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Module 6: Sentences and Paragraphs |
6.4 Sentences and Paragraph
Day 4 Figurative Language
Figurative language is common in everyday English. 形象式/比喻式的語言
What is Figurative language? 甚麼是形象式/比喻式的語言 ?
The writer uses comparisons (comparing the features of people, things or ideas) in a description, so that readers can get a figure in their minds. The picture gives a more vivid idea of what is being described.
作家會用比較來形容人或物的特徵，藉此令讀者可以在腦中有一個形象化的概念。這個形象可以令概念更生動，令讀者更易明白所形容的人或物。
Why do we need to understand Figurative language? 為甚麼要明白形象式/比喻式的語言 ?
It can tell us the writer’s attitude (opinions or feelings) towards what is being described. Reader can get a negative or positive feeling, depending on the language used and the ‘picture’ created by the writer. So understanding figuration language makes us understand the passage better.
它們可以告訴我們，作者對所談及的東西的態度,意見和看法。讀者可以根據作者所用的語言，以及腦海中所得的形象化概念，得到一個負面或正面的感覺。所以明白形象式/比喻式的語言可以讓我們更明白文章。
Look at the examples of figurative language below. Think about:
- - what is being described (a)
- - what it is being compared to (b)
- - whether the feeling is negative or positive
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Example |
Feeling |
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Look at that man (a)! He’s eating like a pig(b). |
Negative |
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You’re very slim. In fact, you(a) ‘re as light as a feather (b). |
Positive |
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This meal (a) is rubbish (b). |
Negative |
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Advertisements (a) force (b) the idea of losing weight into people’s mind. |
Negative |
There are three main forms of figurative language 以下是三大類形象式/比喻式的語言 : simile明喻，metaphor 隱喻，and personification擬人法。
1. A simile is a direct comparison between two unlike things.
明喻是直接比較兩件不相似的事物
It must use the word ‘like’ or the phrase ‘as…as’ together with a noun.
一定要使用 ‘like’ 或短語 ‘as…as’ + 要比較的名詞
EXAMPLE
Mr. Wong’s belly is as round as a tyre.
Mr. Cheung eats like a bird.
2. A metaphor is an indirect comparison between two unlike things.
隱喻是間接比較兩件不相似的事物
It does not use the word like or the phrase as…as. It says that something is something else.
這種比喻法不會使用任何的字或短語來比較，而是直接把A說成是B。
EXAMPLE
Dieting is a nightmare.
That chocolate cake was a slice of heaven.
3. Personification is when a human characteristic (an action that only humans can do or a feeling only humans can have) is
given to something non human, like an animal, an object or an idea.
擬人法是把一些非人的東西 (如動物或死物) 說成有人的特性。
EXAMPLE
I could hear the ice-cream calling out my name, so I had to eat it.
The apple shook with fear as I bit into its juicy flesh.