【正文】 eek, Latin, French, etc.In present day, the meaning of rhetoric has been extended. Rhetoric assumes the following characteristics, that is, the elaborated and exaggerated language, the art of using language effectively and persuasively, the skills of using language effectively, the structure of verbal munication.No matter for speaking or writing, rhetoric emphasizes its importance in the effective munication. American linguists Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn therefore wrote in their Modern Rhetoric, “Rhetoric is the art of using language effectively.” In the dictionary Oxford Advanced learner’s EnglishChinese Dictionary (6th edition) the definition for rhetoric is “the skill of using language in speech or writing in a special way that influences or entertains people.” Rhetoric is an art to use language effectively with special aims.英語演講中的修辭手法Rhetoric Device in English Speech 第3頁英語演講中的修辭手法Rhetoric Device in English Speech 第3頁 The Function of Rhetoric Rhetorical devices are variations of literal or ordinary forms of expressions. Their function is to make the thought more striking and effective. A fresh and suitable rhetorical device appeals to the imagination, creates mental pictures and makes the speech or writing vivid, impressive and interesting. Rhetorical devices can make language more vivid by using the simple words to express plex meanings. By the use of rhetoric, even abstract ideas can bee concrete. Rhetoric can make the modified subjects more prominent, distinctive, and specific. By the use of rhetoric, the language can give people more space to imagine. Whereas, without the use of rhetoric, the language is boring and there is no vigor in the language.For example: Light as a breeze, soft as a cloud.In the sentence, the writer used a kind of rhetorical devices—simile. Simile is a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike subjects are pared. Simile often signals itself by “l(fā)ike” or “as”. By using simile, it helps the writer to better municate with his readers. It is easy for the readers to understand and remember the sentence.3． An Analysis of Rhetoric in English SpeechSpeech can arouse people’s attention and profound feeling to take action. Languages should be used properly in specific situations and occasions. Figures of speech are ways of making our language figurative. When we use words in other than their ordinary or literal sense to lend force to an idea, to heighten effect, or to create suggestive imagery, we are said to be speaking or writing figuratively. Hence, it is quite necessary for us to learn rhetoric, which serves as a helper to us in writing and speaking different kinds of styles. Through learning rhetoric, we may be in a position to express ourselves more eloquently and properly.Several kinds of rhetorical devices are frequently used in speech, and it is necessary to study them one by one by giving definitions and making illustrations. SimileA simile is a direct parison between two objects or attributes that, although essentially different, do have some similarity. These direct parisons are easy to identify, as they use words such as like or as to denote the parison being made. The simile helps to create the clear image, much easier for the others to accept.A simile is made up of four parts: “the tenor”, “the vehicle”, “the paring word” and “the ground”. “The tenor” is the subject of simile. “The vehicle” is the thing pared to or the part transported. “The paring word” is the simile marker such as, “l(fā)ike, as, than, as if, similar to.” “The ground” is the mon properties owned by “the tenor” and “the vehicle”.For example:“No, no, we are not satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”This sentence is from Martin Luther King39。s Remarks at Yale)英語演講中的修辭手法Rhetoric Device in English Speech 第4頁英語演講中的修辭手法Rhetoric Device in English Speech 第4頁⑤“These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.”( General Douglas MacArthur, Sylvanus Thayer Award Acceptance Address)⑥“Those two things the Almighty said to be necessary I should say He knew to be necessary, or else He would not have so prescribed that the property would be kept among the general run of the people and that everyone would continue to share in it。who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time。s speech “we shall fight them on the beaches” is one of the defining speeches during the Second World War. It uses the technique of repetition to very good effect. “We shall go on to the end。 we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be。 we shall fight in the hills。t have been around here in 1961, when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in interstate travel.If I had sneezed, I wouldn39。t have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.If I had sneezed, I wouldn39。t sneeze.”(Martin Luther King, Jr.,I39。t have been in Memphis to see a munity rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. I39。t ride your back unless it is bent.If I had sneezed If I had sneezed I wouldn39。s the use of never”, is leaving out conjunctions such as and”, but this way gives a speech a blunter, more forceful tone.In a speech addressed by George Bush, “We know what works: freedom works. We know what’s right：freedom is right. We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on earth：through free markets, free speech, free elections and exercise of free will unhampered by the State.” Repeated the words ‘free’ and ‘freedom’, to express his strong faith in freedom.Throughout Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech, repeating words and sentence. Repetition is a very outstanding feature in this speech. It belongs to the stylistic device of syntactic overregularity. The term re