英语修辞鉴赏与写作

《英语修辞鉴赏与写作》期末复习考点归纳

I. Definition

1. Antonomasia

(1) Daniel:a person of great wisdom; a wise and fair judge

(2) Doubting Thomas: someone who tends not to believe things unless they can see the proof of them; who demands physical evidencein or not to be convinced, especially when this demands is out of place

(3) Judas: someone who betrays under the guise of friendship; traitor

Judas Kiss: a deceitful act of courtesy or a simulated act; insidious treachery

(4) The Tower of Babel: a fantasyplan; a castle in the air; confusion of tongues; a scene of confusion

(5) Trojan Horse: any person, group, or thing that seeks to subvert a nation, an organization, etc. from within

(6) Watergate: scandal; illegal activities; charge or get sb. involved insth.

(7) Dunkirk: retreat in disorder; recession; grave crisis

(8) Waterloo: a severe and deserved defeat after a time of unusual success

(9) Bastille: tyranny of prison; a symbol of tyranny

(10)Beauty and the Beast: a handsome woman with an uncouth or uncomely male companion

(11) The Lion's Share: the biggest part or the best part

(12)Gone with the Wind: be utterly helpless; have no way out

(13) The Grapes of Wrath: an explosive, dangerous situation resulting from the anger or distress of a group of people over a situation

(14) Tartuffe: a hypocrite, who pretends to religious piety

(15) Romeo and Juliet: ill-fated lovers

(16) Munich: policy of appeasement

(17) Gatsby: upstart

(18) Holmes: a man of keen insight and reasoning

(19) Tess: a pure and innocentwoman

(20) The American Dream: a place where everyone has the chance of becoming rich and successful

(21) Beefeater: those living off imperial-cereals or salary provided by the state

(22) The Iron Lady: a tough woman

(23) Foggy Bottom: Department of State; State Department

(24) Father of Lies: the devil; the enemy of mankind

(25) The Big Apple: a popular name for New York City

(26) Shangri-La: a hidden paradise; a secret military base

(27) Downing Street: the British Government

2. Allusion

(1) Cry Wolf: give a false alarm, risking the possibility that people will not believe that you need help later whenyou really do

(2) Cat's Paw: a person used as tool by another; someone who does unpleasant or dangerous jobs on the orders of another person; tool

(3) Skeleton in the Cupboard: an unpleasant, often shocking event or fact from

the past that a person or a family keeps secret

(4) Phoenix: a symbol of immorality; that which risesfrom the ashes of its predecessor

(5) Peeping Tom: a man who furtively watches people's naked body or sexual activities

(6) A Pandora's Box: source of evils

Open Pandora's Box: to do something that unexpectedly causes a lot of new problems that did not exist before

(7) An Apple of Discord: a cause of dispute; a root oftrouble

(8) A Sword of Damocles: something bad that may happen at any time

(9) Helen of Troy: the beautiful woman as a disaster; the face that launched a thousand ships

(10) Achilles' Heel: the only weak or vulnerable point or a single important weakness that can prevent you from being successful

(11) Siren: a dangerous beautiful woman; a woman who is considered to be dangerous

(12) Forbidden Fruit: a pleasure or enjoyment that is disapproved of or not allowed and perhaps therefore more enjoyable, especially a sexual act or illegal sexual relationship; having an affair

(13)Oliver Branch: some gesture to show that one wants to end a struggle against someone; a sign of peace

(14) A Garden of Eden: a place of innocent happiness

(15) Birthday Suit: theskin with no clothes on; complete nakedness

(16) Bite the Bullet: tide over a period of stress with one's teeth set; suffer bravely something very un-pleasant

(17) Waterloo: a severe or crushing defeat

Meet One's Waterloo: suffer a disastrous defeat; to be finally defeated after a long period of success

(18) Woodstein: a journalist who frequently lays bare an inside story of a plot

(19) Deep Throat: a secret giver of information

(20) Columbus's Egg: everything is hard in the beginning; an easy task once one knows the trick

(21) Frankenstein: anything that causes the ruin of its creator

(22) Rip Van Winkle: someone who is unaware of current events and conditions

(23) Uncle Tom: one who is slavish or obedient; a black person who is very friendly or respectful to the whitepeople

(24) Cinderella: a person or thing whose real worth or beauty is not recognized or someone or something that doesn't get as much attention or respect as it deserves; a person who becomes famous overnight

(25) Friday (Man-Friday):an assistant with diverse duties

(26)Fagin: abettor

(27) Shylock: a harsh and cruel usurer; merciless person