Rhetorical Devices
1. Simile(明喻)
E.g. Gone was the fierce fervour of the days when Bryan had swept the political arena like a prairie fire.(22)
Analysis: (1) 此句是一个倒装句,正确语序应为:The fierce fervour ……was gone.
(2) 句中swept……like a prairie fire 为明喻,指的是布莱恩参加竞选活动时到各地巡回演讲击溃自己的对手的情景。
2.Metaphor(暗喻)
E.g. ……my case would snowball into one of the most famous trials in U.S. history.(9)
Analysis: snowball 原指“滚雪球”,此处引申为“像雪球一样越滚越大”,十分形象。
E.g……our town of 1.500 people had taken on circus atmosphere.
Analysis: circus atmosphere把小镇上那种气氛比作像看马戏表演一样。
Then the court broke into the storm of applause that surpassed that for Bryan.(25)
Analysis: a storm of applause 把法庭上的辩论比作风暴
Now Darrow sprang his trump card……the defence.(30)
Analysis: sprang one’s trump card 原指在某些扑克游戏中能胜过其他花色的牌的花色主牌,此处喻为“使出绝招”。
The oratorical storm that……the passing years.(48)
Analysis:这句话把法庭上的那场辩论比喻作一股春风,它带来了思想学术自由的新气象。
3.Pun(双关语)
E.g. ……Darwin is right---inside.(26)
Analysis:此句可有两种理解:破折号前面的意思是“达尔文先生是对的,”把整个句子连起来意思就成了“达尔文先生就在店里面。”这是个有趣的文字游戏。
4.Oxymoron(矛盾修辞法)
E.g. ……marching backwards to the glorious age of the 16th century. (13)
Analysis:(1)marching backwards 这两个词义矛盾的词语,前者以为“大步前进”后者译为“倒退”。
E.g. Dudley Field Malone called my conviction a” victorious defeat.”(45)
Analysis:法庭审判的结果对作者来说是“a victorious defeat.”,表面上是失败了,但从某种意义上看是进化论者(作者的观点)胜利了,它唤醒了盲目崇拜宗教神学的民众,有利的推动了科学思想的传播具有伟大历史意义。
5. Irony(反语)
E.g.….. marching backwards to the glorious age of the 16th century. (13)
Analysis: 16th 是欧洲最黑暗的年代,作者却有意称之为“光辉的年代”
E.g. But now there is a William Jennings Bryan University on a hill-top overlooking the valley.(47)
Analysis: there is a William Jennings Bryan University…..此句用了Irony的修辞手法。作者在37年之后重返戴顿镇,却意外的发现一所以William Jennings Bryan 命名的大学,但由于大学是传播科学知识、开启人类心智的摇篮,而莱恩一生都在顽固的阻挠和反对科学知识与新思想的传播,死后其大名却被冠名于大学校名之上。
6.Repetition(重复)
E.g. The truth……the truth…….the truth to support it.(24)
Analysis:作者运用的三个the truth,强调了律师在法庭上对真理的极力维护,增强了说服性。
7.Transferred epithet(转移法)
E.g. Darrow had whispered throwing a reassuring arm round my shoulder as we were waiting for the court to open.(2)
Analysis: reassuring arm直译过来是“安慰的手臂”,实际上是指这种安慰的方式。
E.g. Darrow walked slowly round the baking court.(14)
Analysis: baking:烘烤的;正常适用于baking 的地方应该是“烤面包”之类的词,但该词在这形象的描绘出了出庭时的气氛就像灼热的锅使人感到郁闷、灼热、紧张。
8.Antithesis (对比修辞法)
E.g. The Christian believes that man come from above. The evolutionist believes that he must have come from below.
Analysis: from above在这里指的是基督教相信上帝创造了人类,from below指的是进化论者认为的人一定来自地上。两种不同的观点对比,揭示了基督教徒和新教徒在在思想认识上的不同。
9.Hyperbole(夸张)
E.g. His reputation as an authority on Scripture is recognized throng out the world.
Analysis:作者集中笔墨描绘了丹诺在法庭审理达到高潮的出色表现,丹诺无不讽刺的尊称布莱恩为“圣经研究专家”,其“权威和声望举世公认”,这是一种夸张的说法。
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