燕守宝
(上海政法学院语言文化学院， 上海， 201701)
Abstract: Rhetorical devices are the techniques and arts of language expression, and an important part of College English teaching. In the teaching process, it is of great significance to exemplify rhetorical devices, so as to improve the students' ability to identify and appreciate rhetorical devices, enhance their reading comprehension and appreciation.
Key words: College English, rhetorical devices, reading,
1.Introduction
Rhetorical devices are language means to beautify language expression, strengthen language information and improve language expression effect. It makes language lively and concrete, and gives people beautiful enjoyment. It is necessary for English learners to understand and appreciate common rhetorical devices. Rhetorical devices have not been paid enough attention to in teaching. In the teaching process, students can understand the words and analyze the grammatical elements of sentences, but they still can’t fully understand the meaning of the article, let alone appreciate the beauty of language. This situation is often because students do not have the knowledge and appreciation ability of rhetorical devices. Therefore, it is necessary to help students understand the definition, difference and characteristics of rhetorical devices, so that they can better understand and appreciate the beauty.
2.Function
As a discipline of linguistics, rhetoric is not only a study on language, but also a study on the use of language, focusing on the rules and characteristics of people’s language in social communication. In the systematic thinking process of rhetorical activities, rhetorical devices refer to certain rhetorical forms, such as adopting metaphors, using irony, setting parallelism, using puns, etc. Some have patterns in meaning, some in structure, some in tone skills, and the others in rhyme combination. The purpose is to strengthen the effect of expression. Rhetorical devices take words as the core and sentences as the expression unit. In most cases, rhetorical devices are included in the scope of sentences. Rhetoric is to make readers associate with past experience and make people accept more abstract things and use the extended meaning of a word to achieve rhetorical effect. Being familiar with rhetorical devices and rules of rhetorical application can not only help students deepen their understanding of reading materials, but also help them fully appreciate the author’s writing style and improve their English writing skills. Therefore, rhetorical devices should become an important part of English teaching content. This paper aims to introduce the rhetorical devices in English textbooks, so as to promote students’ English reading and writing.
3.Appreciation of rhetorical devices in English reading
The author finds that in the articles of the textbook, the use of rhetorical devices is very rich, vivid, accurate and appropriate. In the teaching process, teachers should pay attention to analyze and make full use of the rhetorical devices in the article, make brief comments, and analyze the characteristics and use effects of different rhetorical devices, so as to cultivate students’ understanding, appreciation level and learning interest.
3.1 Simile
Simile usually refers to the “tenor” being compared with the “vehicle” used for comparison at the same time, indicating that the tenor is like the vehicle.
Example 1: I sometimes think that the stories we tell them must seem like Aesop’s fables …
This is a sentence with a simile. In this article, the author uses simile rhetorical devices to prove that children living in foreign cultures can not fully understand the domestic historical stories told by their parents, and take these stories as fables, which achieves the effect of vivid and vivid description.
3.2Metaphor
Metaphor is a rhetorical device in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.
Example 2: At my bank the other day, I was standing in a line snaking around some tired velvet ropes when a man in a sweat-suit started inching toward me in his eagerness to deposit his Social Security check.
Example 2 is a sentence with a metaphor. It is a metaphorical way to imply one thing to another according to some common characteristics between two things. There is no comparative word between tenor and vehicle. This sentence vividly describes the winding of the bank queue.
3.3Metonymy
Metonymy consists of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated.
Example 3: T-shirt weather can make proximity more alluring (or much, much less).
The figure of speech in T-shirt weather is metonymy. It is to replace tenor by vehicle through similar association. Metonymy goes even further than metaphor. It does not mention the tenor at all, but directly uses metaphorical things instead of ontological things. It refers to two different things are not similar, but inseparable, so the name of one thing is often used to replace the other. In this sentence, T-shirt weather obviously refers to summer, the season in which people wear T-shirt, but the author did not state summer directly, allowing the readers to think.
3.4Oxymoron
Oxymoron refers to closely linking words that echo contradictions and repelling each other in meaning to describe a thing, express an idea or explain a truth.
Example 4: She sang “O Holy Night”, which brought back bitter-sweet memories.
In this sentence, “bitter sweet memories” means that memories are both bitter and sweet, which is oxymoron. In this way, the language is concise, rich in philosophy, and produces a strong logical force, which produces an unexpected and fascinating effect. Our granddaughter’s singing reminds us of the past, which is both happy and painful because our adopted Christmas son brought us a lot of joy and pain, for he died of a car accident. The author uses the antonyms “bitter” and “sweet” to form a sharp contrast, which fully explains the author’s complex inner feelings.
3.5Euphemism
Euphemism is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant
Example 5: That awful feeling of my voice being trapped got worse as I grew older.
“---my voice being trapped---”is a kind of euphemism, which refers to my stuttering problem. To use euphemism, i.e. to use mild or vague words to replace hard or hard words, so as to avoid embarrassment or offence in communication.
3.6Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which an author or speaker purposely and obviously exaggerates to an extreme. It is used for emphasis or as a way of making a description more creative and humorous. It is important to note that hyperbole is not meant to be taken literally; the audience knows it’s an exaggeration.
Example 6: Across millions of miles of celluloid, the ideal of friendship had always been male.
“Millions of miles”is to exaggerate or reduce the characteristics of things. That is, to exaggerate the essence of things. Hyperbole is frequently used in English. The function of exaggeration is to highlight the essential characteristics of things, thus giving people a strong impression or alertness. This is the use of rich imagination, extreme words, rendering and decoration of objective things, in order to achieve the effect of emphasis. Here the author uses this quantifier to show that men's friendship is always depicted in the film without exception.
3.7Repetition
Repetition is the repeating of a word or phrase. It is a common rhetorical device used to add emphasis and stress in writing and speech.
Example 7: Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never …
In general, we should pursue diversity of expression and avoid repetition. Therefore, the change is normal and the repetition is abnormal. But it is this kind of repetitive expression that deviates from the routine that can attract the attention of the audience. At the same time, the use of the same syntactic structure or phrase, or even the same word in a series of different sentences can deepen the impression of the audience, thus playing an important role. Here Churchill repeatedly used “never” in his speech to make his speech more powerful and infectious.
3.8Parallelism
Parallelism, also known as parallel structure, is when phrases in a sentence have similar or the same grammatical structure. In its most basic usage, parallelism provides a phrase with balance and clarity. Parallelism also serves to give phrases a pattern and rhythm.
Example 8: He believed himself to be one of the greatest dramatists in the world, one of the greatest thinkers, and one of the greatest composers.
Parallelism refers to the arrangement of two or more phrases with the same or similar structure, related meaning and consistent mood. Sentences are arranged in a string to form a whole. It is characterized by neat sentence pattern, clear rhythm, concise language and prominent content. Because of the use of parallelism, its form is exquisite and neat, and its tone is full of rhythm. Therefore, it can leave a deep impression on readers, and at the same time, it can highlight the significance in a more economical way. The author uses three parallelism of "one of the greatest" to fully show the hero's arrogance and arrogance, which makes people feel disgusted immediately and achieves the expected effect.
3.9Antithesis
Antithesis is a pair of statements or images in which the one reverses the other. The pair is written with similar grammatical structures to show more contrast. It is used to emphasize a concept, idea, or conclusion.
Example 9: Buddies faced adversity together, but friends faced each other. Buddies hang tough together; friends hang onto each other. Buddies seek approval. But friends seek acceptance.
Three sets of antithesis are used in this sentence. This kind of rhetoric juxtaposes two groups of words or sentences with the same structure, related meaning and consistent tone, so as to achieve the effect of clear thinking and concise expression, and enhance the language momentum. It is rich in rhythm and easy to remember. The author juxtaposes men’s brotherhood and women's intimate relationship in sentences with the same structure and opposite meaning. The differences are clear at a glance and impress the readers deeply.
3.10 Climax
Climax is a rhetorical device in which a series of words are gradually graded according to the size, weight, depth and height of the idea, and finally reach the climax.
Example 10: All this tradition of ours, our school history, this part of the history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated.
The three verbs “gone” “finished” and “liquified” gradually strengthen the cruel reality that the country will face if no action is taken to fight for victory. It can enhance the language momentum and gradually deepen the reader's impression.
3.11 Anti-climax
Anticlimax is the opposite of climax, arranging a series of words from large to small and from strong to weak.
Example 11: Ah, I said, satisfaction swelling in my breast, and what was the man’s name? “Gulliver?” Louise replied.
Louise’s initial answer satisfied her father and prompted him to expect more correct answers. But her next answer is surprisingly disappointing, because “Gulliver” is a character in the novel, not in history. The use of such rhetorical devices produces humorous effects, and even through performances, children cannot fully understand the history of the United States.
3.12 Allusion
Allusion is basically a reference to something else. It’s when a writer mentions some other work, or refers to an earlier part of the current work.
Example 12: When the eggs hatched, we marveled at the herculean efforts Caruso and his mate expended to capture insects for their brood.
Herculean comes from the word Hercules in Greek mythology. He has accomplished twelve arduous tasks and become immortal God. The feature of allusion is that it does not indicate the source and source. It usually refers to the well-known key words or phrases, and weaves them into the author's discourse. The references include allusions, proverbs, idioms, maxims and proverbs. Most of the English quotations are from biblical stories, Greek and Roman myths, Aesop's fables, and proverbs and proverbs with a long history. Here the author uses allusion to make people understand how difficult it is for a mother bird to raise her young.
Of course, there are more rhetorical devices that can be found in textbooks. If the text is explained with more classic examples, it can not only deepen the students’ understanding of the original English and improve the level of appreciation, but also make them understand the mystery of the language.
4Conclusion
After students have a preliminary understanding of the basic knowledge of rhetorical devices, it is very necessary for teachers to summarize them in time. What is noteworthy is the comprehensive use of rhetorical devices. In the practical use of language, in order to narrate things more concretely and vividly, expound the truth more deeply and thoroughly, and express feelings more vividly, sometimes several rhetorical devices are combined in a sentence or a sentence group. For example, Example 6 is a combination of hyperbole and synecdoche, while Example 9 is the application of parallelism and antithesis. Of course, to really understand and even master rhetorical devices, students need to consolidate themselves through a lot of reading practices. In addition, we should consciously use various rhetorical devices to improve their language skills in order to achieve better communication effect.
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