Figures of SpeechBy figures of speech, we refer here 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 normally imply, and therefore involve deviation from the ordinary and literal meaning of words. (Tropes are the application of the name of a thing to something else.------ from Aristotle’s Poetics) They are ways of making our language figurative. We use words in non-literal senses to lend force to an idea, to heighten effect, or to create atmosphere.Each figure has its own form and characteristics, and its own way of achieving effect. Sometimes two or more figures can be used together for greater impact.A knowledge of these figures, and how they are best used will be of help to us not only in deepening our understanding of what we read, but also in appreciating more fully the finer points of a writer’s style. In the process, we might even learn to write better ourselves.There are scores of figures of speech in rhetoric. But in our lectures, only those that are of universal appeal, and of great practical value have been chosen for discussion.1.Simile1)Jim and Billy are as like as two peas.2)And the whining school boy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creepinglike snail unwillingly to school……(Shakespeare)3)Records fell like ripe apples on a windy day.4)He is something of a political chameleon.Noteworthy is that a simile must possess the quality of freshness and originality. It would be better to avoid using similes like: as cold as ice, as good as gold, as strong as an ox, as cunning as a fox, as fresh as a rose.2.MetaphorPlease compare:1)The news is as a dagger to his heart. / The news is a dagger to his heart.2)Joe fought like a lion. / Joe was a lion in the battle.3)Learning may be likened to climbing up a mountain. / Learning is climbing upa mountain.4)The gossip was like a net that strangled her. / She was strangled in the net ofgossip.5)Dress is language.6)Successful living is a journey toward simplicity and triumph over confusion.7)Money is the lens in a camera.8) A house divided against itself can‟t stand.---- A. Lincoln9)I skim over the book to taste the tone of it.10)At last he felt a ray of hope.11)The parks are the lungs of our city.12)In foreign policy, flying solo can be risky business.13)The auto dealer hijacked buyers into purchasing unwanted accessories.14)When a virus enters a cell it hijacks it, and make it do what it wants.15)Efficiency is undermined in a jungle of red tape.16)Unchecked violence has already dulled the luster of the Big Apple. Thedaunting task before its leaders is to prevent it from rotting to the core.3.Metonymy1)He must have been spoilt from the cradle.2)What is learned in the cradle is carried to the grave.3)The pen is mightier than the sword.4)When the war was over, he laid down the sword and took up the pen.5)His purse would not allow him that luxury.6)He took to the bottle.7)He has been appointed to the bench.8)She took the veil at 20.Pay attention: the press; the bench; the bar; the bottle; cup=coffee; dish= food; table =food, dish; the stable = the horses.9)He reads Shakespeare.10)The whole city went out to hail the victorious troops.11)He has undoubtedly the best stable in the country.12)Sheradon is a hotel noted for its good table.13)Without military leverage, peaceful mediation was not working.14)Some countries use oil supply as political leverage.15)His heart ruled his head.4.Synecdoche1)More hands are needed at harvest time.2)We had dinner at ten dollars a head.3)He has many mouths to feed in his family.4)They counted 50 sails in the harbour.5)He is a valiant heart.6)He earned his bread by doing odd jobs.7)The poor man is now left without a roof.8)All the plants in the cold country are turning green in this smiling year.9)All the wit and learning of the world were assembled there.10)The legs could hardly keep up with the tanks.5.Irony1)It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one‟spocket.2)Clinker, you are a most notorious offender --- you stand convicted of sickness,hunger, and want.3)Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.4)What is originality? Undetected plagiarism.6.Paradox1.More haste, less speed.2.In fact, it appears that the teachers of English teach English so poorly largelybecause they teach grammar so well.3.The child is father of the man.4.This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.5.All generalizations are false, including this one.6.People have one thing in common: they are all different.7.His main feature is his featurelessness.8.I‟d like to live like a poor man with a lot of money.9.Without Jews, there is no German identity, without the Germans, no Jewish one.7. Oxymoron1)American civilization is characterized by conservative liberalism of our politicallife, the pragmatic idealism of our cerebral life, the emotional rationalism of our spiritual life and the godly materialism of our acquisitive life.2)The parental discipline can be described as cruel kindness.3)The coach had to be cruel to be kind to his trainees.4)Bitter-sweet memories, living death, a wise fool, tearful joy, idiotic wisdom,victorious defeat, crowded solitude, sour-sweet days, love-hate relationship, conspicuous absence, etc.8. Hyperbole: the deliberate use of overstatement or exaggeration to achieveemphasis1) For she was beautiful---her beauty madeThe bright world dim, and everything besideSeem like the fleeting image of a shade.(P. B. Shelley: “The Witch of Atlas”)2) His friends praised his daughter‟s performances to the skies.3) She is dying to know what job has been assigned her.4) And I will love thee still, my dear,Till a‟ the seas gang dry.5) After a decade of discredit, the theories of John Maynard Keynes have bounced back--- and an articulate group of apostles is spreading his economic gospel on campus and campaign trail.9.Alliteration1) His writing is clear and clean.2) US trade policy is often viewed as inconsistent, incoherent and incomprehensible.3) Life is the lust of a lamp for the light that is dark till the dawn of the day that we die.4) Penny wise, pound foolish.5) Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.6) She sell seashells on the seashore.7) Practice makes perfect.8) Bye, Bye, Balanced Budget. (Time)9) For comfort, convenience, superb service and more flights to Japan---YOU CAN DEPEND ON US--- Cathay Pacific (Time)10) Pei‟s Pyramids Puzzle Paris (Time)11) Fit or Fat?12) Super Savings in the Skies13) Love it or loathe it?10. Euphemism: substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one thatmay offend or suggest something unpleasant.1) be put in prison--- be sent to the big house; be sent up the river; living at thegovernment‟s expense; stay at the correctional centre2) garbage collector, dustman--- sanitary engineer3) out of job--- between jobs4) be fired--- be selected out; be terminated; laid-offs5) vomit bags---bags for motion discomfort6) He is a liar.--- He often tells untruths; or he has credibility gap.7) be pregnant ---be expecting8) fat --- stout; plump9) The student cheats.--- He needs to learn how help in learning to adhere to rules andstandards of fair play.10) The student must mend his way.--- He needs to be brought back into themainstream.11) The student is lazy.---I‟m afraid he has to exert himself in his study.Probably he has to devote himself more diligently to his studies.He‟d better take his lessons more seriously.He is sure to go far if he can use his resources fully.11)pornographic movies --- adult films--- X-rated films12)poor: needy; underprivileged; the indigent13)slum: substandard housing11. Parody1) Quality breeds success.---Familiarity breeds contempt.2) Necessity is the Mother of invention.3) Skill and patience will succeed where force fails.4) Lib and let lib. --- Live and let live.5) I came, I saw, I conquered. (Veni, Vidi, Vici.) (climax)They came, they saw, they bought out.An all star team from the States came, saw --- and was conquered. (anti-climax; parody; asyndeton‘连接词的省略’)6) If the 1980s were the worst of times for critics of that debt-propelled decade, they were the best of times for Wall Street Journal editor Robert Bartley. (From: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…The opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens)7) In the world of brand names, familiarity breeds content. (From: Proverb--- Familiarity breeds contempt.)8) All too often one man‟s sexual liberation becomes one woman‟s responsibility. (From: Proverb--- One man‟s meat is another man‟s poison.)9) One man‟s disaster is another man‟s delight. The sale is now on. (an advertisement)12. Transferred epithet1) His unfriendly tongue surprised her.2) She read the long-awaited letter with a tearful smile.3) The assistant kept a respectful distance from his boss when they were walking in the corridor.4) He had some cheerful wine at the party.5) “Of a lifetime,” repeated Mrs. Rgmer, sweetly murmuring and casting towards her friend an eloquent glance.6) There was an amazed silence. Slowly Alexander turned away.7) After an unthinking moment, she put her pen into her mouth.8) Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelo‟s heroic ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, very few are aware that they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolor painting in the world.13. Antithesis1) Everything serious that he says is a joke and everything humorous that he says isdeadly serious.2) If a man is too much of everything, he will be nothing of anything.3) What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.(Samuel Johnson)4) The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.(Abraham Lincoln)5) There is more danger from a pretended friend than from an open enemy.6) They that sow in teas shall reap in joy.7) Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.8) More haste, less speed.9) Penny wise, pound foolish.14. Pun: To pun is to play on words, or play with the form and meaning of words,for a witty or humorous effect.1) I finally figured out how government works. The Senate gets the bill from the House, the President gets the bill from the Senate, and we get the bill for everything.2) “Fourth floor,” shouted the passenger to the elevator.“Here you are, son.”“How dare you call me …son‟?”“Sir, I called, or whatever. I‟ve brought you up, anyway.”3) Try our sweet corn. You‟ll smile from ear to ear.4) You will go nuts for the nuts you get in Nux.5) We must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately. (Benjamin Franklin)6) No sweet without sweat.---Proverb15. Rhetoric question: asked to imply a definite answer, and therefore, seldom answered explicitly with a yes or no.1) Brutus: Not that I lov‟d Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? Who is here so base that would be a bondman?... (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar)2) Shylock: I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions fed with the same weapons, subject to the same disease, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? ( The Merchant of Venice)16. Parallelism1) Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price,bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.2) He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.(repetition, climax)17. Personification1) Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. It can shout the truth where words lie.2) Ignominy, Want, Despair and Madness have, collectively or separately, been the attendants of my career.18. Repetition1) Ignorance of one‟s ignorance is the greatest ignorance.2) Easy come, easy go.3) Faith is a good guide, reason is a better guide, truth is the best guide.4) …government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. (A. Lincoln: Gettysberg Address)19. Onomatopoeia1) The crowd began to hiss and boo him for his unsportsmanlike conduct, but he sat unmoved.2) Compare: The stream flows through the woods.The stream is murmuring through the woods.Dasi started laughing./ Dasi started giggling.The door was pushed open./ The door crashed open.Heavy rain drops fell on the tent.Heavy rain drops began pitter-pattering on the tent.20. Allusion1) Every man has in himself a continent of undiscovered character. Happy is he who acts the Columbus to his own soul.2) They did not reopen the Pandora‟s Box they had peeked into in 1972.3) The car‟s Achilles‟ axle4) But the reality is that today‟s money-driven sports are faster, higher and stronger than before. That is what top-level sport is about. Even if the genie of money could beput back in his bottle, let us admit that sport would be worse off if he were. (The fisherman and the Genie)5) Poor communities are looking for the courts to save them, Robin Hood-style, by shifting funds from the richer ones.6) But not a decade ago, tens of millions of Americans, including many who should have known better, were in the grip of a national anxiety attack about nuclear apocalypse.21. Chiasmus1) Some people believe that too many people have been admitted to America lately--- they want emigrants rather than immigration of emigrants.2) How much better is it to weep at joy than to joy at weeping. (Shakespeare)3) A place for everything, everything in its place.4) When you have nothing to say, say nothing.5) Better to know everything of something than something of everything. (F. Bacon)22. Antonomasia1)If we try to implement these harebrained ideas (that English should be replaced byHindi and the 15 recognized state language), India will become a Tower of Babel.2)The National Aeronautics and space Administration had called it a“success-oriented” schedule to get the space shuttle flying again, but the odyssey of “discovery” was beset with various problems.3)It‟s lonely at the top. Just ask IBM. While a crowd of Lilliputian competitors isnibbling away at profits by selling …clones‟of IBM‟s personal computers, larger rivals are teaming up in an attempt to beat the computer colossus in the profitable software and office-network business.4) A Daniel come to judgment, O wise, young judge, how I do honour thee.---fromMerchant of Venice23. Climax1) Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.2) Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.3) Like some great white shark, the AIDS epidemic is a natural predator that menaces everything we value. At issue are the most important parts of our lives--- love and sex, family and community, politics and culture. So, too, is the self-confidence derived from Man‟s mastery over nature developed in this century.4) “…We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God‟s good time, the New World, with all its power and might steps forth to the rescue and to the liberation of the old. (Winston Churchill, 1941)24. Anti-climax1) As a serious young man, I loved Beethoven, Keats, and hot dogs.2) For God, For America, and for Yale.3) Religion, credit and the eye are not to be touched.---Proverb4) You manage a business, stocks, bonds, people. And now you can manage your hair. (an advertisement)5) When George the Fourth was still reining over the privacies of Windsor, when the Duke of Wellington was Prime Minister, and Mr. Vincy was mayor of the old corporation in Middlemarch, Mrs. Casaubon, born Dorothea Brooke, had taken her wedding journey to Rome. (George Eliot: Middlemarch)( The mention of those in power at the time of Dorothea Brooke‟s wedding, from king to prime minister to mayor, in a descending order of importance, pokes fun at the naïve social pretensions of the heroine.25. Sarcasm: It attacks people or things in a taunting and bitter manner, and its aim is to disparage, ridicule and wound the feelings of the subject attacked.1).In the evening the poor wounded boy was taken to that experienced doctor, who by applying some poisonous concoction of crushed leaves to his left eye, succeeded in blinding him!2) “…Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labors, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it….” (from Samuel Johnson‟s letter to The Right Honorable the Earl of Chesterfield)25. Assonance1) Walk groundly, talk profoundly, drink roundly, sleep soundly.2) The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.3) I kissed thee ere I killed thee. (Othelo by Shakespeare)4) Large factories in China wish to be given a freer hand in the right to hire and fire.5) While the morality of our mission was clear, the legality was not.6) survive and thrive; fair and square; near and dear。
