英语修辞学ENGLISH RHETORIC - isemantic figures of speech.ppt

Semantic Figures of Speech Simile 明喻 Definition: A figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by like or as. In the comparison, the quality of one thing is transferred to the other. Sometimes the association is made between unfamiliar and familiar things, or between abstract and concrete things. The stronger the association that is felt, the greater the force of comparison, The stronger the power of suggestion and the sharper the image produced. Function The chief function is to draw sharp pictures in readers’/listeners minds through comparison, to give deeper insight into things, persons and ideas through suggestive association, or to explain abstract, complicated ideas in simple, concrete imagery. Examples The fog was thick like pea soup. She was as quick as a whip. He behaved like a bull in china shop. Compare the following two sentences: Jim looks like his brother Billy. Jim and his brother are as like as two peas. Four demands for a simile Containing comparative words as like, as， as if，can be likened/compared to, be analogous to, be something of, etc. Two things involved in comparison—tenor and vehicle; Substantially different Similar in at least one quality classification Functionally speaking: Descriptive simile 描绘型明喻 Illuminative simile 启发型明喻 Illustrative simile 说明型明喻 In terms of structure: Closed simile: He is obese like a pig. Open simile: He is like a pig. (greedy, lazy, dirty, obese?) Descriptive Simile描绘型明喻 Pure description of persons, things, places, natural scenery, and action has always been the chief use to which similes have been put. See the following examples: Illuminative simile 启发型明喻 The descriptive simile attempts to draw images of people, things, etc., through figurative comparison, while the illuminative simile tries to give deeper insight into persons, things, ideas, even problems, through suggestive association; to throw light on what would be inconceivable(