It's Radio!一文的修辞手段
《新编大学英语(活页)》第四册第8单元课文It誷 Radio!一文综合运用了10多种修辞格,极富表现力,很值得一读。弄清这些修辞格的运用技巧对进一步理解原文从而提高写作能力,有着十分重要的意义。现将该文中出现的修辞格按行文的先后顺序解析如下:
1. 连词叠用(polysyndeton)
连词叠用是指在多项并列成分之间重复使用连词(通常为and)的一种修辞格(一般情况下,只在并列多项的最后两项之间使用连词),往往可使语音协调,加强节奏感。例如:The
truth is that radio has not been eclipsed by television and cable and
the Internet. 事实上,广播并没有因为电视、有线网和因特网而黯然失色。(如不使用该修辞格,通常只说...television,
cable and the Internet.)
2. 重复(repetition)
重复是为了强调某种意义或表达强烈的感情而有意地使某些关键词、句子等在行文中多次出现的一种修辞格,是一种积极有效的修辞格。如:I
don't mention this to make the case that radio is better than other
electron
ic media (I use and enjoy all of them), but I will say that it is different,
very different. 我提这些并不是要证明广播比其他电子媒介好(所有媒介我都用,而且都很喜欢 ),但我得说,广播与其他媒介不一样,很不一样。...and
it is powerfully satisfying to know that your voice is being heard,
by real people sitting in real living rooms in real houses. 同样,当你知道真实的人们坐在真实房子的真实客厅里聆听你的声音时,你也会感到莫大的满足。
3. 明喻(simile)
明喻是比喻的一种,是将两种具有共同特征的事物或现象进行对比,即将甲事物比作乙事物,表明两者的相似关系,并使用like, as, as
if等比喻词。如:His radio "Fireside Chats?nbsp;endeared
him to countless listeners, who reported feeling during his broadcasts
as if the President were sitting in their living room and talking with
them like a next-door neighbor. 他的“炉边谈话”使他赢得了无数听众的喜爱。他们说,收听这个节目时,他们感到好像总统就坐在客厅里,像隔壁邻居一样和他们聊天。
4. 隐喻(metaphor)
隐喻也是比喻的一种。是直接将甲事物当作乙事物来描写的一种修辞格,不使用like, as, as if 等比喻词,是一种简缩的明喻(compressed
simile)。如:Radio, then, is usually
more than just a medium; it is company. 因此,广播通常不仅仅是一种媒介,它还是人们的伴侣。
5. 头韵(alliteration)
头韵是一种语音上的修辞格,它是指在两个或两个以上邻近的词或音节中,让起首辅音重复的一种表现手法,该手法可增强行文的音韵美。如:Roosevelt
was given credit for his ability to use the new medium so effectively,
but a case can be made that it was actually the nature of the new medium,
its peculiar power and personality that made Roosevelt so effective
on it. 罗斯福当时因为能够有效地利用这一新媒介而获得了赞誉。但是(我们)可以提出理由来证明,罗斯福的广播能够如此成功,实际上靠的正是这种新媒介独特的魅力及特点。
6. 对照(antithesis)
对照是指通过并列两组在内涵上迥然不同的词(组),以强调差异、突出矛盾,从而表达一个深层的主旨的修辞手法。如:Whether it is
the company of first choice or of last resort
makes no difference.它究竟是人们的第一选择还是最后的退路,这并不重要。...the
first day I listened to the radio while driving through the Delta as
also the last day I used the tape deck. 在三角洲上,我第一次边开车边听广播的那一天,也就是我最后一次使用录音机的日子。We
had a toll-free number, so people weren't shy about calling, and many
did, from dozens of small towns I's never heard of and couldn'tt even
find on the station
誷 gigantic wall map. 我们有一个免费电话,以方便听众拨打,打来的人很多,许多电话是
从我从未听说过、甚至在电台墙上的巨幅地图中也无法找到的小镇打来的。
7. 渐进法(climax)
渐进法是指从结构上将一些词语并列,意义由轻到重,由弱到强,依次递进,使说话的感情渐趋强烈,最后达到顶点的修辞手法。最常见的渐进为三项式结构。本文中的例子如:I
was born in New York City in the late 1960s, and grew up in its dense
suburbs toward the end of the transition from black-and-white to color
television. In junior high school twenty-channel cable TV came along;
in high school we got "microcomputers? which boasted two whole
kilobytes of random-access memory for information storage. 我二十世纪60年代后期出生在纽约,此后一直生活在人口众多的纽约市郊,直到黑白电视变成彩色电视的时代。上初中时,出现了可接收20个频道的有线电视。高
中时,我们有了“微型计算机”,里面装有整整两个千字节的随机存取存储器,用于存储信息。
8. 夸张(hyperbole)
夸张是一种故意言过其实或夸大其词的修辞手法,它往往注重表达深切的情感,而不注重客观事实的记述。如:
In retrospect, of course, these innovations
look hopelessly crude, but at the time they were more than enough to
render radio seemingly irrelevant to my life. 当然,回想起来,这些新玩艺儿非常粗糙。但是当时,它们足以吸引我,使广播与我的生活毫不相干。
9. 间接肯定法(litotes)
间接肯定法也称曲言法,是用反面否定来表示肯定的一种修辞手法。与夸张相反,该修辞手法是从不同的角度强调事物的不重要性,故意轻描淡写。如:
It was not at all unusual for me to travel
many miles without seeing another car, a house, or even a road sign.
驾车数英里见不到车辆、房屋,甚至路标,对我来说是很平常的事。
10. 省略法(ellipsis)
省略法是指在上下文清楚的情况下,省去某些在句中不必出现的成分(这些成分往往在前文中已出现过)的一种表现手法。该修辞格能有效地避免重复,突出信息重点,缩小交际间隔,简化表达程序,增强表达效果。如:
Not difficult, and not pleasant, either.
很容易这样想,想起来也真令人不快。以上这句话,若是没有上下文,是很难让人准确理解的。但若结合该句的上一句(In
such an atmosphere it is not difficult to imagine that one is the last
person on the planet.)来理解,问题便迎刃而解。
11. 同源修辞法(paregmenon)
同源修辞法是指将渊源相同但词形并不完全一样的两个或多个词同时用在一句话中的修辞格。该修辞格在表达上可使音韵协调,语义突出。如:
It is a powerful feeling to send your voice
out into the night over thousands of square miles, and it is powerfully
satisfying to know that your voice is being heard, by real people sitting
in real living rooms in real houses. 将自己的声音在夜色中传送出去,覆盖数千平方英里的土地,那是一种很强烈的感受;同样,当你知道真实的人们坐在真实房子的真实客厅里聆听你的声音时,你也会感到莫大的满足。
另外,本文的例句5中同时出现了effectively和effective两个词,与句中的powerful和powerfully的使用具有相同的修辞效果。