Unit 3

Figures of Speech

Contents

1. Function of figures of speech;

2. Some common English rhetorical devices

Objectives

Make Ss have a rough understanding about English figures of speech so that they can appreciate the novel better.

Classroom Activities

News reporting; Check ss’ understanding about figures of speech and get t

hem list some common figures of speech with examples; introduction about some common figures of speech; Exercises about rhetorical devices.

Introduction Figures of speech are ways of making our language figurative.

When we use words in other than their ordinary or literal senses to lend force to an idea, to heighten effect, or to create suggestive imagery, we are said to be speaking or writing figuratively.  

For example, it is more vivid and colorful to say that stars “twinkle like diamonds in the sky” than to say that they “shine brightly in the sky”.

Except simile, there are also metaphor, personification, metonymy and so on.

At one time, figures of speech were mainly associated with poetry and poetic writing—prose, drama, and even scientific writing and advertisements. In fact, effective writing of any kind is seldom without a figure or two, and most writers have their own way of weaving figures of speech so as to form their characteristic style.

Simile ( 明喻 ) It is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two

unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic in common. To make the comparison, words like as, as...as, as if, as though, than and like are used to transfer the quality we associate with one to the other.

E.g.:1) As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.2) He and his brother are as like as two peas.3) She is happy as a rose tree in sunshine.4) My heart is like a singing bird.cf.: 1) He looks like his brother.2) He is as tall as his father.

Metaphor ( 暗喻 ) It is like a simile, also makes a comparison between two

unlike elements, but unlike a simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated.

E.g.:

1) The world is a stage.

2) He is a fox.

3) The thought was fire in him.

4) a golden opportunity

5) a stony heart

6) a stormy discussion

Metonymy ( 转喻 )

It is a figure of speech that has to do with the substitution of the name of one thing for that of another because they have close relationship.

E.g.1) The hall applauded. (audience)2) The kettle boils. (water in the kettle)3) Grey hair should be respected. (old people)4) He has fallen in a possession of a complete Shakespeare. ( books written by Shakespeare )5) England won. (England team)

6) The pen is mightier than the sword. (words) (forces)

Personification ( 拟人 )

It gives human form of feelings to animals, or life and personal attributes to inanimate objects, or to ideas and abstractions. Simply speaking, a human character is given to a non-human thing.

E.g.1) Everything smiled at him.2) Father time waits for no man.3) The tree signed in the tree tops.4) Life has cheated her.5) the childhood of the earth6) the thirsty ground7) The wind whistled through the trees.

Hyperbole / Exaggeration / Overstatement ( 夸张 )

It is the deliberate use of overstatement or exaggeration to achieve emphasis. In exaggeration, big words are used to describe things.

E.g.

1) She almost died laughing.

2) She shed a flood of tears.

3) a sea of flowers (faces, troubles)

Understatement/Litotes ( 含蓄陈述 )

It is the opposite of hyperbole. It achieves its effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately understating it, impressing the listener or the reader more by what is merely implied or left unsaid than by bare statement. It’s a restrained statement in ironic contrast to what might be said. The purpose is for emphasis.

E.g.1) He has no small chance of success. (a great)2) The problem is not above us. (We can solve this problem)3) The place is some distance off. (It is far from here)4) He did not go to Oxford for nothing. (He is an excellent man)5) It is no laughing matter.

Irony ( 反语 ) It is a figure of speech that achieves emphasis by saying

the opposite of what is meant, the intended meaning of the words being the opposite of their usual sense. It means a humor or light sarcasm that adopts a mode of speech which is the opposite of the literal sense of the words.

E.g.1) You are a fine goalkeeper, allowing the other side to score

six goals.2) This hard-working boy seldom reads more than an hour

per week.

Pun ( 双关语 )

Pun is a figure of speech in which you can find two meanings or double meaning. It is a play on words, or rather a play on the form and meaning of words.

E.g.:1) 邦妮洗涤 ( 帮你）2) Ask More. (the advertisement for a cigarette with the name of “More”)3) The Unique Spirit of Canada.(the advertisement of the wine “Spirit”)4) A cannon-ball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms. (Here "arms" has two meanings: a person's body; weapons carried by a soldier.)

Oxymoron ( 矛盾修饰 ) In oxymoron, apparently contradictory terms are combined to

produce a good language effect. It is a compressed paradox, formed by the conjoining of two contrasting, contradictory or incongruous terms.

E.g:1) a living death2) a victorious defeat3) cruel kindness4) tearful joy5) shine darkly6) speaking silence

7) bitter-sweet memories 8) orderly chaos9) proud humility

Euphemism ( 委婉 )

It is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant, to take the sting out of an unpleasant reality.

E.g.:1) Die: pass away2) Kill: eliminate3) A prisoner: guest of the law4) To be a loose woman/prostitute: to go on the streets5) Old: of a certain age6) Blind: eye trouble

More Forms of Figures of Speech Climax (渐进 ): It is derived from the Greek word for "ladder" and implies the progres

sion of thought at a uniform or almost uniform rate of significance or intensity, like the steps of a ladder ascending evenly. For example, I came, I saw, I conquered.

Anti-climax or bathos (突降 ): It is the opposite of Climax. It involves stating one's thoughts in a descending order of significance or intensity, from strong to weak, from weighty to light or frivolous. For instance, But thousands die, without or this or that, die, and endow a college, or a cat.

Transferred Epithet (转类形容词 ): It is 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 does not really apply or belong. For instance, I spent sleepless nights on my project.

Alliteration (头韵 ): It has to do with the sound rather than the sense of words for effect. It is a device that repeats the same sound at frequent intervals and since the sound repeated is usually the initial consonant sound, it is also called "front rhyme". For instance, the fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, the furrow followed free.

Antithesis (对照 ): It is the deliberate arrangement of contrasting words or ideas in balanced structural forms to achieve emphasis. For example, speech is silver; silence is golden.

Exercises---Simile Directions: Read each unfinished sentence. Write in the blank space the letter of the part that best completes each simile.

a. A field of hayb. Shoe leatherc. Tiny parachutesd. Crawling bugse. A withered applef. A broom g. Tap dancersh. A wary cati. A great waterfallj. diamonds

1. Leaves drifted down from the maple tree like__.2. Yesterday’s quiet brook now roars like __.3. The king’s men cut down the enemy like __.4. He approached silently, picking his way like __.5. From the plane the cars on the road looked like

__.6. Raindrops on the grass sparkled like __.7. The steak was as tough as __.8. Steady rain beating on the roof sounded like __.9. The March wind swept the street as briskly as __.10. The old man’s face had as many wrinkles as __.

Simile and MetaphorDirections: Read each statement. If the sentence contains a simile, write S, if it contains a metaphor, write M.

1. The soldiers crawled like snakes through the enemy lines.2. “For secrets are edged tools, and must be kept from children and from

fools.”3. “No man is an island, entire of itself.”4. “If poetry comes not as naturally as leaves to a tree, it had better not

come at all.”5. His friend has become a thorn in his side.6. “Mr. Gladstone speaks to me as if I was a public meeting.”7. “A dance is a measured pace, as a verse is a measured speech.”8. “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to

be chewed and digested.”9. “Their learning is like bread in a besieged gown, every man gets a little,

but no man gets a full meal.”10. “The fog comes in on little cat feet.”

PersonificationDirections: Read each of the following statements. If it contains a personification, write Y; if it does not contain one, write N.

1. Little ghosts of wind whispered secrets in the tree tops.2. A large bottle of wine had been dropped and broken.3. The racing car strained impatiently at the starting line.4. The company is worried about the drop in business.5. Philosophy is the lumber of the schools.6. “Nature, with equal mind, sees all her sons at play.”7. “I am, out of the ladies company, like a fish out of water.”8. “Spring is coming home with her world-wandering feet.”9. “A nickname is the heaviest stone that the devil can

throw at a man.”10. “The river looked at him with a thousand eyes.”

Hyperbole Direction: Some of the following sentences are examples of hyperbole, but others could be literally true. Write Y for hyperbole and N for non-hyperbole.1. I have had millions of interruptions this morning.2. There are millions of stars in the Milky Way.3. It has taken ages for the river to carve out this canyon.4. It took me ages to finish this book.5. A runaway lorry has crashed into a pillar and brought down

the roof.6. His amusing performance brought the house down.7. I’ve been beating my brains out all day over that report, and I

still can’t find a way to make my suggestions politely.8. The climber fell from the cliff and dashed his brains out on the

rocks below.9. Several people were burnt to death in the fire.10. I’ m sick to death of your everlasting chatter. Do be quiet.

UnderstatementDirections: The following statements and quotations are either hyperbole or understatement. Write H for hyperbole or U for understatement.

1. The elephant is a fairly sizable animal.2. The mountains touch the sky.3. It is not very courteous to poison a guest.4. Men have been known to lie.5. My sore throats are always worse than anyone’s.6. London is a village of some size.7. There is food enough for an army on his table.8. He found it inconvenient to be poor.9. “A thousand apologies for the interruption.”10. “The whale that wanders round pole is not a table fish.”

Homework

Read Chapter 4 of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”;

Do newspaper reading;

Begin out-of-class reading preparing for reading report.