Rhetoric and Figures of Speech

Lesson Four

Rhetoric and Figures of Speech

At beginning of the chapter, I’d like to invite you to comment on the following sentence. “钟声像水波一样一圈圈荡漾开去。”

If judged from the perspective of logic, it is not good. But if judged from the perspective of rhetoric , it is a wonderful sentence. Because it provides a vivid description of how the clock sounds like by a figure of speech called:

So, to communicate successfully with the audience, the writer has recourse to figure of speech, which can not only add vividness to the writing, but also lead to good readability and comprehensibility. Let’s review some frequently-used figures of speech.

Simile Simile is a figure of speech in which there is a direct comparison between two or more unlike elements which are normally linked by particle like “like” and “as”. A simile is made up of three elements: the tenor ( the thing described), the vehicle ( the thing compared to), and words or phrases such as “as”, “like”, and “as if (though) ” and so on. The two or more unlike elements in the comparison must have at least one characteristic in common.

Simile Essentially, in simile, one thing is likened to another via imagination so that a notion or an image is driven home vividly. Let’s see the following examples:

SimileOutdoor grocery markets flourish like dandelions after a rainstorm. The woman looks like a cobra undulating in a snake charmer’s basket. My brain was as powerful as a dynamo, as precise as a chemist’s scale, and as penetrating as a scalpel.

Simile Simile, when properly used, can significantly promote accuracy and comprehensibility, and enhance the rhetorical effect that would otherwise be dissipated. The English language contains a lot of idioms that are instances of simile’s:

Similetalk like a book as sly as a fox as brave as a lion as stubborn as a mule as light as a feather drink like a fish as proud as a peacock as black as pitch as timid as a mouse

These stock phrases can be used to enliven the language, but don’t over-use them.

Metaphor Metaphor is a figure of speech in which there is an implicit comparison between two essentially unlike elements, namely the tenor and the vehicle. It differs from simile in that there are no words whatsoever used to indicate the relation of comparison between the tenor and the vehicle.

Metaphor Metaphor permeates our daily communication, so much so that it often goes unnoticed. It is not too much to say that metaphor is our way of life. As Aristotle points out in his Rhetoric, “It is metaphor above all else that give clearness, charm, and distinction to the style.”

MetaphorThe following sentences contain metaphors:

He is a mule. Failure is the mother of success. All the world is a stage. Her rosy cheek is very attractive. I found the subject a minefield of embarrassment.

She was a blue-eyed young woman whos

e efficiency had not quite eclipsed her good looks. If not entirely dead, apartheid was clearly in the intensive care unit with the oxygen turned off. They got caught up in the current of crowd and swept towards the exist.

Metaphor Many metaphors have become so well established in popular use that they no longer provoke the listener to think of the original meaning in connection with the new meaning. Examples: a lion in the battle fly into rage fall in love

personification personification is a figure of speech in which a thing or an idea is treated as if it were human or had human qualities. Example:Edelweiss, edelweiss, Every morning you greet me. Small and white Clean and bright You look happy to meet me. (Edelweiss from The Sound of Music)

personification In this example, a plant is personified, that is, a plant is endowed with human features. Since personification attributes human qualities, such as actions, emotions and so forth to a plant or an idea, it can therefore convey the writer’s emotions or feelings.

personification Examples:The handsome houses on the street to the college were not fully awake, but they looked very friendly. In November, a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called pneumonia, stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. Over the east side the ravager strode boldly, smiting his victims by scores.

personification In example(1), lifeless objects ---the handsome house---- are described as if there were human beings. As a result, the writing reads dear and vivid to the audience. In example(2), an illness is treated as if it were a person with a ghostly destructive power, so that a sense of horror is instilled in the readers, giving them an indelible impression of the “stranger”.

Metonymy Apart from simile, metaphor and personification, metonymy can also enliven our language. The term “metonymy”, which originated from Greek, means “ change of name.” Thus, as its name indicates, metonymy as a figure of speech consists in the use of the name of one thing for the name of another that is related to it.

Metonymy Example:Lands belong to the crown.

Grey hairs should be respected.

Crown stands for the king; grey hairs for old people.

MetonymyMetonymy usually involves the following cases: 1. The container for the thing contained. The bottle is boiling. ( The water in the bottle is boiling. ) 2. The tool for the tool user. The pen is mightier than the sword. (People who use the pen are more influential than those who use the sword.)

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