畢業(yè)論文：On the Rhetorical Devices in Speech on Hitlers Invasion of The U.S.S.R

On the Rhetorical Devices in Speech on Hitlers Invasion of The U.S.S.R

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Bachelor Degree of Arts

English Major 2008
College of Foreign Languages
May 2012

Abstract: Rhetorical devices have long been acclaimed either domestically or internationally as one of the most powerful and effective instruments to make communication more successful. Vitally important considerations have come from many attempts and efforts of well known writers or public speakers. The Speech on Hitlers Invasion of the U.S.S.R is reputed as a masterpiece combining lots of figures of speech syntactically, le*ically and phonetically. Discussion and analysis of this piece will greatly contribute to the further understanding of the significance rhetorical devices maintain in literature.

Key words :parallelism, metaphor, alliteration,
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Rhetoric has gradually come to be understood as the ability to speak or write in ornate, showy language. At present, rhetoric is regarded as the art of effective communication with the increased stress on efficiency and efficacy, and the ascendance of the belief that languages are means of communication.

Speech on Hitlers Invasion of the U.S.S.R, as one of the most significant immortal piece, is acclaimed internationally, to a large e*tent, because of its variety of rhetorical devices, in particular, the ju*taposition of parallelism and metaphor , in addition to occasional employment of phonetic stylistic devices.

2. Interpretation of Parallelism
2.1 Definition and Beauty of Parallelism
Parallelism is widely used in literature, especially in public speech primarily because of the following reasons. First, as it is defined in the A Dictionary of Literary Terms as "It consists of phrases or sentences of similar construction and meaning placed side by side, balancing each other"(呂煦. 2004:260.)It follows therefore that one of the most striking features of parallelism is its beauty of structure. Symmetry has always been preferred in various kinds of literature and parallelism is a typical representative of symmetry. Secondly, parallelism attaches much more emphasis to the intonation of the speech. Rhetoric originated in speaking and initially was employed in persuasion and argumentation, thus making it a powerful political weapon of great orators to gain support and stay in power. The symmetrical structure makes it possible that more emphasis can be placed when spoken out. Thirdly, it is of great assistance in strengthening feelings. Consecutive similar structures is quite instrumental in e*pressing feelings when making a public speech.

Using parallel structures creates rhythm and balance and enables the writer to present ideas clearly, concisely, and smoothly. Perhaps even more importantly, parallelism can help a writer highlight or emphasize information or make a powerful point. Without parallelism, writing can become clunky, awkward, and needlessly confusing. With it, reading can become easy to understand, pleasing to the ear, and even persuasive.

Technically, parallel structures falls into four categories according to the linguistic level at which it occurs: a series of words, a series of phrases, a row of phrases and a series of sentences. The following are some typical e*amples taken from the speech by Winston Churchill

2.2 Interpretation of Parallelism in the Sample Speech
From "I see the Russian soldiers standing on the threshold of their native land, guarding the fields which their fathers have tilled from time immemorial, “to "Behind all this glare, behind all this storm , I see that small group of villainous men who plan, organize, and launch this cataract of horrors upon mankind", seven "I see " give a detailed account of the world in which the Nazidom e*erts its villainous influence. Parallel structures connect all of these seemingly unrelated and covertly demonstrate the cause ……（未完，全文共22058字，當前僅顯示3967字，請閱讀下面提示信息。收藏《畢業(yè)論文：On the Rhetorical Devices in Speech on Hitlers Invasion of The U.S.S.R》）