Session Ten Rhetorical Devices in English Advertising Rhetorical devices are various forms of ex pression deviating from the normal arrangement or use of words, which are adopted in order to give beauty, variety or force to a com position. Many of them are used in English a vertising to achieve three goals: first, it is to form the brand image or corporate image in consumer’s mind; second, to stress the uniq ness of the advertised product; thirdly, to stre the unique sales proposition of the advertised product. Among them, the third is the most important because of its attraction. Hegel says, ‘beauty comes out of image’. The beauty of English advertising is first characterized by its ideographic image. It embodies the materialized labor in a lively and vivi way. Psychologically, image is realized throu imagination. With the help of rhetorical device advertising leads people to an artistic concep In order to make their adverts unique and eye-catching, the copywriters have to make elaborate designs and draw up remarkable verbal blueprints by working creatively and ap tly applying rhetorical devices. It can be said without any exaggeration that the success of English advertisements has much to do with apt employment of rhetorical devices. Freque ly used rhetorical devices are: simile, metaph rical devices are often used in English advertising, which are discussed briefly here.. 一、Simile “It is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic in common. To make the comparison, words like as, as...as, as if and like are used to tran fer the quality of one thing to another. In othe words, simile is a direct or explicit compariso between two unrelated things, indicating a lik ess or similarity between some abstract qual ties found in both things. The connective wor like or as serves as a bridge linking up the two. The use of an apt simile creates a clear and vivid image of the advertised product or service in consumers’ minds and wake up their mental and emotional resonance. Let’s analyze the following examples. (1) Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine. This example is also a case of simile introduced by the word like. The adman here com pares breakfast without orange juice to a day without sunshine. How vivid and imaginative the simile is! As we all know, a day without sunshine is not warm and cheerful. People usually do not like a cloudy or overcast day, or a day without sunshine, and some people might feel sad or gloomy during days withou sunshine. In the opinion of the adman, for some people it is not desirable to have break fast without orange juice. So how nice it is to have a breakfast with orange juice! (2) The welcome is as warm as the climat at this friendly complex, quietly position at the top of Puerto Rico hillside. Sentence (2) is an example of simile in which the two parts compared are linked by the words as...as. From the simile, we can see that the climate is warm there, and so is the welcome extended to the tourists. The use of simile in this example paints a vivid picture of the people and climate there: the climate is warm and comfortable, and the people there are friendly and enthusiastic an always ready to offer you welcome as warm as the climate there. Though simile is an important rhetorical device in English advertisements, it is far les frequently employed than metaphor, which is one of the most frequently used rhetorical de vices in English advertisements. 二、Metaphor There are some definitions about metapho Like a simile in essence, metaphor also mak a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlike a simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated. Myers describes metapho in this way, ‘Metaphor sets up a relation of similarity between two referents, as if they were the same thing. X is described in terms of Y ’(Myers, 1994:125). C. Hugh Holmanm defines metaphor in A Handbook to Literatur as “An implied analogy which imaginatively identifies one object with another and ascribe to the first one more of the qualities of the se cond or invests the first with emotional or ima ginative qualities associated with the second From the above-mentioned definitions, we can gain a general understanding of metaph Metaphor is an implied comparison between two unrelated things indicating a likeness or Metaphor, unlike simile, does not use like or as to indicate the comparison. Without as or like, it becomes more concise and produces profound associations. Metaphor is considered by many to be the most important and the most common rhetorical device in English advertisements. e.g. (3) To spread your wings in Asia share our vantage point. (4) It’s a country rich in art, with a wealth o museums. Blessed by year round good weather, Spain is a magnet for sun-worshippers In Example (3), readers are compared to big birds which spread their wings, which creates a vivid picture. In Example (4), Spain and ma net, two different things, are compared along the dimension of immensely strong attraction The ad may be changed in different ways: (a) … Spain is just like a magnet for sun-worship pers and holiday-makers; (b)… like a magnet Spain is irresistibly attractive to sun-worshippers and holiday-makers; (c) …Spain is so beautiful and so strongly attractive that it attracts, like a magnet, so many sunworship- pers and holiday-makers; (d) …Spain is as strongly attractive as a magnet, drawing a large number of worshippers and holidaymakers to its alluring places; (e) Spain is sucha country that many sun-worshippers and holiday-makers are irresistibly attracted to it and can not resist the temptation to go there for sightseeing. Compare the original metaphorical sentence with the given paraph rased sentences, and you will find the origina metaphorical sentence is much more concise and the two referents involved in the meta- phorical sentence are made to be more directly associated with each other. “ Metaphors are valuable in advertising lan guage because they can help to suggest the right kind of emotive associations for the product. The way we interpret a metaphor is to see a connection, or symbolic identity, betwee the literal and figurative meaning of an item (So in Bacon’s apothegm, we understand an equation ‘books=food’.). Such irrational identi fications epitomize in language what in more general terms is meant by building up an ima for a product. Or, to put the matter the other way round, a brand image is a metaphor by which a product is identified with an object of the consumer’s desires’ (Leech, 1966:182). Obviously, appropriate application of metaphor plays an important role in English advertising, which can not only render adverts attra tive and picturesque, but also informative and persuasive. So metaphor contributes to prom ting the sale of products and help make adve tised service thrive and flourish. 三、Personification According to A Hand Book to Literature, published by the Bobbs –Merrill Company in 1972, personification is “a figure of speech which endows animals, ideas, abstractions, and inanimate objects with human form, cha racter, or sensibilities; the representing of imaginary creatures or things as having human personalities, intelligence, and emotions whether real or fictitious, by another person.” However, the definition in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Of Current English With Chinese Translation is more concise: “treating sth. that is without life as a human being or representing it in human form” (1991:163). Through personification, animals are endowe with human form or feelings, and inanimate objects, or ideas and abstractions are given life and personal attributes. Personifying the advertised product and giving it feeling and emotion, which only people possess, make an ad more acceptable. Personification is often employed in English adverts. Let’s observe the following examples (1) Flowers by Interflora speak from the heart (2) Oscar de la Renta knows what makes a woman beautiful. (3) She has her own spirit and it graces every one she comes near. (4) “Unlike me, my Rolex never needs a rest. By personification, the adman paints a vivid and imaginative picture. In Example (1), flowe are personified: they seem to be human being who speak from the heart. In other words, the are endowed with human feelings of love, kindness, friendship, so they’re really invaluable gifts. When customers see this advert they are likely to buy some of the advertised flowers to express their true and profound feelings. In Example (2), Oscar de la Renta i personified because it knows how to make women beautiful. The employment of personification is more effective than plain promotion for ladies who have a passion for beauty In Example (3), the perfume, Lauren, is perso nified as a graceful lady. “She” refers not onl to the perfume itself, but to the beautiful lady who loves the perfume. The use of the femini gender “she” indicates that the perfume is use exclusively by females. In Example (4), Rolex is endowed with a human characteristic, but i never needs a rest, which implies that the wa strikes the hour exactly, and it is the most important quality expected of all watches. We can come to the conclusion that the us of personification in advertising attracts the au diences’ attention, stimulates their interest in what is being advertised and helps create an