文体与修辞考试复习5

2
1. Formation of the simile It is made up of the tenor (the thing described)(本 体), the vehicle (the thing compared to)(喻体) and words to show the relationships of comparison. E.g. (1) He is as stubborn as a mule. (2) He speaks as if there were a frog in the throat. (3) The past rises before me like a dream. (4) He had no more idea of art than a cow. (5) Love and cough cannot be hit. (6) Who is to blame but her tyrant of a father? (7) A doctor must have the heart of a lion and the hand of a lady,
(the suggestion of the magical effect the discovery of language (words) had on the blind girl: it opened up a whole new world of knowledge and happiness for her.)
Discussion
Please point out the meanings of the underlined words in the following phrases. 1. two grey eyes --- the eye of the needle 2. his left hand --- the long hand of the clock 3. a cut in the foot --- the foot of the mountain 4. the mouth of the pig --- the mouth of the river
1
Session 5 Figures of Speech (I) As lexical stylistic devices, figures of speech refer to the figurative uses of language and can produce rhetorical effect that common language use cannot. I. Simile A simile is an expression making a comparison between two things that are essentially unlike, yet are alike in a certain respect.
11
Classroom Exercise Identify what rhetorical devices are used in the following. 1. The old man’s life was ebbing fast. 2. He embarked early on the sea of public life. 3. Childhood is like a swiftly passing dream. 4. The soldier is as fearless as a lion in battles. 5. His friend has become a thorn in his side. 6. She gave him an icy stare which seemed to burn him up. 7. Did they live at the foot of the mountain at that time?
9
1. Formation of the metaphor 1) T = V e.g. (1) Failure is the mother of success. (2) Imperialists are paper tigers. 2) T≠V e.g. (3) All is not gold that glitters. 3) T --- V e.g. (4) Proverbs in conversations --torches in darkness 4) T + V e.g. (5) Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.
4
(11) Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold. Her skin was white as leprosy, The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she Who thicks man’s blood with cold. (12) Everything that he was and did bore out this rigid face and played laughs against it. When he moved his eyes, it was like seeing them move in a statue.
7
2.3 Illustrative similes (说明性明喻) to explain abstract or complicated ideas or processes in simple, concrete imagery. E.g. (16) So compared with any ordinary beam of light, the laser beam is a very orderly affair indeed. It’s like a military march -- everyone in step. In an ordinary beam, the waves are like the people in a crowd going to a football match, jostling and bumping into one another. (to illustrate the great orderliness of light waves in a laser beam)
10
5) Use an ordinary thing to create a metaphor e.g. (6) But England will not perish … This little island! This little gem set in a silver sea. (7) But she had had a hard life and it had knocked the youth and good looks out of her. (8) She melted into tears.
3
2. Types of simile In accordance with their major purposes, similes can be classified into the following three types. 2.1 Descriptive similes Their major purposes are to make a pure description of persons, things, places, natural scenery and action, and, with much more brevity, draw sharper pictures in the mind than could possibly be done by any other means. E.g.
12
III. Analogy Analogy is also a form of comparison. Analogy differs from simile or metaphor in that, while the latter concentrates on ONE point of resemblance, the former draws a parallel between two unlike 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. E.g.
5
2.2 Illuminative similes (启发性明喻) intended to give deeper insight into persons, things, ideas, even problems, through suggestive association; to throw light onto what would otherwise be inconceivable to ordinary people. E.g. (13) … there was secret meanness that clung to him almost like a smell.
(the suggestion of an all-prevailing meanness in the man)
(14) He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow.
( the suggestion of the overwhelming conceit in the man)
13
The chess-board is the world; 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. We know that his play is always fair, just and patient. But we also know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. To the man who plays well, the highest stakes are paid, with that sort of overflowing generosity with which the strong shows delight in strength. And one who plays ill is checkmated --- without haste, but without remorse. (T. H. Huxley)
6
(15) I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that “mother, father, sister, teacher” were among them --- words that werຫໍສະໝຸດ Baidu to make the world blossom for me “like Aaron’s rod, with flowers”. (Helen Keller)
8
II. Metaphor Like the simile, the metaphor is also a comparison between two things that are essentially unlike, yet are alike in a certain respect. It differs from the simile in that there are no words whatsoever used to show the relation of comparison between the tenor and the vehicle. A metaphor is in a sense an implied simile.