A.    Multiple choice (20%)

1. Figurative language can bring ______to writing. Which one is not correct?

A. freshness   B. vigor    C. rules    D. resonance

2. On diplomatic occasions, one’s wording should be ____and elegant.

A. formal     B. informal  C. intimate  D.casure

3. The history of Western rhetoric is divided into six phases. Which one is not correct?

A. classical rhetoric              B. new classical rhetoric

C. rhetoric in the Modern Ages     D. rhetoric in the Renaissance

4. Which one is not the comparative word in a simile?

A. like    B. contrary to     C. as if      D. akin to

5. Which is the basic figure in poetry?

A. Antonomasia   B. Euphemism    C. Metaphor   D. Personification

6. “The kettle is boiling.”uses______.

A. simile      B. metaphor       C. personification    D. metonymy

7. “Great minds think alike.”uses _____.

A. Synecdoche   B. Allusion      C. Hyperbole    D. Personification

8. “Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”uses ____.

A. Euphemism             B. Antonomasia 

C. immediate reputation      D. intermittent reputation

9. Which one does not contain reputation?

A. Blood must atone for blood.      C. Diamond cuts diamond.

B. Like draws like.                D. Thanks a million.

10. Oxymoron can be used for _____. Which one is not correct?

A. understatement    B. emphasis    C. summarizing    D. humor

 

B.     Blank filling (20%)

1.      Rhetoric is the art or science of communication in words

2.      By accuracy we mean the words and sentence patterns chosen should be both grammatically correct and contextually proper.

3.      The first book on rhetoric in English is written by Leonard Cox

4.      Aesthetic rhetoric gives special emphasis to the employment of figures of speech in virtue of imagination and association.

5.      Literal language speaks directly, and figurative language speaks indirectly.

6.      A simile is a figure of speech in which two quite different things are compared.

7.      A metaphor is referred to as a compressed or condensed simile.

8.      Euphemism is often used out of courtesy or consideration for other people’s feelings.

9.      Hyperbole is the opposite of understatement.

10.  Zeugma is a figure of speech in which a word is used to modify or govern two or more words although it’s grammatically or logically correct with only one.

 

C.    True or false (20%)

1.      Linguistic factors refer to the rules concerning the language itself. (T)

2.      One should always use the same tone and way when speaking or writing to a different audience. (F)

3.      Communicative rhetoric is superior of aesthetic rhetoric. (F)

4.      English rhetoric may be subdivided into communicative rhetoric and aesthetic rhetoric. (T)

5.      Stylistics may be subdivided into linguistic stylistics and literary stylistics. (T)

6.      Most of the figures of speech are based on resemblance in image. (T)

7.      Metaphor points out resemblance with acknowledging word. (F)

8.      Zoosemy is a figure of speech in which animals are described as human beings. (F)

9.      Euphemisms are rude, impolite and offensive expressions. (F)

10.  Understatement is a figure of speech which deliberately expresses an idea too weakly. (T)

 

D.    Analysis (40%)

1.      Benjamin Franklin: “If we don’t hang together, we shall most assuredly hang separately.”

Syllepsis is used in this example. Syllepsis refers to the use of any part of speech comparably related to two other words or phases, correctly with respect to each taken separately. The verb hang is used twice, meaning differently. In the adverbial clause introduced by if, it means to remain united, while in the main clause it means to cause to die, as in punishment for a crime, by dropping with a rope around the neck.

 

2.      It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a fortune must be in want of a wife.

This is a periodic sentence which saves its main clause to the end. This is the sentence with which Jane Austen begins her Pride and Prejudice. At the first sight, the readers may think the writer will declare in earnest a universal truth, but at the end of the sentence, they find the so-called “a truth universally acknowledged” is only the vulgar awareness of the philistinism. The author shows ingenuity in leading the readers’ expectancy to the peak in a solemn and elegant way, and the vulgar context represented by the last word lowers this expectancy to the bottom. Therefore, the author is successful in producing a satirical and memorable effect, giving one much food for thought.

 

 

我的试题

1.  Multiple choice 20%

⑴ On diplomatic occasions one’s wording should be ___A___.

A.  formal  B. informal  C. casual  D. humorous

⑵ When a metaphor has been so often used and becomes standardized as a way of referring to something, it is called ___B___.

A. mixed metaphor   B. dead metaphor  C. sustained metaphor  D. extended metaphor

⑶ Who and Richards gave a profound explanation of the meaning of words?  C

A. Burk  B. Weaver  C. Ogden  D. Campbell

⑷ Which is the opposite of understatement ? A

A. hyperbole  B. euphemism  C. paradox   D. antonomasia

⑸ What is the relationship between the symbol and the object? A

A. conventional    B. necessary     C. unnecessary        D. biunique

A. producing a witty effect  B. emphasizing  C. producing a irony effect  D. balance

⑹ ___A____ refers to the arrangement of a series of ideas which go from the least important to the most important with steady strengthening of emotion and tone.

A. climax  B. anticlimax  C. parallelism  D. pun

⑺ Which scholar put most emphasis on metaphor? A

A. Richards  B. Weaver  C. Ogden  D. Campbell

⑻What figure of speech does the following sentence use?

①Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. B

A. immediate repetition  B. intermittent repetition  C. understatement    D. hyperbole

②The senator picked up his hat and his courage. A

A. syllepsis  B. climax  C. hyperbole  D. parallelism

③Crafty men condemn them; simple men admire them; and wise men use them. C

A. zeugma   B. irony   C. antithesis  D. syllepsis

④No light, only darkness visible. A

A. sharp contrast  B. emphasis  C. summarizing  D. humour

⑤More hasted, less speed. A

A. paradox  B. antithesis  C. parallelism  D.pun

⑥I am told several pickpockets are here. Let them remember that the eye of God is on them, and also that there are a number of policemen in the house. B

A. climax  B. anticlimax  C. paradox  D. pun

⑦Seven days without water make one weak. B

A. irony  B. pun  C. ridicule  D. satire

⑧The weatherman said it would be warm. He must take his reading in a bathroom. B

A. irony  B. innuendo  C. satire  D. ridicule

⑨O, Wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind? A

A. rhetorical question  B. allegory  C. inversion  D. parody

⑩Out rushed the man and his wife. A

A. inversion  B. allegory  C. parody  D. hyperbole

⑼ What is the type of the following sentence? A

A. simple sentence              B. compound sentence 

C. compound-complex sentence   D. balanced sentence

⑽ What phonetic device does the following sentence use?

① He is all fire and fight. A

A. alliteration   B. assonance  C. consonance  D. tongue twisters

② She sells sea-bells on the sea shore. D

A. alliteration   B. assonance  C. consonance  D. tongue twisters

⑾ Which level is not included in rhetorical activity? C

A. word   B. sentence   C. meaning    D.paragraph

2.  Blank filling 20%

⑴ The classical rhetoric was mainly concerned with the study of humane with ________as its theoretical foundation. (Aristotle’s Rhetoric)

⑵ All metaphors and similes are based on ______. (analogy)

⑶ In the sentence, “Oxford Movement is a spent wave.” The tenor is ________(Oxford Movement), and the vehicle is _________ .(spent wave)

⑷  Euphemisms are used out of ______(courtesy) or _______(consideration) for other people’s feeling.

⑸ The forms of hyperbole are ______ (flexible) and ______ (varied).

⑹ When understatement is employed by using downtoners, it is also called ______(meiosis).

⑺Repetition in writing can be divided into _______(immediate) repetition and _______(intermittent).

⑻ What figure of speech does the sentence ‘The bells!The bells!’use?  _______(immediate) repetition.

⑼ Parallelism is usually used for the sake of ______. (emphasis / balance)

⑽ Rhetorical question is an effective rhetorical device which may be used not only to achieve _______ but also to make _______. (emphasis, transition)

 

3.  Judge of whether the statements are true or false 20%

⑴ One should vary one’s tone and way when speaking or writing to a different audience.(T)

⑵ The communicative rhetoric does exist, but it is inferior to aesthetic rhetoric. (F)

⑶ A simile compares something to something else that is the same in nature. (F)

⑷ The two things involved in a metonymy are not of the same kind but are closely related. (T)

⑸ The employment of hyperbole is based on the need of content of a discourse but can be different with the tone of the text. (F)

⑹ Hyperbole is usually employed by use of numerals, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, by maximizing of words, by converting negative words into positive ones, or by being used together with other figures. (T)

⑺ Zeugma and syllepsis are kinds of figure in which “a word is used to modify two or more words.”(F)

⑻ The sentence “The coward does it with a kiss, the brave man with a sword.” is contrasting one aspect of the same thing. (F)

⑼ Paradox is a statement which is contrary to expectation, apparently absurd or self-contradictory. But, in fact, it is reasonable and logical. (T)

⑽ The basis of anticlimax is the principle that the lower the thought decrease in importance, the higher the force of the ridicule or satire or humor. (T)

⑾ In most cases, irony is used to criticize or expose bad and ugly things. (T)

⑿ Innuendo is often referred to as “mild satire”. (T)

⒀ Ridicule is the sharpest satire. (T)

⒁ Allegory is a story that can be read, understood and interpreted only in one level. (F)

⒂ In a period sentence, the meaning is suspend till the the dose of sentence. (T)

 

 

4.       Analysis 40%

Read the following passage and fulfill the following two tasks:

Section A: Analyze the rhetorical devices and their functions in the passage

(1)H: He’s mine. The boy is mine.

W: Oh, no, it can’t be true.

H: Yes, it’s true. I didn’t know about him. Sheila. Please believe me.

(This is the theme of the dialogue. Both he and the boy refer to the same person. The boy is mine instead of The boy’s mine shows that Robert was serious.

Shocked and unprepared, Sheila used the exclamation word oh for the first and the last time.

Another case of appropriate diction. Robert used didn’t know about him rather than didn’t know of him to indicate that he knew nothing of the boy. What he said is not only true but also helps him to win Sheila’s forgiveness.)

Section B: Analyze the text features of this passage

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a fortune must be in want of wife.

——J.Austen: Pride and Prejudice

(This is the sentence with which Jane Austen begins her Pride and Prejudice. At the first sight, the readers may think the writer will declare in earnest a universal truth, but at the end of the sentence, they find the so-called ‘a truth universally acknowledge’ is only the vulgar awareness of the philistinism. The author shows ingenuity in leading the readers’ expectancy to the peak in a solemn and elegant way, and the vulgar content represented by the last word lowers this expectancy to the bottom. Therefore, the author is successful in producing a satirical and memorable effect, giving one much food for thought.)

Rewrite the following sentence in plain language

(1)    A man is helping the police with their inquiries. (A suspected criminal is detained by the police and probably under close arrest.)

(2)    She shed floods of tears. (She shed a lot of tears.)