【修辞高峰会】Chapter 1——英文修辭概論
Chapter 1——英文修辭概論
修辭的兩大準則：清楚與簡潔：句子首先要寫得清楚，表達明確的意思。清楚之後要簡潔，每個字都要有效果。
兩種不清楚的狀況
一是模糊(vague)，讀者無法明確地掌握作者所要表達的意思；另一種是模棱兩可(ambiguous)，同一句有兩種合理的詮釋，讀者無從判斷作者的原意是哪一個。
Eating too much ice cream adds excessive calories that eventually turn into fat, and some nutritionists suggest that the best defense against temptations like these is to refuse even to go near the refrigerator. (不佳) 代名詞these所指不清。these是複數代名詞，代表複數的先行詞。唯一的複數名詞是calories，不通。誘人的是ice cream，單數，不能作these的先行詞。把temptations like these改為 such temptations，避免使用代名詞these，就不會造成找不到先行詞的困擾。
Many tenants in Taipei try to buy their own houses or apartments, despite prices for such buildings that are unreasonably high.(不佳)句子有兩種解釋：that are unreasonably high形容詞子句可以修飾prices也可以修飾buildings，prices和buildings都可以作that的先行詞，配合複數動詞are。如果是價錢高，就必須改變句型，不用形容词子句而改成副词子句。把that are unreasonably high缩减，留下有意義的部分unreasonably high，再把despite的介係詞片語還原成副詞子句，成為：Many tenants in Taipei try to buy their own houses or apartments, although prices for such buildings are unreasonably high.
兩種不簡潔的狀況
句子夠清楚之後還要簡潔。與簡潔抵觸的修辭錯誤是冗長(Wordy)與重複 (redundant)。要文章精簡，首先要養成一個習慣：避免使用空洞、無內容的字眼。
Slavery arose in a period of time when there was a labor-intensive form of agriculture that was practiced by people.(不佳)句子的毛病是冗長，用了太多空洞的字眼。A period代表的一定是time，所以time就不必提了。when是關係詞，代表time，只因文法的要求而存在。There was的句型只介紹「存在有」的觀念，如果用別的句型帶出a labor-intensive form of agriculture，there was就可以刪去而不影響句意。that was practiced by people這個子句，that was也沒有內容，只有文法的功能，by people這個片語更是多餘：實施農業的自然是人。刪去所有多餘空洞的字眼，精簡為：Slavery arose in a period when labor-intensive agriculture was practiced.如果不是為了交代歷史時代，連in a period也可以刪除，因為它也缺乏具體的內容。
Legislators and social workers alike both agree that drastic measures must be taken to curb soaring rates of juvenile delinquency, which are on a rapid increase.(不佳)句子的毛病是重複。alike，both，agree表示同樣的意思，只須留下動詞agree。Which are on a rapid increase形容詞子句修飾先行詞rates，rates前的形容詞soaring已表達同樣的意思。去除這些成為：Legislators and social workers agree that drastic measures must be taken to curb soaring rates of juvenile delinquency.
無意義的重複會破壞簡潔性，應刪除，若是有補充說明或加強語氣等功能的重複，則是有意義的文字運用。I offer you three secrets to successful public speaking: rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse. 雖然重複了三次rehearse，可成功地達到強調語氣的任務，所以並非無意義的重複。The liver can metabolize, or render harmless, most toxins that enter the body. metabolize就是render harmless，但metabolize是生物學術語，因而重複一遍render harmless具有解釋說明的功能，讓句意更清楚，所以重複是有道理的。
相關字組：相關字組屬於片語的問題，沒什麼道理可說。
Can you distinguish a Chinese and a Japanese? (不佳) Distinguish的用法應該以distinguish A from B或是distinguish between A and B這兩種相關字組出現才對，可改為：Can you distinguish a Chinese from a Japanese? Can you distinguish between a Chinese and a Japanese?
用字：用字(diction)的選擇必須符合英文的慣用法(idiomatic)，否則就不像英文。
The experiment will hopefully shed new light on the causes of cancer.(不佳)hopefully表示in a manner that is full of hope，用於下例：The children are looking at the gift boxes hopefully.主詞是children，抱希望的也是children，這時才能用hopefully來修飾動詞。主詞是experiment，可是抱希望是未明言的別人。此時不宜使用hopefully，應該改用it is hoped: The experiment, it is hoped, will shed new light on the causes of cancer. (正確)
修辭的兩大準則：清楚與簡潔：句子首先要寫得清楚，表達明確的意思。清楚之後要簡潔，每個字都要有效果。
兩種不清楚的狀況
一是模糊(vague)，讀者無法明確地掌握作者所要表達的意思；另一種是模棱兩可(ambiguous)，同一句有兩種合理的詮釋，讀者無從判斷作者的原意是哪一個。
Eating too much ice cream adds excessive calories that eventually turn into fat, and some nutritionists suggest that the best defense against temptations like these is to refuse even to go near the refrigerator. (不佳) 代名詞these所指不清。these是複數代名詞，代表複數的先行詞。唯一的複數名詞是calories，不通。誘人的是ice cream，單數，不能作these的先行詞。把temptations like these改為 such temptations，避免使用代名詞these，就不會造成找不到先行詞的困擾。
Many tenants in Taipei try to buy their own houses or apartments, despite prices for such buildings that are unreasonably high.(不佳)句子有兩種解釋：that are unreasonably high形容詞子句可以修飾prices也可以修飾buildings，prices和buildings都可以作that的先行詞，配合複數動詞are。如果是價錢高，就必須改變句型，不用形容词子句而改成副词子句。把that are unreasonably high缩减，留下有意義的部分unreasonably high，再把despite的介係詞片語還原成副詞子句，成為：Many tenants in Taipei try to buy their own houses or apartments, although prices for such buildings are unreasonably high.
兩種不簡潔的狀況
句子夠清楚之後還要簡潔。與簡潔抵觸的修辭錯誤是冗長(Wordy)與重複 (redundant)。要文章精簡，首先要養成一個習慣：避免使用空洞、無內容的字眼。
Slavery arose in a period of time when there was a labor-intensive form of agriculture that was practiced by people.(不佳)句子的毛病是冗長，用了太多空洞的字眼。A period代表的一定是time，所以time就不必提了。when是關係詞，代表time，只因文法的要求而存在。There was的句型只介紹「存在有」的觀念，如果用別的句型帶出a labor-intensive form of agriculture，there was就可以刪去而不影響句意。that was practiced by people這個子句，that was也沒有內容，只有文法的功能，by people這個片語更是多餘：實施農業的自然是人。刪去所有多餘空洞的字眼，精簡為：Slavery arose in a period when labor-intensive agriculture was practiced.如果不是為了交代歷史時代，連in a period也可以刪除，因為它也缺乏具體的內容。
Legislators and social workers alike both agree that drastic measures must be taken to curb soaring rates of juvenile delinquency, which are on a rapid increase.(不佳)句子的毛病是重複。alike，both，agree表示同樣的意思，只須留下動詞agree。Which are on a rapid increase形容詞子句修飾先行詞rates，rates前的形容詞soaring已表達同樣的意思。去除這些成為：Legislators and social workers agree that drastic measures must be taken to curb soaring rates of juvenile delinquency.
無意義的重複會破壞簡潔性，應刪除，若是有補充說明或加強語氣等功能的重複，則是有意義的文字運用。I offer you three secrets to successful public speaking: rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse. 雖然重複了三次rehearse，可成功地達到強調語氣的任務，所以並非無意義的重複。The liver can metabolize, or render harmless, most toxins that enter the body. metabolize就是render harmless，但metabolize是生物學術語，因而重複一遍render harmless具有解釋說明的功能，讓句意更清楚，所以重複是有道理的。
相關字組：相關字組屬於片語的問題，沒什麼道理可說。
Can you distinguish a Chinese and a Japanese? (不佳) Distinguish的用法應該以distinguish A from B或是distinguish between A and B這兩種相關字組出現才對，可改為：Can you distinguish a Chinese from a Japanese? Can you distinguish between a Chinese and a Japanese?
用字：用字(diction)的選擇必須符合英文的慣用法(idiomatic)，否則就不像英文。
The experiment will hopefully shed new light on the causes of cancer.(不佳)hopefully表示in a manner that is full of hope，用於下例：The children are looking at the gift boxes hopefully.主詞是children，抱希望的也是children，這時才能用hopefully來修飾動詞。主詞是experiment，可是抱希望是未明言的別人。此時不宜使用hopefully，應該改用it is hoped: The experiment, it is hoped, will shed new light on the causes of cancer. (正確)
