Rhetoric Devices修辞

Rhetorical Devices

The study of rhetorical devices is necessary in the course of Advanced

English.

To

help

the

reader

appreciate

their

special

artistic

effect,

the

rhetorical

devices

in

this

book

are

discussed

here

in

terms

of

syntactic

devices and figures of speech.

Part I

Syntactic devices

1. Rhetorical question

A

rhetorical

question

usually

asks

for

effect

of

the

definition,

without

any need to be answered, for its definite answer is implied in the context.

e.g. 1)

Was

I

not

at the scene of the crime? (Lesson Two, Book One)

e.g. 2)

Is not

that a challenge to us? Is it not true that into our education have

come slackness and softness? The world of thought can be entered in no other

way.

(Edith Hamilton

“

The Lesson of the Past

”

)

(A

negative

question

functions

as

a

rhetorical

question

to

convey

an

affirmative tone.)

e.g.3) But she will never bring her friends.

…

and Maggie asked me,

“

Mama,

when did Dee ever have any friends?

”

(Lesson Seven, Book One)

e.g.4) But that is a mistake. I know even before I wake up.

Who ever knew a

Johnson with a quick tongue? Who can even imagine me looking a strange

white man in the eye?

(Lesson Seven, Book One)

(In

examples

3)

and

4),

the

questions

are

not

answered

but

the

actual

answers can be inferred from the context.)

2. Inversion

Inversion takes place when a normal sentence order is reversed.

e.g. 1)

Seldom has a city

gained such world renown,

…

(Lesson Two, Book

One)

e.g. 2)

Completely different is the last story

. (Lesson Five, Book Two)

(for emphasis )

3)

Hanging

over

the

patient

was

a

big

ball

made

of

bits

of

brightly

coloured paper, folded into the shape of tiny birds. (Lesson Two, Book One)

(For the need of the sentence balance, the subject with a set of long

modifiers is placed after the predicate verb.)

3. Omission

In terms of a rhetorical device, omission means leaving out some parts of

a

sentence

to

achieve

emphasis,

compactness,

brevity

and

some

dramatic

effect.

e.g. 1) Dee, next. A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather. (Lesson

Seven, Book One): Dee

(comes out of the car)

next.

(She is wearing)

a dress

(long enough to hang)

down to the ground

…

.

2) Maggie smiled; maybe at the sunglasses. But a real smile. Not scared.

(Lesson Four, Book One):

…

maybe (she smiled) at the sunglasses. But

(this

time

she

made)

a

real

smile.

:

(There

was)

not

(any)

scared

(feeling

in

the

smile)

.

3) Same age, same background, but dumb as an ox. (Lesson Five, Book

Two)

:

(He

is

of

the)

same

age

(and

has

the)

same

background

but

(he

is)

dumb as an ox.

4)

A

nice

enough

young

fellow,

you

understand,

but

nothing

upstairs.

(Lesson

Five,

Book

Two):

(He

is)

a

nice

enough

young

fellow,

you

understand, but

(there is)

nothing upstairs.

4. Repetition

The

repetition

of

a

part

or

the

whole

sentence

usually

adds

force

and

emphasis

to

the

statement.

It

is

often

combined

with

parallelism.

The

difference

is

that

parallelism

is

more

a

question

of

balance

of

parts

which

convey

equal

weight

or

significance

while

repetition

achieves

its

rhetorical

effect by means of repeating words and structure.

e.g.

1)

From

this

nothing

will

turn

us

—

nothing

.

(Lesson

Fourteen,

Book

One)

e.g.

2)

The

Russian

danger

is

therefore

our

danger

,

and

the

danger

of

the

United States,

…

(Lesson Fourteen)

(the repetition of words)

e.g. 3)

Behind all this glare

,

behind all this

storm

,

…

(Lesson Fourteen, Book

One)

(the repetition of structures)

e.g. 4) As fair thou art, my bonie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear

,

Till a

’

the seas gang dry

.

Till a

’

the seas gang dry

, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi

’

the sun;

And I will luve thee still, my dear

,

While the sands o

’

life shall run.

(Robert Burns:

A Red, Red Rose

)

(the repetition of whole sentences)

5. Parallelism

Parallelism

adds

clarity

and

coherence

to

the

statement

and

makes

writing

clear

and

effective

by

balancing

word

for

word

(noun

with

noun,

preposition

with

preposition,

participle

with

participle,

etc.),

phrase

with

phrase and sentence with sentence. In parallelism, repetition is often used to

emphasize the equal importance of the parallel parts.

e.g.

1)

…

where

maidens

laugh

and

children

play

(Lesson

Fourteen,

Book

One)

e.g.

2)

The

din

of

the

stall-holders

crying

their

wares,

of

donkey-boys

and

porters

clearing

a

way

for

themselves

by

shouting

vigorously,

and

of

would-be

purchasers

arguing

and

bargaining

is

continuous

and

makes

you

dizzy. (Middle Eastern Bazaar)

e.g. 3)

Any man or state who fights on against

Nazidom

will have our aid.

Any man or state who marches with Hitler

is our foe. (Lesson Fourteen, Book

One)

e.g. 4)

We shall be fortified and encouraged in our efforts

to rescue mankind

from

his

tyranny.

We

shall

be

strengthened

and

not

weakened

in

determination

and in resources. (Lesson Fourteen, Book One)

6. Antithesis

Antithesis

conveys

contrasting

idea

in

a

balanced

structure

to

achieve

force and emphasis. The force of the emphasis whether for idea, humour or

satire, depends chiefly on the opposites or the contrasts.

e.g. 1)

...between what people

claim to be

and what they

really are

... (Lesson

Six, Book One)

e.g. 2) ...took

unholy

verbal shots at the

Holy

Land... (Lesson Six, Book One )

e.g.

3) ...a

world

which

will

lament

them

a

day

and

forget

them

forever

(Lesson Six, Book One )

e.g.

4)

Christians

believe

that

man

comes

from

above

,

not

from

below

.

(Lesson Four, Book One)

7. Climax

Climax, like the steps of a ladder, conveys thought in an ascending order

of significance or intensity from weak to strong, light to weighty, to clarify

the thought or stir up feelings or emotions.

e.g. 1) No one

talks about

it any more, and no one

wants to

.

e.g. 2) I

came

, I

saw

, I

conquered

.

e.g. 3) Reading maketh a

full

man; conference a

ready

man; and writing an

exact

man.( Bacon:

On Study

)

8. Anti-climax

Anti-climax, opposite to climax, states thought in a descending order of

force or significance from strong to weak, weighty to light often for ridicule

or

satire.

Usually,

the

effect

of

ridicule

or

satire

gets

higher

with

the

more

decreased importance of the idea.

e.g.

1)

(Hiroshma

is)

a

town

known

throughout

the

world

for

its

—

oysters

.

(Lesson Two, Book One)

e.g. 2) He spent all his large fortune endowing a

college

or a

cat

.

e.g. 3) We shall do something. And now

what we can do

is to

…

to

have lunch

.

Part II

Figures of speech

1.

Simile

Simile

makes

an

imaginative

comparison

between

two

unlike

elements

which have something in common. Words like

“

as

”

,

“

like

”

,

“

as if

”

, etc. are

used to associate with one element to the other.

e.g. 1) I am the way my daughter would want me to be:

…

my skin

like an

uncooked barley pan cake

. (Lesson Seven, Book One)

(The

imaginative

skin

and

the

uncooked barley

pan

cake

have

the

light

colour and smooth quality in common and the transfer word

“

like

”

associates

the

two

unlike

elements.

The

skin

is

compared

to

an

uncooked

barley

pan

cake.)

Some other examples:

2)

The

children

went

from

adult

to

adult

like

buckets

in

a

fire

brigade

.

(Lesson One, Book One)

(The

adults

’

passing

the

children

is

compared

to

the

firemen

’

s

passing

buckets

of

water

when

fighting

a

fire.

Such

a

comparison

highlights

the

urgent situation and the fast movement.)

3)

Richelieu

Apartments

were

smashed

apart

as

if

by

a

gigantic

fist

.

(Lesson One, Book One): The hurricane smashed Richelieu Apartment apart

in an instant.

( Here, the hurricane is compared to a gigantic fist, which emphasizes the

great power and speed of the hurricane.)

4)

The

Elizabethans

blew

on

it

as

on

a

dandelion

clock

,

and

its

seeds

multiplied,

and

floated

to

the

ends

of

the

earth.:

The

Elizabethans

writers

spread the English language everywhere, far and wide.

(The

widely

spreading

of

the

English

language

is

compared

to

a

dandelion clock whose seeds spread in all directions with the wind.)

2.

Metaphor

Like

simile,

metaphor

also

makes

a

comparison

between

two

unlike

elements which have something in common. The distinctions lie in: 1) In a

simile,

the

words

like

“

as

”

,

“

as

if

”

,

“

like

”

,

etc.

are

used

to

make

the

comparison; while in a metaphor, the comparison is implied in the context,

without

the

indication

by

the

transfer

words.

In

terms

of

this,

metaphor

is

called a simile without a transfer words like as, like, etc. 2) In a simile, the

point

of

resemblance

between

two

unlike

elements

is

given;

while

in

a

metaphor, the resemblance is not stated but implied.

e.g.

1)

Maggie

’

s

brain

is

like

an

elephant

’