AnAnalysisontheRhetoricalDevicesinAdvertisingEnglish[摘要]Asamasscommunication,advertisinghassomespecialfeaturesandfunctionsofitsown.Andthecopywritersalwaysusesomedevicestoachieveitsobjective.ThisthesisaimstostudytherhetoricaldevicesusedinadvertisingEnglishsuchasalliteration,rhyme,metaphor,pun,personification,andhyperbole.[关键词]advertisingEnglishrhetoricaldevices[]G2?A[文献标识码]A?A[]1009-5489(2010)06-0108-02.IntroductionWiththedevelopmentofeconomy,advertisingplaysamoreimportantroleinestablishiⅠngbrandawareness,buildingimage,promotinginternationalbusiness,etc.Itprovidesavaluableservicetosocietyanditsmembersthroughdefiningforconsumersthemeaningandtheroleofproducts,services,andinstitutions.Andthelanguageofadvertisinghasapowerfulinfluenceonpeopleandtheirbehaviourbecauseitusessomespecialdevicessuchasrhetoricaldevices..AdvertisingEnglishandItsFunctionsAcⅡcordingtoAmericanMarketingAssociation,themostpopulardefinitionofadvertisementisasfollows:Advertisementisthenon-personalcommunicationofinformationusuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnatureabouttheproducts,servicesorideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroughthevariousmedia.Thus,advertisementisatypeofmasscommunicationbetweencertainsponsorsandacertaintargetaudience.Itprovidesinformationofproductstoconsumerswithanaimtopersuadethemtotakeaction.Therearetwomainfunctionsofadvertising:informingandpersuading.Thelatteristheprimaryfunction,whichmeans,theoverridingfunctionofadvertisingistopersuadeormanipulatethepotentialconsumerstobuyaproductandaccepttheideas,values,andlifestyleswhichareassociatedwiththeproduct.Andtheinformativefunctionservesforthepurposeofexertingthepersuasiveeffectatitsbest..RhetoricalDevicesinAdvertisingEnglishAsuccessfuladⅢvertisementcanalwaystriggertheconsumers'purchasingaction.Inordertoachievethisobjective,advertisementsfrequentlyusesomespecialdevicessuchasalliteration,rhyme,metaphor,pun,personification,hyperboleandsoon.Theserhetoricdevicesaresoimpressiveandpersuasivethattheycancontributetodrawpeople'sattention,arousetheirinterestanddesire,atthesametime,convincethemandfinallypushthemintoactiontobuytheproducts.1.AlliterationandRhymeAlliterationisalsocalledheadrhymeorinitialrhymeanditreferstotherepetitionoftheinitialconsonantclusterinstressedsyllables.ItisfrequentlyusedinadvertisingEnglishbecauseitcanaddcadenceandpowertothesentenceandmaketheadvertisementmoreimpressive.Forexample,Health,humourandhappiness...Giftswe'dlovetogive.(TheSaturdayEveningPost)Inthisadvertisement,health,humour,happinesshavethesameheadrhyme[h],whichmakestheadvertisementimpressiveandeasytoremember.Furthermore,itusesellipsistoleaveusmoreroomtoimaginethatthisnewspaperwillbringyoumoregoodsthanthesethreeaspects.Rhymeistheidentityofsoundsbetweenwordsorverselinesextendingbackfromtheendtothelastfullyaccentedvowelandnotfurther.Justlikealliteration,rhymeisalsocommonlyusedinadvertisingtohelpmemory.Forexample,Hasty,Tasty.(FastFoodRestaurant)Thereareonlytwowordsinthisadvertisement,buttheycanappropriatelyexpressthefeaturesandadvantagesofthisrestaurant.Moreover,thesetwowordswiththesamerhymemakethesentencereadsrhythmicandgiveusadeepimpression.Therefore,alliterationandrhymearetwousefuldevicestopersuadepeopleintoaction.2.SimileandMetaphorSimileisanexplicitcomparisonbetweentwothingsthatareessentiallyunlike,yetarealikeinacertainrespect.Simileisapowerfuldeviceindescripti...