文章最忌“假大空”:假,言不由衷,讲出连自己听了都不好意思的话。大,气壮山河,大有“天将降大任于斯人”来解放全世界3/4水深火热老百姓的豪言壮语。空:缺乏具体细节描写的能力。

我捋了捋头发,轻轻仰头一甩,潇洒地对学生说,“先把解放全人类的事情放一放。把我刚才捋头发甩头发的动作准确地描写出来再说。”
“…………”
我说,“等你能够写出‘He re-feathers his hair with his fingers and flicks his bangs back using only his neck muscles.’之类的句子后,才考虑解放全人类吧!”

具体细节的描写,要求笔者用词如狙击手般精准弹无虚发,仅着一字,尽得风流。

文采,是我教学的核心。如何让任何题材的写作活色生香?我要学生们学会熟练自如地运用各种修辞手段:比喻,夸张,讽刺,对比,拟人,委婉,自相矛盾,意外结局,一语双关等等。

我选择一些例句,让学生辨认属于哪种修辞手段:

It gets so cold in Alaska, some of the people go to Siberia for the winter. (夸张)

The barber asked me if I had ketchup on my shirt. I said no. And he dialed 911. (委婉语)

America is the only country where a housewife hires a woman to do her cleaning so she can do voluntary work at the day-care centre where the cleaning lady leaves her children. (讽刺)

Even your wisdom teeth are retarded. (自相矛盾)

In a backward country you can’t drink the water, and in an advanced country you can’t breathe the air. (对比)

Bill Clinton was only a microscopic polyp in the colon of national politics. (比喻)

She got her good look from her father. He is a plastic surgeon. (意外结局)

As soon as you find key to success, somebody always changes the lock. (一语双关)

我希望我的学生写的文章都是轻舞飞扬,幽默俏皮,而不是一脸旧社会苦大仇深的沉重,或是毫无想象力的刻板。我奉为圭皋的写作最佳境界是:

庄谐雅谑皆妙句,嬉笑怒骂尽文章。