Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Rhetorical Knowledge Needed to Improve Your Speaking Level

A metaphor is a comparison, that is, comparing this thing with another thing.Specifically, when people want to express a certain thing or reason in language communication, they use association or imagination to introduce another kind of thing or reason, so as to reflect the thing or reason to be expressed more concretely, more appropriately, more vividly, It is more contagious, making the listener love to listen and understand, thus leaving a deep impression. There is such a vivid story in Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan". Someone said to King Liang: "Huizi is good at using metaphors. If you don't allow him to use metaphors, then Huizi will be unable to speak." So the king of Liang said to Huizi: "I hope you will not use metaphors when you speak in the future. Metaphor."

Huizi replied: "If there is a person who doesn't know what 'bomb' is, and you tell him that bouncing is 'bomb', will he understand?" Liang Wang said: "Of course I don't understand." Huizi said: "I want to tell people who don't know what I know. Can you tell me that I can't use metaphors?" Liang Wang said: "I can't do without metaphors." Originally, King Liang didn't want Huizi to make any more metaphors, but Huizi quietly made another metaphor to convince Liang Wang. A metaphor generally consists of three parts: noumenon, metaphor and metaphor.The noumenon is the thing being compared; the metaphor is the thing or object used for comparison; the metaphor is the word that marks the metaphorical relationship, such as "like", "just like", "like" and so on.For example, Mao Zedong once said that some people write long and empty articles, just like "the feet of a lazy woman are long and smelly."Here, the long and empty article is the ontology, the smelly and long "foot wrap" is the metaphor, and "like" is the metaphor.

Someone once asked Einstein what is the theory of relativity.Einstein explained: "You sit by the fire with your dearest one, and an hour passes, and it seems to you that only five minutes have passed; whereas, you sit alone by the steaming fire Here, only five minutes have passed, but you seem to have been sitting for an hour. This is the theory of relativity.” Einstein explained the profound and mysterious principles of relativity with the real experience of people’s daily life, so that ordinary people can understand it. People speak to describe things, or explain the truth, or express emotions, etc. It is not an easy task to express these things vividly and concretely, so as to impress people.If you can use appropriate metaphors, you can make things easier, and your words will get twice the result with half the effort and be persuasive.

Zhuangzi lived a very poor life all his life.One day, Zhuangzi ran out of food at home.In desperation, he had no choice but to carry a bag to his friend Jianhehou to borrow some food.Jian Hehou was packing his bags to go out.When Zhuangzi met him, he talked about borrowing grain, and the Marquis of Jianhe agreed: "It's easy, it's easy, but I'm going to the city to collect the rent. When I come back, I will lend you three hundred taels of silver, okay?" I thought: If you go to the city, it will take half a month to go back and forth. When you come back, won’t my family starve to death?So he said: "Brother, I saw something very interesting just now, don't you want to hear it?" Jian Hehou asked: "What's the matter, tell me quickly."

Zhuangzi said: "When I came to you just now, I heard a voice calling for help on the side of the road. I searched everywhere, but found no one. It turned out that in the rut of the road, there was a small fish that opened and closed its mouth and called. It said: "I came from the East China Sea, and now I am dying of dryness. Can you give me a ladle of water and save my life?" The great kings of Yue and Wu, ask them to block the water of the West River, and then dig ditches to bring the water from the West River here, so that you can swim back to the East China Sea. Do you think this is good? Who knows that fish Hearing this, he said angrily, "I'm almost dying of dryness now, and I only need a small ladle of water to survive. Although your plan is very good, by the time the water from the West River comes, I'm afraid I'll already be a dried fish." Mr. had no choice but to look for me at the dried fish stall." When Jian Hehou heard this, his face flushed, he apologized repeatedly to Zhuangzi, called his family, and filled a bag full of grain for Zhuangzi.

The reasoning using metaphors is concise and clear, and the metaphors are very extensive and can be found everywhere.As long as it has something in common with the reason you explain, you can use it at your fingertips and achieve your goal. Symbol is the extension and enlargement of metaphor. It is a rhetorical technique used to express a certain spiritual quality or abstract truth by means of specific concrete things. A professor in the medical school is teaching the first class to the freshmen: One morning after a storm, a man walks by the sea.On the beach, there are many small fish that were swept ashore by the storm last night, trapped in shallow puddles, struggling, wanting to return to the embrace of the sea.

As he walked, the man noticed a thin and small figure in the distance, who was tirelessly busy. When I got closer, it turned out to be a little boy of seven or eight years old.He was bending down to pick up the small fish in the puddle, and then threw them back into the sea vigorously, repeating the same action one after another.The man asked: "Son, there are thousands of small fish on this beach, and you can't save them alone." "I know." The little boy replied without raising his head, but he didn't stop moving. "Since you know it, why do you still do stupid things?" the man asked again.The little boy just silently picked up the small fish and threw them back into the sea without answering.The man couldn't help asking again: "If you do this, who cares?" The little boy said while tossing: "This little fish cares! This one, and this one..."

After telling the story, the professor went on to say: "Today, you started your university life here, and everyone will learn how to save lives here from now on. Although you can't save all the patients, you can save some of them. They relieve pain. People’s lives are different because of you — you can and must make everyone’s lives better.” In his speech, the professor first told a little philosophical story, and then used the spiritual quality implied by the little story to warn his students that as a medical worker, they should have a minimum of professional ethics. Generally speaking, symbols can be divided into explicit signs and hidden signs.The obvious sign is that the symbolic object, symbolic meaning, and linking words appear simultaneously in the discourse, and this kind of symbolic meaning is more obvious and fixed.Allusions only imply the symbolic meaning of the symbolic object through subtle and ingenious expressions, in order to arouse people's rich associations and imaginations.

Exaggeration is deliberately exaggerating to emphasize a certain feature of something, or exaggerating the facts, or narrowing the facts, so that the listener has a deeper understanding and understanding of the content to be expressed.Reasonable use of exaggeration techniques can firstly reveal the essence of things; secondly, can enhance the appeal of speech; thirdly, can inspire the imagination of the listener.The use of exaggeration must be based on real life and cannot be unreasonable. It should be exaggerated but reasonable, not as real but better than real. The gatekeeper servant of Shen Wuyu, an official of the state of Chu, was found to have stolen the wine vessel and fled in fear of crime.In order to escape Shen Wuyu's pursuit, he took refuge in the King of Chu and became a guard of the Slim Waist Palace.Because the laws of the state of Chu clearly stipulate that no one is allowed to arrest people in the palace of the king of Chu.That servant thought he had the "Shangfang Sword", and he was arrogant all day long.But, unexpectedly, Shen Wuyu went straight to the palace and captured the servant without the king of Chu's knowledge.King Chu was very angry when he found out, and ordered Shen Wuyu to release the servant.

Shen Wuyu said: "There are ten suns in the sky, and people are divided into ten levels. The upper class rules the lower class, and the lower class serves the upper class. Only when the upper and lower classes maintain each other can the country be stable and peaceful. Now the servants of the ministers and guards abscond in fear of crime, and they use the palace to protect criminals. If he really gets shelter, then the other servants will follow the example of each other, who can stop thieves and thieves! If things go on like this, the society will be unrest, and the king will not be able to protect his country! Therefore, the servants dare not obey the king's order." Chu Wangxi After thinking about it carefully, he found it very reasonable, so he exonerated Shen Wuyu from the crime of trespassing on the palace.

Shen Wuyu's association of harboring a slave with the sun in the sky, social unrest, and insecurity is obviously an exaggeration of the facts, but it has achieved the desired effect. Since exaggeration is "exaggerated" in some aspects and based on authenticity, it is conducive to highlighting the particularity of things, arousing people's imagination, and achieving the effect of highlighting individual images.As in the example below. Three people were talking about how to save money, and one of them said: "I know a person who, in order to save ink, writes whatever he writes in the size of a sesame seed." The second person said: "I know a person who In order to reduce the wear and tear of the watch, the watch was stopped when it got dark." The third person said: "What you said is general, I know an old man who didn't even read newspapers in order to save his glasses." It is not an exaggeration to say that I do not even read newspapers in order to "save" my eyes, but it is not an exaggeration to say that I do not even read newspapers in order to save my glasses.It can be imagined how economical this old gentleman who saves glasses should be when he uses the spirit of saving to do other things! Although exaggeration is exaggerated, it is not the same as exaggeration. It must be based on objective facts and must reflect the essential characteristics of objective things. Only by "exaggerating with restraint" and "decorating without falsehood" can it create a strong shocking effect. Analogy is a rhetorical technique of expressing things as people or people as things, or this thing as that according to certain imagination. Comparison can make people associate, so as to obtain the image and vividness of the discourse.Comparison can be divided into personification and analogy. Personification is also called "personality ratio".It is to endow nature, animals, abstract things, etc. with human words, deeds or thoughts and feelings. Mimetic refers to treating people as objects, or comparing this object to that object. When an old lady from Singapore was visiting Wuyi Mountain, her skirt was accidentally cut by a thorn, and her interest in traveling was greatly reduced, and she wanted to return halfway.Seeing this, the female guide smiled and approached the old man and said, "This is Wuyi Mountain's affection for you! It wants to hold you and not let you leave, so please look at her more." With a few words, the old man's unhappiness was blown away without a trace.The hospitality of Mount Wuyi is endowed by the astute female tour guide, and personification is used here, and the expression is very appropriate. During the Three Kingdoms period, the Ma family had five brothers.These five brothers all have a constant character in their characters.Among the five brothers, Ma Liang has the highest talent and learning. There is a saying in the local area, which is called: "Ma's five constants, white eyebrows are the best." It turns out that Ma Liang's appearance has a characteristic, white hair between his eyebrows.Here we don't say "Ma Liang is the best", but "white eyebrows are the best", and use the appearance feature of "white eyebrows" to refer to Ma Liang. Metonymy is a rhetorical technique that does not directly say the person or thing, but replaces it with other things that are closely related to the person or thing to be said.The objective basis of metonymy is the correlation of things. Using this technique can make language concrete and vivid. Lu Xun said in the article "Warrior and Fly": "A fighter with flaws is a fighter after all, and a perfect fly is just a fly." Here Lu Xun compares "warrior" and "fly", sharp It satirized those shameful slaves who slandered the revolutionaries, and firmly supported the brave fighters who persisted in the revolution. Comparing two different things or two different aspects of the same thing together can make the nature, state and characteristics of things more distinct and prominent, and clearly show the speaker's position and viewpoint.This is the comparison. During the Warring States Period, King Xuan of Qi once summoned Yan Cheng.The king of Qi said to Yan Cheng, "Chai, come here!" Yan Se said to the king in the same tone: "Wang, come here!" The king of Qi was very upset.People around the king of Qi accused Yan Chu, saying: "The king of Qi is the king, and you are the king's servant. How is it proper for you to talk to the king of Qi like this?" Yan Cheng said calmly: "I come to the king to follow the power; the king comes to me to be a corporal. Rather than letting me follow the power, it is better to let the king of Qi be a corporal." The king of Qi was full of anger and asked aggressively: "Is the king noble? Or nobles?" Yan Cheng said: "Scholars are noble, but kings are not noble. In the past, Qin State sent troops to attack Qi State. When their troops passed by the graveyard of the scholar Liu Xiahui, they issued an order saying: 'Whoever gathers firewood within 50 steps of Liuxiahui's graveyard? Anyone who cooks, mows grass and feeds horses will die without pardon!" Later, when they fought with the army of Qi, the Qin army issued another order: "Anyone who can cut off the head of the king of Qi will be enfeoffed with ten thousand households and will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold at the same time!" From these two military orders, it can be seen that the head of a living monarch is not as good as a piece of firewood on the grave of a dead scholar!" King Qi was speechless, speechless. Yan Chu called out "King, come here" in the same tone, which required a certain amount of courage and courage. The comparison of "following the power" and "respectful corporal" shows that he has a well-thought-out plan, and at the same time he puts the base of his speech on the king, that is, he considers the king, attaches importance to scholars, and promotes the prosperity of the country and the people.It's a pity that the king of Qi still couldn't understand his good intentions, and he still had to ask the question of who is nobler than the king or the scholars.The contrast between the firewood from the scholar's tomb and the head of the living king creates a stark contrast that strongly supports his point. In life, we compare two different things, usually in order to make the good look better, the bad look worse, the big look bigger, and the small look smaller; to compare two different aspects of the same thing , It is often to make things more thorough, comprehensive and clear. Quoting is a rhetorical method that is widely used. It refers to citing famous aphorisms, idioms, allusions, etc. in language communication to prove things and explain the truth.The use of this rhetorical technique can enhance persuasiveness and appeal, and make language expressions well-founded and vivid. There are many ways to cite, and the commonly used ones are implicit citation, forward citation, reverse citation and abstract citation. Allusion means allusion, quotation. The original sentence is used in the original sentence.For example, at the Teacher's Day party, a female student said in answering the role of education: "A child who has received a bad education is equal to losing his way." (Kennedy) Therefore, "Education is cheap national defense." (Asian. Aristotelian) "The root of education is bitter, but its fruit is sweet." (Johnson) The root of education is my root. This passage quotes famous quotes and aphorisms from famous figures such as Kennedy and Aristotle, revealing the profound connotation of education-oriented, vivid and profound, and the effect is outstanding. Backquote is to use it against its meaning. Extraction is to extract part of the words in the original sentence and use them. When using citation techniques, strive to be precise and more or less appropriate; the content of the citation must be of real value to the problem, and its content must be authoritative, persuasive, and not clichéd. Two points should be paid attention to when using citations: one is to maintain the integrity of the citations and avoid taking them out of context; the other is to integrate the citations with the meaning to be expressed and become an organic part of the argument, which cannot be put together or even "labeled". The use of parallelism can make the level of semantic expression clear, the language powerful, the rhythm clear, and the meaning smooth.This rhetorical technique is generally composed of three or more phrases or sentences with the same or similar structure, closely related content, and consistent tone. It is used to express things of the same scope and nature, so as to enhance the momentum and rhythm. The beauty of sense and melody strengthens the strength of language. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a wonderful speech on August 28, 1963 at the Black Rally in Washington, USA, in which there are several passages. A hundred years ago, a great American man signed the Emancipation Proclamation.Now we stand in the shadow cast by his memorial.This important document is a great beacon of hope for millions of black slaves who are suffering in the flames of injustice.This document is like a joyous dawn that ends the long night in the cell. However, today, a hundred years later, we have to face the sad fact that black people still do not have freedom; Today, in the vast ocean of material affluence, blacks still live on impoverished islands; a hundred years later, blacks are still struggling in the dark corners of American society and exiled in their own land.So, we're here today to expose the horrific truth. This is our hope.That's the belief we brought back to the South.In this faith we can hew the mountain of despair into a rock of hope; in this faith we can turn the tumult of racial discord in our nation into a song of fraternity; in this faith we can work together and Pray, fight together, go to jail together, fight for freedom together because we know we will be free. In the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., the second paragraph starts with "today a hundred years later", from black people not free, suffering from racial segregation and discrimination, living a poor life and even The politics, economy, life, and legal treatment of being abused and deported concentratedly reveal the tragic and harsh living conditions of black people, which shakes people's hearts; the parallel sentence led by "with this belief" in the last paragraph expresses The unremitting efforts to be carried out, the principles of struggle and the goals of struggle.The use of parallel sentence patterns in the text is like a galloping river with great momentum, which not only vividly expresses the speaker's thoughts and feelings, but also produces exciting rhetorical effects. A pun is the conscious use of the same word or sentence, which has two meanings in the same speech environment: on the surface it means one thing, but in fact it refers to another thing.A pun in a language can make the words implicit, humorous, and interesting, and it can also deepen the meaning, make people think, and leave a deep impression on people. There was a man who was very fond of drinking and often got very drunk.His friends were very distressed and tried to persuade him not to drink too much, but he just refused to listen.Everyone discussed and discussed, and decided to come up with a clever plan to scare him, maybe it can scare him.One day, after he got drunk and vomited heavily, his friends brought a piece of pork liver, stained it with some dirt, showed it to him, and said, "You need five viscera to survive. Now you drink too much and spit out one viscera, only the fourth viscera." , life is already very dangerous, don’t drink any more from now on.” Who would have thought that this man was drunk and not confused, he purposely went mad with alcohol: “Tang Sanzang can go to the Western Paradise to learn Buddhist scriptures, let alone I have four internal organs?” The drunkard uses homophonic characters to associate "hidden" and "dirty" together, which makes friends helpless and fully demonstrates the wit of the drunkard. Ji Xiaolan and He Shen were officials in the same dynasty.Ji Xiaolan served as the servant, and He Kun served as the minister.Once, when they were drinking together, He Shen pointed to a dog and asked, "Is it a wolf or a dog?" Ji Xiaolan was very alert, and immediately realized that He Shen was scolding herself in a roundabout way, so she fought back.He replied calmly: "The vertical tail is a wolf, and the vertical tail is a dog." "It's a wolf" is a homonym for "Shilang", and "Shangshu" is a homonym for "Shangshu". He Shen used homonyms to attack Ji Xiaolan, thinking that he was sure of winning, and extremely clever. As a human being, the cunning He Shen didn't take advantage of it. Three friends went to a small hotel for drinks, and there was only one empty seat left in the shop.The three people refused to give in, quarreled endlessly, and finally agreed: "Whoever brags the most will take this seat." One of the three people is blind.He was the first to say: "I am arrogant, I should take this seat." The other is a dwarf.He said: "Wait a minute, I'm not taller than ordinary people, so I should take the seat." The third person was a hunchback.He said calmly: "Don't fight, in fact, you are all straight (nephews) and recited (generations). This seat should be taken by me as a matter of course." The four agreements on the limitation of strategic arms between the United States and the Soviet Union had just been signed, and Kissinger was in a hotel in Moscow, briefing the accompanying American journalists on the talks in this regard.It was already one o'clock in the morning on May 27, and he was not tired at all. "The Soviet Union is producing missiles at a rate of about 250 a year," Kissinger revealed with a smile. "Gentlemen, if I'm caught here as a spy, we know who to blame." The agile reporters then took up the conversation and probed into the secrets of the United States. "What about our situation? How many submarine missiles do we have with sub-warheads? How many Minuteman missiles have sub-guided multiple warheads?" asked a reporter.Kissinger shrugged: "I don't know exactly how many 'Minuteman' missiles are being deployed with multiple guided multiple warheads. As for the submarines, my difficulty is that I know the number, but I don't know if it is kept secret." The reporter said: "It's not confidential." Kissinger asked back: "Isn't it confidential? Then how much do you say?" The reporter was dumbfounded, so he had to smile "hehe". , Rhetorical question is a rhetorical way to express certain content in the form of question.Rhetorical question contains the answer in the question sentence, and the thought content is just opposite to the superficial meaning of the sentence: the superficial meaning of the sentence is affirmative, but the content is negative, and vice versa. The use of rhetorical questions can strengthen the power of language and express the originally determined meaning more clearly and indisputably. Therefore, it is easy to focus the attention of the audience, create a strong impression on people, and easily arouse people's imagination and passion. It is more effective than positive expression. strength. Carnegie said that if you want to persuade people, the best way is to cite examples to ask the opposite question, which is far more convincing than direct refutation. Once, Napoleon said to his secretary: "Brian, do you know? You will also be immortal." Briand began to wonder what Napoleon meant.Napoleon explained: "Aren't you my secretary?" After Briand understood, he smiled and said: "Excuse me, who is Alexander's secretary?" Napoleon couldn't answer, and praised: "Good question!" Good question, what's the point? Briand understood what Napoleon meant. Although he did not hope to rely on celebrities to become famous, he still did not forget to respect the coach as a secretary, so he used the method of superficially asking for advice but actually asking: "Excuse me, who is Alexander's secretary?" The unreliability of the major premise made Napoleon's conclusion self-defeating.