修辞学笔记

Metaphor (Condensed Simile)The news is as a dagger to his heart. The news is a dagger to his heart.Joe fought like a lion. Joe was a lion in the battle.Learning may be likened to climbing up a mountain. Learning is climbing up a mountain.The gossip was like a net that strangled her. She was strangled in the net of gossip.The machine-gun shot down the enemy like a mower cutting down the grass. The machine-gun mowed down the enemy.The parks of our city are like human lungs. The parks are the lung of our city.1) Money is the lens in a camera.2) Sometimes I rambled to pine groves, standing like temples, or like fleets at sea, full-rigged, with wavy boughs, and rippling with light.(cant be changed to simile)3) Greece was the cradle of Western culture.Faded/Dead Metaphors? Table-leg? Bottleneck? Running brook? Square shooter (shooting iron) (magazine: periodical/publication; a store house 一 power magazine 火药库/magazine of a rifle 弹仓、弹匣NOT Metaphor/Simile1) Paul looks very much like his brother.2) The boy is more than intelligent.3) My car runs as fast as the train.4) I have an old photograph of the drug store, taken in 1894; it shows my grandfather and two clerks standing behind showcases, as if waiting for customers, and my grandmother sitting at the switchboard, surrounded by wires. She looks like a fish struggling in the net, and my grandfather and the clerks, though they smile bravely, are captives, held by invisible strands.Identify the similes and metaphors in the following; then convert the similes into metaphors or expand the metaphors into similes, if possible.1) He is a wolf in sheeps clothing.?He is like a wolf in sheeps skin.2) The parks are the lungs of our city.?The parks of our city are like human lungs.3) His voice sounded like a thunder in the hall.?His voice thundered in the hall.4) Money is a lens in a camera.?Money is like a lens in a camera.5) Lottie staggered on the lowest verandah step like a bird fallen out of the nest. ?Not possible to change.6) We tore through the black-and-gold town like a pair of scissors tearing through brocade. ?Not possible to change.7) The machine-gun was shooting down the enemy like a mower cutting down grass. ?The machine-gun was mowing down the enemy.8) Slimy canals crept like green snakes beside the road.?Slimy green canals snakes beside the road.9) Applications for jobs flooded the Employment Agency. ?Applications for jobs came into the Employment Agency like a flood.10) Hitlers attach on Poland in 1939 was like lightning.?Hitlers made a lightning attach on Poland in 1939.Study and improve the following sentences:1) Life was like a journey studded with pitfalls.?Life was like a journey full of pitfalls.2) Not all slim girls are paper tigers.?Not all slim girls are paper flowers.3) A real friend is like a mirror that can help you see your mistakes clearly. ?A real friend is like a mirror that can help you see any dirt on your face.4) Examinations are the death sentence to students.?Examinations are harvest seasons of students.5) Jacks house was destroyed by fire. Jim went to comfort him and asked him to contact the insurance company. “Cheer up, my friend,” he said. “Your insurance claim will be proceeding like a house on fire, Im sure.”?. “Your insurance claim will be proceeding quickly/fast/soon.”Analogy 类比? Its with our judgments as with our watches; none go just alike, yet each believes his own.? The inspiration for a story is like “a pull on the line.the outside signal that has startled or moved the creative mind to complicity and brought the story to active being.”? An individual human existence should be like a river 一 small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. (Bertrand Russell)? Before you reprehend another, take heed you are not culpable in what you go about to reprehend. He who cleanses a blot with blotted fingers makes a greater blur. (Quarles)? Intellectual assimilation takes time. The mind is not to be enriched as a coal barge is loaded. Whatever is precious in a cargo is carefully on board and carefully placed. Whatever is delicate and fine must be received delicately, and its place in the mind thoughtfully assigned. (Arlo Bates) ? In rivers the water that you touch is the last of that has passed and first of that which comes: so with time present. (Leonardo Da Vinci)? The cultivation of a hobby and new form s of interest is.not a business that can be undertaken in a day or swiftly improved by a mere command of the will. The growth of alternative mental interests is a long process. The seeds must be carefully chosen; they must fall on good ground; they must be sedulously tended, if the vivifying fruits are to be at hand when needed. (Winston Churchill)? A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.Allegory 讽喻(Speaking figuratively, symbolism allegory)Metonymy 换喻1. He must have been spoilt from the cradle.2. The kettle is boiling. (=The water in the kettle is boiling.)3. Italy cannot be vanished in warfare nor Greece in studies. (=Italians cannot be vanished in warfare nor Greeks in studies.)4. The pen is stronger than the sword. (=Those who use the pen have more influence than those who use the sword. /The officials have more say than the officers.)5. Land belonging to the crown occupied the best part of the country. (=Land belonging to the monarch occupied.)6. The grey hair should be respected. (=The old/aged should be respected.)7. What is learned in the cradle is carried to the grave. (=Things learned in childhood will not be forgotten till death.)8. Having finished the law school, he was called to the Bar. (=.he became a lawyer (Am E)/ a barrister (Br E).9. Every government should attend to cleaning its own Augean stables (相传国王奥杰尼斯的 牛舍内养牛 3000 头，30 年未打扫，故 Augean stables c 成了肮脏的代名词，这里影射政府 都有腐败现象，应注意克服。)10. Bacchus has drowned more than Nepptune but has killed fewer than Mars. (分别代表希腊、 罗马神话中的酒神、海神、和战神，这里表示酒、大海和战争。说明被酒淹死者多于大海， 而别就杀死者少于战争，表示了劝人戒酒和反对战争的意思。)11. At the end of two years, your sheep-skin should be the least important thing you take away. (m美国女作家Diane Waksoke在Writers Digest杂志1992年8月号撰文谈道上大学进修写 作时，强调要真这个机会多读书、研究和提高写作能力，而不要去追求学位文凭，并利用童 话故事A Wolf in Sheep-skin说明他的观点。)Metonymy in the pressDown Under AustraliaBritish Lion England/the English governmentIvan The Russian peopleJohn Bull England/the English peopleUncle Sam the United States of AmericaCapitol Hill the legislative Branch of the U.S.Downing Street the British government/cabinetHollywood American film-making industryFleet Street the British pressFoggy Bottom U.S. State DepartmentMadison Avenue American advertising industrythe Pentagon the U.S. military establishmentWall Street U.S. financial circlesthe White House the U.S. President/administrationbrain/head wisdom, intelligence, reasonheart feelings, emotionsQuisling traitorRomeo loverHelen beautiful womanMilton poetthe bar the legal professionThe bench Position (or office) of judge/magistratethe press news reporters, journalists, newspapersSynecdoche 提喻1. More hands (=working men) are needed at the moment.2. We had dinner at ten dollars a head (=each person).3. This famous port used to be a harbour which was crowded with masts. (masts=boats)4. All the plants in the cold country are turning green in this smiling year. (this smiling year=the spring)5. To the Carthaginian came aid from the Spaniard, and from the fierce Transalpine. In Italy, too, many a wearer of the toga shared the same sentiments. (words in read 单数表示复数)6. Dread disaster smote his breasts with grief; so, panting, from out his lungs very depth he sobbed for anguish. (形式上复数，即把一个身上的左右胸肺以两个的形式表示出来，意在强 调，实际上只是单数)7. There is a mixture of the tiger and the ape in the character of a Frenchman. (tiger & ape 分别 表示“残暴”与“狡猾”，是具体表抽象。)8. “Einstein is my admiration, ” the little girl said. (admistration 指所崇拜的人物，是用抽象 表具体)9. The child who is so curious of music is going to be a Beethoven, I dare say. ( 句中用 Beethoven 表示“杰出的音乐家”，即特殊表示一般。)10. Even if you dont know Pavlovs dog from Qedipus Rex, you can write helpful, topical articles dealing with the workings of the mind or human behavior. ( 句中 dog 指巴浦洛夫神经学，是具 体表示抽象，也可作局部表示整体。)11. Instances of synecdoche can be found in the uses of“iron”for golf club,“cotton”for dress, “pigskin” for football, etc. (句中 iron 指高尔夫铁投球棒，这既是以典型用具联系人，也是 局部代整体，或以某物品的制作材料代表该物，等。)RhetoricGrammar 一 science of a language?Rhetoric 一 art of a language ?persuasive and forcefulA)1. Originated in speaking2. With printing industry, speaking and writing3. Tend to writing the art of effective communicationRegister hyper(super)formal 宪法, formal 领导者讲话, informal 其他场合, casual 小说, intimate 情人；亲热的?shared knowledge2.1 The 3 basic elements in rhetoricThe three aesthetic criteria: Logos; pathos; ethos(The three fundamental elements in writing: fact; reason; feeling)逻辑；情感；人格2.2 Logos and logical thinkingIn the practice of writing and speaking, logos refers to the use of logical reasoning to persuade the readers or audience.Logical reasoning stems from logical thinking, which is reflected in relevant materials and proper organization, which consists of proper words, coherent sentences and organic whole.2.3 Formal logic and syllogismIn formal logic, there are two approaches for logical reasoning: deduction and induction.Deduction proceeds from the general to the particular while induction proceeds from the particular to the general.Syllogism represents deductive reasoning in a pattern consisting of a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion.2.4 Changes in the connotation of pathosIn the beginning, “pathos” referred to the emotions in general. In modern rhetoric, “pathos” has a wide range from the study of the mental working or psychology of the readers or the audience to the technology to convince the readers or the audience by emotional appeals.2.5 Pathos in current useThe use of pathos can be seen everywhere, for it is commonly regarded as an essential element in advertising public relations, image making and education. Skills of emotional appeals include witty handling of language frequently accompanied by “exposure” and “eloquence”.Exposure evokes indignation while eloquence refers to language used powerfully and fluently to appeal to peoples nobler emotions.2.6 Ethos in rhetoricIn term of individuals, ethos refers to the character or personality of a human being, a mans balance between the passion and caution or the contract between thought and action.In modern rhetoric, ethos is displayed in two levels.1. On serious occasions, ethos is based on philosophical views on different values, and different world outlooks.2. In ordinary writing or speech, ethos is based on personal standing, academic authority and moral qualities of the writer or the speaker.2.7 Fallacies in logical reasoning 逻辑错误2.8 Fallacies related to pathos2.9 Fallacious use of ethos2.7 Logical reasoning (fallacies)1. Non sequitur - it does not follow结论和呈现的证据不吻合。2. Begging the question 假设未被证明的观点正确3. Post hoc ergo propter hoc 一 based on (eg: this supposition, therefore, on account of it)证据 不是但得出一个结论So we shoulda) Based on sufficient evidencesb) Evidences and conclusions should be alignedc) We must be comprehensive or take all the factor into consideration when we draw consclusions.2.8 Pathos (fallacies)Ignoring the question 答非所问Argument about a person (eg: personal attach) 人身攻击2.9 Ethos (fallacies)Blind worship of ones own standard of ethos 过分相信自己的人格标准Sham ethos 虚假的人格The three levels of Rhetorical Operation3.1 Selecting words and phrases (A) exactness 4.1 Seeking sentences variety (B) variety 5.1 Organizing paragraphs into a text (C)3.2 Principles for selecting words and phrases? Principle One: Exactness or precisionOne is required to pay sufficient attention to the different in shades of meanings when it comes to synonyms, which sometimes involves a synchronic study as well as a diachronic study of word meaning.Principle Two: economy (avoid wordy)? Principle Three: Avoid using cliches and abstract expressions (relevant accuracy)? Principle Four: Vividness or gracefulness? Principle Five: Appropriateness or proprietyRhetoric? Communicative rhetoric: emphasizes the choices of words, selection of sentence patterns and organizing the whole piece in a proper way.? Aesthetic rhetoric: emphasizes the vividness and gracefulness i n expressing ones ideas.4.2 Five sentence patterns in attaining rhetorical purposes1. The cumulative sentence 主语+从句/短语It begins with the basic sentence structure, followed by phases and/or dependent clauses. eg: Happiness is composed of several ingredients among which three are the most important, namely,health,loveand harmoniousrelationswith thosearoundyou,becausewithoutsound physical conditions and wholesome psychological conditions, one can almost get nowhere; and love is the most nurturing thing for human beings and harmony between you and people around you can help you maintain a cheerful state of mind.2. The loose sentenceThe cumulative sentence is sometimes a loose sentence. The coordinated sentence is also a loose sentence.3. The periodic sentenceA periodic sentence is usually a long and complex sentence in which some or all of the independent clause is held back until the very end of the sentence.eg: The most three important ingredients elements in composing happiness, which can never be ignored, and which can contribute to your success in everything to the maintaining of your cheerful state in mind, are healthy, love and harmonious relations. 主语+附加内容+主句，主句 到最后才出现。5.2 From a paragraph(s) to a Complete TextA) Based on word choice and sentence variety, the basic rhetorical requirements for paragraph writing can be summarized by the following two points.1. A clear central thought? All the statement and details employed to illustrate or develop the central thought.2. The application of all the principles and techniques of word choice and sentence varietyB) Three parts of a paragrapha) Topic sentenceb) Bodyc) conclusion? The topic of the central thought is normally expressed in the topic sentence, placed at the beginning of the paragraph.? The development of the topic sentence consists of more details.? The conclusion is the summary of the thought, which is usually placed at the end of text.5.3 In a good essay, proper connection and an easy flow of ideas are important. Transitional words and phrases fall into the following classes according to their function.? To denote contrasteg: by contrast, in contrast, however, nevertheless, whereas, in spite of the fact that, on the other hand, on the contrary, far from., different from., etc.? To denote similarityeg: similarly, in the similar manner, likewise, in addition, in the same way, moreover, accordingly, besides, furthermore, etc.? To denote time or place relationseg: earlier, later, at the same time, simultaneously, meanwhile, father on, nearly, at once, etc.? To denote cause and consequenceeg: therefore, thus, as a result, consequently, etc.? To cite an exampleeg: as an illustration, for instance, for example, etc.? To denote repetition or summaryeg: as I have said, in other words, to repeat, in brief, in short, in summary, to sum up, etc? To denote sequence or ordereg: first of all, first, then, at last, finally, (firstly, secondly.) etc.5.4 Different subject matter requires different pattern, which may be subdivided into the following types.a) Type one: exposition 说明文b) Type two: persuasion 劝说;argumentation 辩论c) Type Three: narrative 记叙文d) Type Four: description 描写文6 Meaning of Words6.11. Diction is the way of word choice.2. If you wish to choose proper words in proper places, you are required to have a good command of large vocabulary.3. Meanings of words can be viewed of different levels6.2 Some are only the literal or face meanings whereas others are hidden between the lines.6.3 When meanings of words are viewed in a more comprehensive way, they can be summarized as the three types of meanings.Referential meaning 参照Social meaningAffective meaning 情感6.3 Referential meaning 字典中的第一个意思The referential meaning of a word or phrase refers to a person, an object, an event, an abstract notion, a state, an action.6.4 Social meaningThe social meaning of a word or phrase is the type of meaning that we wish to identify certain social characteristics of speakers or situations6.5 Affective meaningThe affective meaning refers to the emotional color that is attached to words and phrases.7. Denotation and Connotation7.1 To choose the right word among the synonyms, we are required to acquire an understanding or the distinction between denotation 夕卜延意义 and connotation.内涵意义Denotation:二二二二The basic part of the meaning of a word is its denotation or denotations, that is, the dictionary meaning or meanings of the word, so it is also called the “explicit meaning” . Referential meanings fall into the category of denotation.Connotation:二二二二Meanings beyond its denotations, a word may also have connotations. Connotations are its overtones of meaning. Connotations are sometimes called “implicit meanings” .The two basic aspects of connotations may be called “favorable” and “unfavorable” or “positive” and “negative”, or “approving” and “disapproving”.Connotations imply attitude, emotions, etc. of a speaker or writer. Affective meanings fall into the category of connotations.A word often acquires connotations by its past history and associations.8. Generalization and Specification8.1 Generality and specificity are intended for different purpose. When you are engaged in writing something on a general subject, an abstract of an academic thesis etc, you are supposed to resort to the means of generalization, or generality or general statements; however, when you are required to give some specific details to support to resort to the means of specification or specificity or specific details or examples.Generality and specificity are often combined in one piece of writing and they are comparative. For example:? He often writes about people famous in literary circles.? He often writes about Shakespeare and Russell.Figure of Speech1. Simile 明喻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 purely imaginative, that is, the resemblance between the two unlike things in that one particular aspect exists only in mind, “in our inward eye” and not in the nature of the things themselves. To make the comparison, words like as”，as.so” and like” and used to transfer the quality we associate with one to the other.Similes have three main uses: descriptive, illuminative and illustrative.1. Descriptive.eg: Pop looked so unhappy, almost like a child whos lost his peice of candy.2. Illuminative.eg: He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear his crow.A list of trite hackneyed similes3. Illustrativeeg: as poor as church mice; as cold as ice, as strong as an OX.2. Metaphor 暗喻A metaphor, like a simile, also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlike simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated. For example, The world is like a stage” is a simile The world is a stage” is a metaphor.eg: Kissinger has always been a political chameleon, ab