereas synecdoche involves the substitution of the part for the whole, or the whole for the part. A. The part for the whole 1 hand: a) member of a ship' s crew All hands on deck. b) worker, laborer, helper They were short of hands at harvest time.2 head: personHe pai

23、d the workers $ 5 per head.3 heart: brave fellowYet there were some stout hearts who attempted resistance. (C.S.Forester)4 legs(coll.) persons on foot ; the infantryThe legs could hardly keep up with the tanks.5 bread: food, esp. staple foodGive us this day our daily bread.(Prayer)They say there'

24、;s bread and work for all,And the sun shines always there;But I'll not forget old Ireland,Were it fifty times as fair. (Helen S. Blackwood) B. The whole for the part 1 Name of country for group of people of that countryAustralia beat Canada at cricket.(= the Australian team beat Canadian team)2

25、Vehicle for engine, machine for mechanism of machine itself, etc.The car conked out.The plane's flamed out!The radio(TV) is out of order.3 Person for part of his bodyThen he cut me open and took out the appendix and stitched me up again (=cut his abdomen open) Let's look at more examples: 1

26、With thunders from her native oak, She quells the flood below.-By Thomas Campbell 战舰喷出雷鸣般的炮火，在狂浪中稳健地向前冲 analysis "Oak" represents the warships as well as the material from which they are made. 2 Chelsea won the match. 切尔斯队在足球赛中获胜 analysis Chelsea stands for the Chelsea Football team. In th

27、e Chinese version, we put the synecdoche into the truth-telling implied meaning. 3 The case had erupted round my head. 这个案子硬是把我搅了进去。 analysis Head is a part of a person and here stands for the person. This is a synecdoche in which part stands for the whole. The Chinese version has the implied meanin

28、g given clearly. 4 But neither his vanity nor his purse is any concern of the dictionary's. 编撰词典、收录词条可不管谁有钱、谁有名气。 （原文中使用了提喻，以装钱的包代替钱包里所装的钱，汉语中译出了提喻所寓的修辞意义。） 5Personification(拟人) By definition, personification is a figure of speech that gives human form of feelings to animals, or life and persona

29、l attributes to inanimate objects, or to ideas and abstractions. Personification(拟人)是写作中人为地把人格赋予事物或抽象概念，使之似乎活起来的修辞格。 1 I ran across a dim photograph of him the other day, going through some old things. He's been dead twenty-five years. His name was Rex and he was a bull-terrier.-James Thurberana

30、lysis Here a dog is personified. 2 The wind whistled through the trees.analysis Here the wind is personified3 If not always in a hot mood to smash, the sea is always stealthily ready for a drowning. -Joseph Conradanalysis Here the natural phenomena "the sea" is personified.4 She sat like P

31、atience on a monument Smiling at Grief. -William Cowperanalysis Here an abstraction, patience, is personified.5 The long flames sang their drumming chorus in voices of the heaviest bass.6 The light we see coming from some far-off stars started on its journey more than a hundred years ago. 6Euphemism

32、(委婉) The word euphemism comes from Greek meaning 'fair speech'. It is the habit of avoiding an unpleasant or taboo reference by substituting some indirect word or expression for the blunt direct one, as we say that somebody 'passed away 'when we mean that he died. Euphemism(委婉)一词来自希腊

33、语，意思是：顺耳的话。习惯上，这是一种用间接的言词取代生硬的话语，以避免不愉快和禁忌语的方式。如：不说某某"死了"，而说他"过世了"。 A. Death, Illness, Old Age, etc 1. to dieto pass away; to depart; to go to sleep; to go to heaven 2. old age, senilitygetting on (in years); past one's prime; feeling one's age; second childhood3. old peo

34、plesenior citizens4. mad; feeble-mindednot all there; soft in the head; of unsound mind; simple-minded5. stupid pupila slow learner; under-achiever6. fat peopleweight-watchers(The motive for the euphemisms in this case seems to be to avoid hurting people's feelings.) B. Toilet Habits, etc. 1. to

35、 urinate or to defecatego to the bathroom;do their business;answer nature's call;(The motive here, obviously, is to avoid using the true words which are considered crude and indecent in polite conversation.) C. Poverty and Unemployment 1. dismiss, sacklay off; ease out; give (get) the walking ti

36、cket, pink slip2. Pennilessout of pocket; hard up; in reduced circumstances;badly off D. Menial jobs or professions of low social standing 1. a maid, housekeeper, etc.domestic help; day-help; live-in help2. chief waiter, waitresscaptain; hostess3. real estate agentrealtor4. hairdresserbeautician5. j

37、anitorsuperintendent; custodian6. undertakermortician7. rat-catcherexterminating engineer; pest control operatorThe motive here is plainly to uplift these professions by name. Let's look at more examples: 1 A man is helping police with their inquiries. 一名罪犯正在配合警察的审讯工作。 analysis A suspected crimi

38、nal is detained by the police and probably under close arrest. 2 A clean bomb put quantities of people to rest. 一枚炮弹送很多人回了老家。 analysis An atom bomb kills many people. 3 He is out visiting the necessary. 他出去方便了一下 analysis He is in the lavatory, or W.C. 7Hyperbole(夸张) Hyperbole is the deliberate use o

39、f overstatement or exaggeration to achieve emphasis. Instead of saying in plain language "She is a pretty girl" or "He laughed heartily" we could express the same ideas more emphatically by saying "She is the prettiest girl in the world" or "He almost died laughing

40、."Effective hyperbole, however, is more than just to emphasize something in exaggerated terms. In the hands of experienced writers it can be used to achieve various literary effects: to intensify emotion, to elevate a person or thing to heroic or mythical status, or to poke fun at or ridicule.

41、Moreover, its form, too, can vary from a phrase, a sentence, to a paragraph or paragraphs of description. Sometimes a whole story or article may be one big hyperbole. Examples of these various forms and uses are given below. 1 A Vow to Zip His Lipsanalysis It is impossible to zip one's lip, so t

42、his is hyperbole. 2 Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay.3 Hamlet: I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.4 For she was beautifulher beauty made The bright world dim, and everything besideSeemed like the fleeting image of a shade.- P.

43、B.Shelley: "The Witch of Atlas"8Onomatopoeia(拟声) This device makes use of imitation of sounds for effect. Onomatopoeia(拟声)是一种模拟声音，追求特殊语言效果的修辞手法。 These sounds may be those made by a person, animal or thing, or associated with some action or movement. For example, moo, meow, bow-wow, hiss, r

44、oar and baa are respectively imitative of the cries or calls of cows, cats, dogs, snakes, lions and sheep. In the same way, trains toot; doors bang; windows rattle; fire crackles; machines clang; and racing cars go vroom-vroom.It is a device much used in poetry and prose to add vividness or vitality

45、 to description or narration. 1 Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year's pleasant king; Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing,Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!- Thomas Nash: "Spring"2 Ding! Whrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Crash!A tiny viru

46、s called Michelangelo whips the computer world into a frenzy.3 Rent a toot or buy a tweet, boom, zing, twang, tinkle, hum or plink. (Advertisement for Dallas Music Company - Reader's Digest, June 1981) 4 As you approach the copper-smith's market, a tinkling and banging and clashing begins to

47、 impinge on your ear.5 Four or five thousand men in all, winding up the road with a clumping of boots and a clatter of iron wheels, were marching southward.7 He finds himself projected into a hall full of people humming with anticipation. 9Paregmenon(同源词并列) As a figure of speech, paregmenon is the u

48、se of several words of similar origin close together. Its function is to accumulate strength by phonological means. Paregmenon(同源词并列)并列这种辞格连续使用几个同源词，凭借其类似的音韵增强语势。 1 Can't you sense his sensibility?难道你没有意识到他是多么敏感？analysis "sense" echoes phonologically with the first part of the sounds o

49、f "sensibility". Such a short sentence have the same sounds repeated and the two words come from the same origin, thus making the impression and the interrogation strong in sentiment. 2 What will effect the effectiveness?还能有什么办法会产生这种效果呢？analysis "effect" matches "effectivene

50、ss" in sounds, thus giving stress. In translation, we show the rhetorical effect by adding a part of undoubted question.3 "There's one thing you may be sure of, namely, that lies are lies. Don't you tell any more of them, Pip. And as to being common, you can't get to be uncommo

51、n through going crooked." said Joe after some reflection. - Dickens乔伊想一阵后说："匹普，有一件事你要记住：谎言就是谎言。再也不要说谎。至于'没出息'的问题，人若是不走正道，是'出息'不了的"。 4 Although William Blake was evidently sometimes prone to answer a fool according to his folly, he often explained in sober earnest his i

52、deas of the essential truth of art.虽然威廉·布菜克往往好用"以其人之道，还治其人之身"的办法回敬某个笨蛋，但是他常常极其诚恳而平和解释他自己的精辟的艺术见解。5 "Still, I think you'll do the job all right, Dixon. It's not that you've the qualifications, but you haven't got the disqualifications, and that is much rarer."

53、"丘克斯，我还是认为你可以干这件事。不是因为你合乎资格；而是因为你没有不合格的地方。这才是难得的。"6 He tried to force his spirits down, to expect nothing but unexpected and very marshy mushiness.他竭力镇静下来，只等着出乎意料和难解难分的情况发生。7 The flowing water helped her thoughts to flow. 潺潺流水使她思绪翩翩。10Pun(双关语) Pun is a figure of speech to play on words, or

54、 rather to play with the form and meaning of words, for a witty or humorous effect. Pun(双关语)是一种使用音异义词或多义词以取得诙谐效果的修饰手法。a form of word play which exploits numerous meanings of a statement, allowing it to be understood in multiple ways for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities ca

55、n arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic, homographic, metonymic, or metaphorical language.There are many words in the English language which look or sound alike, but have different senses, or connotations.e.g.a) arms (part of the body) arms(weapons)b) see(verb, to sight) see(noun, a

56、 bishop's diocese) see(noun, a vast expanse of water)c) row(verb, to row a boat) row(noun, a row of houses) row(noun, a noisy quarrel, pronounced /rau/ )There are also words which have more than one basic meaning, or have developed figurative meanings.e.g.d) bridge(a wooden bridge) (a dental bri

57、dge)e) power(authority, force) (energy, as in electric power)f) table(a dining table) (a table numbers, a time-table)Based on the above two types of similarities in words, there are two broad classes of puns. 1)  Why is an empty purse always the same? Because there is never any change in i

58、t. (change can be “变化” or “ 零钱”)2) What do lawyers do after they die? Lie still. 3) A professor tapped on his desk and shouted: “ Gentlemen-order!” The entire class yelled, “Beer!”.4)  On Sunday they pray for you, on Monday they prey on you. (homophone同音异形异义词)5)If we dont hang together, we

59、ll hang separately.(homograph同形异义word spelt like another but with a different meaning.) 11Transferred Epithet(移就，修饰转换) A transferred epithet （移就，修饰转换） is, as its name implies, a figure of speech where an epithet (an adjective or descriptive phrase) is transferred from the noun it should rightly modify to another to which it