英语演讲中的修辞手法Rhetoric Device in English Speech 第5页
英语演讲中的修辞手法Rhetoric Device in English Speech 第5页
It is traditionally believed that parallelism is used for the purpose of emphasizing and enhancing, esp. In speech, the ideas expressed by the speaker, thus always encouraging and inspiring the audience. We need not to be very carefully to find out many more examples of parallelism used in King‘s speech. In Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s ―I have a dream‖ speech, he uses parallelism to create a strong rhythm to help the audience line up his ideas. Here are few examples:
① ―One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.‖
In this sentence, there are two parallel noun phrases-- ―the manacles of segregation‖ and ―the chains of discrimination‖.
②―We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: ?For Whites Only‘‖.
In this sentence, there are two parallel verb phrases—―stripped of‖ and ―robbed of‖. ③―With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to straggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day‖. There are five parallel infinitive phrases in this sentence.
④―The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.‖ There are two parallel objective clauses in this sentence. More examples from Barack Osama:
―If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible;who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy，tonight is your answer. ‖
This sentence is from Barack Osama‘s Victory Speech. The triple use of ―who still‖, there are three parallel verb phrases—―doubts‖ ―wonders‖ ―questions‖.
Another example, in Obama's New Hampshire speech, the expression ―Yes, we can‖ rallied thousands of supporters when used like this: ―It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can. It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can. It was sung by immigrants as they struck out for distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can. In this sentence, Obama revealed his speech by three parallel sentences, each of which contains a simple sentence with the similar structure. The slogan ―yes, we can‖ is greatly enhanced by the unity and balance of these parallel structures. By using parallelism, the slogan can add clarity and coherence to the speech.
Obama uses the same device frequently. In his Iowa victory speech on Jan. 3, Obama said, \of New Hampshire can do in five days. You have done what America can do in this new year.\
3.4 Repetition
Repetition is just the simple repeating of words, phrases or sentences, within a sentence or a poetical line, with no particular placement of the words, this is to make emphasis. The repetition or restatement of an idea at intervals not only promotes clarity, but encourages the acceptance of an idea. Because of the interval form of repetition, so it not only can increase the performance of an increasing sense of urgency, the performance of the gradual strengthening the feelings, and deepening the infectant power.
Winston Churchill was one of the most celebrated English orators of the twentieth century, and his speeches (both as Prime Minister and in other roles) contain textbook examples of classical rhetorical devices. Winston Churchill's speech ―we shall fight them on the beaches‖ is one of the defining speeches during the Second World War. It uses the technique of repetition to very good effect.
―We shall go on to the end; we shall fight in France; we shall fight on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air; we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight on the
landing grounds; we shall fight in the fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.‖
In another example, Churchill used repetition in a 1941 speech at Harrow: \is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.\
Churchill's the use of \y gives a speech a blunter, more forceful tone.
In a speech addressed by George Bush, ―We know what works: freedom works. We know what‘s right：freedom is right. We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on earth：through free markets, free speech, free elections and exercise of free will unhampered by the State.‖ Repeated the words ?free‘ and ?freedom‘, to express his strong faith in freedom.
Throughout Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s ―I have a dream‖ speech, repeating words and sentence. Repetition is a very outstanding feature in this speech. It belongs to the stylistic device of syntactic over-regularity. The term repetition is restricted to mean the case of exact copying of a certain previous unit in a text such as a word, phrase or even a sentence, because all the over-regular features in literature are in some sense repetitious. Used in speech, repetition not only makes it easy for the audience to follow what the speaker is saying, but also gives a strong rhythmic quality to the speech and makes it more memorable.
―Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: \
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of
freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of \there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; \flesh shall see it together.‖
In these paragraphs, for example, King uses the words ―I have a dream‖ nine times. This repetition helps to achieve the function of coherence in discourse and the function of reinforcement in mood and emotion, expressing the speaker‘s strong emotion of longing for freedom, justice, righteousness and a much more united nation of all of God‘s children. If we study the whole speech more carefully, it is easy for us to find many other examples of repetition used. More examples,
①―If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1961, when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in inter-state travel.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent.
If I had sneezed -- If I had sneezed I wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great Movement there.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering.
I'm so happy that I didn't sneeze.‖(Martin Luther King, Jr.,I've Been to the Mountaintop) ②―I want to be the President who educated young children to the wonders of their world. I want to be the President who helped to feed the hungry and to prepare them to be tax-payers instead of tax-eaters.
I want to be the President who helped the poor to find their own way and who protected the right of every citizen to vote in every election.
I want to be the President who helped to end hatred among his fellow men, and who promoted love among the people of all races and all regions and all parties.
I want to be the President who helped to end war among the brothers of this earth.‖(Lyndon Baines Johnson, Address to a Joint Session of Congress on Voting Legislation)
③―As an American, I am shocked at the way Republicans and Democrats alike are playing directly into the Communist design of ―confuse, divide, and conquer.‖
As an American, I don‘t want a Democratic Administration ―whitewash‖ or ―cover-up‖ any more than a want a Republican smear or witch hunt.
As an American, I condemn a Republican ―Fascist‖ just as much I condemn a Democratic ―Communist.‖ I condemn a Democrat ―Fascist‖ just as much as I condemn a Republican ―Communist.‖ They are equally dangerous to you and me and to our country.
As an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.‖(Margaret Chase Smith, Declaration of Conscience)
3.5 Alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals, to strengthen the rhythm of speech. Alliteration can arouse the audience's attention and make audience‘s impressed. For example,