介绍英语广告的风格特点和功能英语专业论文.doc

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1、摘要:据统计 ,广告在英文报纸上占的版面多达百分之六十至百分之七十 ,在英文杂志上所占的版面就更大。广告对社会各个方面的影响越来越大。“硬卖” 广告是人们每天眼见耳闻的一种广告。本文旨在介绍这一类广告的风格特点和功能。In our modern times , advertisement s have infilt rated into every part of our life , no mat ter you likethem or not . There are various kinds of advertisement s , including the apartment for

2、 rent , the house forsale , the employment , goods for sale , services and inst ructions , etc1The purposes of advertisement s are toinfluence and persuade their readers and listeners so as to promote the sales of goods or services. Advertisersbelieve that the functions of advertisement s are inform

3、ation ,persuasion , maintenance of demands , creatingmass market s and quality , as professor Liu Miqing point s out in his book S tyl ist ics and Translat ion .The language of advertising is quite different f rom that of news report . With the development of soci2ety , it has gradually formed it s

4、special characteristics : simple grammatical st ructures , short sentences andrichly suggestive and descriptive words can be found here and there in advertisement s (mostly with pic2tures) . In classified advertisement s many abbreviations and sentences with elliptical st ructures are used forthe sa

5、ke of saving space. Roughly speaking , we can divide advertisement s into two types according to theirforms of expression or techniques of expression : advertisement s of ” Hard - Sell”and advertisement s of”Sof t - Sell .” Advertisement s of ” Hard - Sell”appeal to people s reason and lay st ress o

6、n int roducing the distin2guishing features and merit s to people , t ruthfully telling them the production process and technology theyadopt , their special functions and utility , their cost performance , services , guaranteed conditions and time ,etc , . This type of advertisement s mostly applies

7、 to chemical , mechanical , elect ronic and medicinal product ssince it has to stick to objectivity , accuracy and earnest : let us look at the following drug advertisement :The N ational Osteoporosis Foundationrecommends a diet rich in calciumfrom broccol i , salmon , milk and TumsAmerica has a cal

8、cium def iciency. 80 %of American women don t get enough calcium. That s why , when we reach 50 half of us are likely to get osteoporosis. One out of two !Your bones are calcium. you need calcium. 1 ,000 mgs of it every day. From greens . From milk .From cheese . From Tums. (J ust 2 Tums Ult ra give

9、 you 800mgs of calcium. )You need calcium. Tums is calcium. Of all the wonderful sources of calcium , none is richer , none ispurer , none is easier and more human - being - useful than Tums.That s why doctors recommend Tums. Of all the brands of calcium , doctors recommend Tums most .And Tums is th

10、e first calcium supplement ever recommended by the National Osteoporosis Foundation.Do something. Talk to your doctor . About calcium. About risk factors. About exercise. And aboutTums. And remember , the bet ter you t reat you , the longer you last .From this ” Hard - sell”advertisement we can see

11、:1. Language of this advertisement is comparatively colloquial with simple , short sentences and readilycomprehensible words : there are all together 25 sentences in this advertisement , only three of which arecomplex ones. The longest sentence consist s of 23 words (the third paragraph) and the sho

12、rtest , 2 words(the second paragraph) . On an average there are 7 words in a sentence !2. Of all the 22 simple sentences , 10 have no verbs. Among the 22 sentences , 6 of which are made upof two words , 2 of which are made up of four words and another 2 of which are made up of three words re2spectiv

13、ely. From these figures we can draw a conclusion that the st ructure of this advertisement is well - ar2ranged and quite balanced !3. Simple words. Of all the 150 words in this advertisement , one word has 5 syllables , one has 4 sylla2bles , 8 have three syllables , and the rest have one or two syl

14、lables. And except the two technical terms ”Osteoporosis”and ” calcium”, the rest are everyday colloquial English words. This advertisement is so easyto understand with such a simple st ructure , such short sentences and everyday words that it presses it selfmost close to it s readers and leaves the

15、m a deep , indelible impression.4. Figure of speech.In this advertisement , quite a few rhetorical devices are used :1) Ell ipsesOf all the 25 sentences , nine are elliptical ones. Such as ” one out of two”, ” f rom greens , etc , . Thepurposes of using elliptical sentences are : a) to save space ;

16、b) to make expressions more forceful , st riking ,at t racting and concise ; c) to avoid unnecessary , senseless repetitions so as to make sentences well - knit .2) MetonymyMetonymy is a figure of a speech that has to do with the substitution of the name of one thing for thatof another . This substi

17、tuted name may be an at t ribute of that other thing or be closely associated with it .And the substituted name suggest s the thing meant . In this advertisement , the advertiser uses themetonymy : ” The N ational Osteoporosis Foundation recommends a diet rich in calcium from broccol i ,salmon , mil

18、k and Tums. ” I f we know what calcium means , we can also make out what Tums refers to. Inthe following content of the advertisement , by using a metaphor , it tells it s readers what ” Tums”is : ”Tums is calcium. ” So metonymy is a very useful and effective rhetorical device which compresses much

19、intoa single word and enables readers to associate ” Tums”with calcium.3) Rhetorical repetitionCareless , unintentional repetition will weaken the effectiveness of a statement , for it focuses readersat tention on words rather than on ideas. But deliberate repetition can be a most effective means to

20、 achieveboth clarity and emphasis. For example :Democrat s cannot say no to social progress ; Republicans cannot say no to military spending. The resultis a t ripled national debt and high interest rates.In this advertisement , the advertiser also uses repetition :” Your bones are calcium. Your bone

21、s need calcium.” Of all the wonderful sources of calcium , noneis richer , none is purer , none is easier and none is more human - being - useful than Tums.”4) Cl imaxClimax is , as a figure of speech , derived f rom the Greek word for ” ladder”, and implies the progres2sion of thought at a uniform

22、or almost uniform rate of significance or intensity , like the steps of a ladder as2cending evenly. Climax is widely employed by speakers and writers in persuasive speech , writing and adver2tisement s. It is ext remely effective in stirring up feelings and emotions , or in driving home a point . Fo

23、r ex2ample :” Some books are to be tasted , others to be swallowed , and some few to be chewed and digested.”Reading makes a full man ; conference a ready man , and writing an exact man.( Essays : Of Studies - - - Francis Bacon)In the advertisement we can see how the advertiser adopt s climax to sti

24、r up it s readersemotions :” Your bones are calcium. Your bones need calcium. 1 ,000 mgs of it every day. From greens. Frommilk. From cheese. From Tums.” Talk to your doctors. About calcium. About risk factors. About exercise. About Tums.5) End weightEnd weight , as the phrase it self implies , is a

25、 figure of speech used to end an article or a paragraph bymeans of succinct and imposing words or sentences in an unexpected way to state the topic. For example :” The rest of the world can work harmoniously and f ruitfully with Japan. The chances of doing so aregreatest if we are not af raid to deb

26、ate the nature of Japan s system - - and our own.”(James Fallows , Chalmers Johnson : Beyond Japan - bashing)In this Tums advertisement , end weight is used at the first paragraph :” America has a calcium def iciency , 80 % of American women don t get enough calcium. That swhy , when we reach 50 ,ha

27、lf of us are likely to get osteoporosis. One out of two !”At the beginning , the advertisement says that Americans are short of calcium. Then it narrows therange of calcium deficiency by stating that eighty percent of American women are in want of calcium. Thenit further reduces the scope by indicat

28、ing that half of us are likely to get osteoporosis . Finally it st resses thenumber of calcium deficiency by using a very simple and perfectly clear , yet quite shocking figure : ” One outof two !”In that case , are you sure you are not one of the two ?6) Parallel ismPerhaps not every one of us know

29、s Caesar s pithy statement ” I came , I saw , I conquered. ” But Lin2coln s ” government of the people , by the people , for the people ,”which forms the best part of his famous” Get tysbury Address , ” is certainly known to most student s of English. And John Kennedy s” ask not whatyour count ry ca

30、n do for you - - - ask what you can do for your count ry”has become a quotation familiar tothe Americans.What is so st riking about these statement s ? No doubt , the great ideas they embody. But not everygreat idea is well remembered. There must be something else that has helped to imprint them on

31、people sminds. It is , no doubt , the parallel st ructure that has made these sayings particularly impressive and easy toremember .Parallelism , or parallel st ructure , is a rhetorical device writers use to give clarity and force to their sen2tences. It is a grammatical st ructure in which similar

32、ideas are expressed in similar grammatical forms. Inthe above Tums advertisement , parallelism is applied to echo a powerful and imposing ending :” Talk to your doctors. About calcium. About risk factors. About exercise. And about Tums. And re2member , the bet ter you t reat you , the longer you las

33、t .”The most interesting part of this advertisement isthe boldfaced part , which forms a concent rated advertisement it self . I f you are a careful reader , it is unlike2ly that you will not notice it :” America has a calcium def iciency. Your bones are calcium. Your bones need calcium. You need ca

34、l2cium. Tums is calcium. That s why doctors recommend Tums. Do something.”As I have above mentioned and like the advertisement s you ve read , the ” Hard - Sell”advertisementpays great at tention to the information by showing it s readers comparative figures of great significance. Un2like some simpl

35、e , rough advertisement with the mode ” Buy Brand X because it is cheapest and best”, it tellsreaders a simple t ruth - - ” America has a calcium def iciency.”It uses logic. It reinforces the reasoning byit s many a rhetorical device. And so far as it s style is concerned , the languages used in it

36、are limpid , accu2rate , objective , and simple yet persuasive. Af ter reading the advertisement , even though you won t buyTums , you ve gained at least two things : one is the fact it tells you that everyone is in want of calcium andthe other is the appreciation of it s beautiful style. 参 考 文 献 1

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