A Brief Introduction of Some Figures of Speech.docx

A Brief Introduction of Some Figures of Speech.docx

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ABriefIntroductionofSomeFiguresofSpeech

Parallelism

Byrepeatingcertaingrammaticalstructures,awritercanbalancehismaterialsoastoorderit,toemphasizeit,andtomakeiteasierforhisaudiencetograsp.Theprincipleofparallelismconsistsofexpressingsimilarthoughtsinduplicatestructures,anditcanbeappliedtostructuresofallranks:

Verbs:

Iapproved,admired,andadoredherwayofwinningapointintheargument.

Nouns:

power,glory,profit---theseweretheaimsoftheattackingHuns.

Phrases:

Iwanttocryout,tocomplainincourtsoflaw,andtoleadanindignantarmy.

Noticethatmerelyusingthreephrasesisnotenoughforparallelstructure.Thephrasemustduplicateeachotherintheirmaingrammaticalfeatures.

Clauses:

givemethemanwhowillspeakbeforeheacts,whowillthinkbeforehespeaks,andwhowilllistenbeforehethinks.

Noneofthemisavailable:

Johnhasgonetothemovie,Hiramhasgonetothelaundry,andBerthasgonehome.

Sentences:

Iprotestagainstthemanufacturingstandardswhichcouldpermitsuchashoddyproducttoreachthemarket.Iprotestagainsttheadvertisingethicswhichcouldconcealsuchdefectsinthegoodsadvertised.Iprotestmostofallagainstthepublicapathywhichwilltoleratesuchanabuseofitstrustyearafteryear.

Thespecificusesofparallelstructureare:

a.todevelopaclimaticorderofideas;

b.togrouporlinksimilaridea;

c.tolisttheitemsofaseries;

d.toorganizethedetailswhichsupportageneralization.

Ihadrarelywitnessedsuchfrenziedactivities:

officeboysdartingalongtheaisles,clerksscuttlingtothefilecabinets,executivesclawingthroughtheheapsofpaperbefore,telephonesjanglingoneverydesk.

Antithesis

Itisaspecialkindofparallelismandperhapsthemostforcefulkindoftwo-partparallelism.Asafigureofspeechitischaracterizedbystronglycontrastingwords,clauses,sentencesorideas.antithesisisbalancingofonetermagainsttheotherforemphasisandtherepeatingofthestructurenottostresssimilaritybuttostresscontrast.E.g

Manproposes,Goddisposes.

Heknewabouttheprivilegesbutnotabouttheresponsibilities;hewaseagertopartakeofalljoys,butwishedtoavoidallpains.

Manythingsdifficulttoplanproveeasytoperform.

Soeffectiveisantithesisatstrikingoppositesagainsteachothertoproduceaflashofinsightthatitiscommonlyfoundinthosememorabletersestatementscalledaphorisms:

e.g

Ourpromisesaremadeinhope,andkeptinfear.

TheRomanspreservedpeacebyaconstantpreparationforwar.

Thosewhoarethemostdistrustfulofthemselves,arethemostenviousofothers.

Adversityrevealsgenius;fortuneconcealsit.

Abirdinthehandisworthtwointhebush.

Metonymy

Itisafigureofspeechcharacterizedbythesubstitutionofaternmeaninganobjectcloselyassociatedwiththewordinmindforworditself.Inthiswaywecommonlyspeakofthekingas“thecrown”,anobjectcloselyassociatedwithkingshipthusbeingmadetostandfor“King”.

Toputitinsimplerway,metonymyisemployedwhenathingstandsfortheperson,position,orstateofaffairsthatusesit.w.g

Theydedicatedtheirpenstothecauseofpeace.

Thefollowingfivearethemostcommonformsofmetonymy:

1）thecontainerstandsforthethingcontained.

Thestoveisburningbrightly.

Hetastedthisdish.

2）theplacestandsforthepeople,animalsorplantsinit.

Thisgalleryapplaudedloudly.

Hunanwonthenationaldragonboatrace.

Abookboundinmoroccoishandsome.

3）thesymbolorsignstandsforthethingsymbolizedorsignified.

Hedeservesthepalm.

TheirElevenwillcometoourschoolnextweek.

Oldpeopleoftenliketoplaywithrosycheeks.

4）thetoolortheorganstandsfortherelatedobject,personoractivity.

Onlytheknifecansavehim.

Everyschoolneedsahead.

5）thenameofamakerstandsforthethingsmade.

HaveyoureadShakespeare?

Synecdoche

Itisafigureofspeechinwhichapartsignifiesthewholeorthewholesignifiesapart;

Hehaspassedtenwintersinthehills.

Onthestageweseeaseaoffaces.

Theblueisverylovelyinthemorning.

Thelampisburning.

Synecdocheisavaluablemeansofconvertingabstractionsandgeneralitiesintoconcreteterms.However,inordertobeclear,agoodsynecdochemustbebasedonanimportantpartofthewholeandnotaminorpartand,usually,thepartselectedtostandforthewholemustbeonedirectlyassociatedwiththesubjectunderdiscussion.

Thecuckoo’ssongisunpleasingtoamarriedear.

Hewashappytohavearoofoverhishead.

Thewarriorraisedhissteelandcharged.

Sheisagirlgoodatherneedle.

Thepickpocketwasshutbehindtheironbarsforaweek.

Synecdoche

Itisafigureofspeechinwhichapartsignifiesthewholeorthewholesignifiesapart;

Hehaspassedtenwintersinthehills.

Onthestageweseeaseaoffaces.

Theblueisverylovelyinthemorning.

Thelampisburning.

Synecdocheisavaluablemeansofconvertingabstractionsandgeneralitiesintoconcreteterms.However,inordertobeclear,agoodsynecdochemustbebasedonanimportantpartofthewholeandnotaminorpartand,usually,thepartselectedtostandforthewholemustbeonedirectlyassociatedwiththesubjectunderdiscussion.

Thecuckoo’ssongisunpleasingtoamarriedear.

Hewashappytohavearoofoverhishead.

Thewarriorraisedhissteelandcharged.

Sheisagirlgoodatherneedle.

Thepickpocketwasshutbehindtheironbarsforaweek.

Metaphor

ThewordmetaphorisGreekfor“transfer’.Itillustratesourgeneralideasofasingleideaatasinglestroke.Manyofourcommonwordsaremetaphors.“grasp”for“understanding”,forinstance,whichcomparesthemindtosomethingwithhands,transferringthephysicalpictureoftheclutchinghandtotheinvisiblementalact.

Metaphorsseemtoworkatseverallevels,eachwithadifferentclarityandforce.Supposewewrite“Heswelledanddisplayedhisfinery.”Wehavetransferredtoamanthequalitiesofapeacocktomakehisappearanceandpersonalityvivid.Wehavechosenoneofthethreewaystomakethistransfer:

Plainmetaphor:

hewasapeacock

Impliedmetaphor:

heswelledandruffledhisplumage.

Deadmetaphor:

Hestrutted.

1）PlainMetaphor

inplainmetaphors,boththeliteralandfigurativetermsarenamedandlinkedby“be”,“become”orsimilarverbs:

Failureisthemotherofsuccess.

Heworkedharderandeventuallybecameapillarofsociety.

2）ImpliedMetaphors

Therearethreeformsofimpliedmetaphors

A:

theliteraltermisnamedandthefigurativetermisimplied;

Leavesgotupinacoilandhissed,

Blindlystruckatmykneesandmissed

B:

theliteraltermisimpliedandthefigurativetermisnamed:

Itfillswithalabasterwool

Thewrinklesoftheroad.

C.boththeliteralandthefigurativetermsareimplied

Itsiftsfromleadensieves,

Itpowdersallthewood.

3）DeadMetaphors

Everyone’sspeechorwritingcontainsnumerousdeadmetaphorsorsubmergedmetaphors.Theyarefiguresthathavebeenusedsooftenthatwenolongerthinkofthemasbeingusedinatransferredsenseandinsteadusethemquiteliterally:

Skyscraper,legofatable,eyeofthetyphoon,mouthoftheriver,burningwords,stonefaced.

TransferredEpithets

Strictlyspeaking,anepithetisanadjectiveoradjectivephraseusedtopointoutacharacteristicofapersonorthing,asa“noisymansion”foraschoolhouse,butsometimesitappliestoanounornounphraseusedforasimilarpurpose.

Manyconsiderationsenterintothesuccessofanepithet,suchasitsaptness,itsfreshness,itspictorialquality,itsconnotativevalueanditsmusicalvalue.

Atransferredepithetisanadjectiveusedtolimitgrammaticallyanounthatitdoesnotlogicallymodify,thoughtherelationissoclosethatthemeaningisleftclear.Thisdeviceturnsupinsuchcommontermsas“foreignpolicy”,“abnormalpsychology”

Allusion

AsafigureofspeechAllusionisareferencetoeventsorcharactersfromanoutsidesource,usuallyliteraryorhistorical.Thedeviceactsasarhetoricalshorthand,whichenablesawritertocompressextrameaningintoafewwordswhenheusesashortphrasethatbringsassociatestomind.

Forexample,“sourgrapes”describesacertainkindofhumanbehaviorwithaminimumofwordsbecauseweknowtheAesop’sfabletowhichthewriterrefers.

Referenceslike“Achilles’heel”and“Trojanhorse”saysagreatdealinafewwordsifwehavereadTheIliad.Whensomeonesays,“thatyounggirlislikeLinDaiyu,”weimmediatelythinkofbeauty,grace,intelligence,delicacy,sensitivity,andotherqualitiesrepresentedbyLinDaiyuaswemostlyknowthenovelADreamofRedMansions.

Irony

Theexpressionofactualintentinwordsthatcarrytheoppositemeaning.Itiseffectiveliterarydevicebecauseitgivestheimpressionofgreatrestraint.

Hewasmyfriend,faithfulandjusttome;

ButBrutussayshewasambitious;

AndBrutusisanhonorableman.

（Shakespeare:

JuliusCeasar）

Sarcasm

Itisacuttingremark,averbalsneer.Sarcasmpretendstodisguiseitsmeaning,butdoesnotintendtobemisunderstood.

Oh,you’rereallyagreatfriend,aren’tyou?

Heisverygenerousindeed.

Ridicule:

instanceofbeingmadefunof

Oxymoron

Akindofparadoxorantithesisthatlinkstogethertwosharplycontrastingterms:

Cheerfulpessimists,

ThewisestfoolinChristendom

Livingdeaths

Freezingfires

Gloriousdefeat

Paradox

Astatementthatappearstobelogicallycontradictoryandyetmaybetrue,thepurposeofwhichistoprovokefreshthought

Oneman’sterroristisanotherman’sfreedomfighter.

Aloverofpeaceemergedasamagnificentleaderofwar.

Mylifeclosedtwi