(Luận văn thạc sĩ) a study of water and fire as metaphors in american and vietnamese short stories of the 20th century

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES PHÍ THỊ THU TRANG A STUDY OF WATER AND FIRE AS METAPHORS IN AMERIC

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

PHÍ THỊ THU TRANG

A STUDY OF WATER AND FIRE AS METAPHORS IN AMERICAN AND VIETNAMESE SHORT STORIES

NGHIÊN CỨU ẨN DỤ NƯỚC VÀ LỬA TRONG TRUYỆN

NGẮN THẾ KỶ 20 CỦA MỸ VÀ VIỆT NAM

MINOR M.A THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

CODE: 602215

HÀ NỘI, 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

PHÍ THỊ THU TRANG

A STUDY OF WATER AND FIRE AS METAPHORS IN AMERICAN AND VIETNAMESE SHORT STORIES

NGHIÊN CỨU ẨN DỤ NƯỚC VÀ LỬA TRONG TRUYỆN

NGẮN THẾ KỶ 20 CỦA MỸ VÀ VIỆT NAM

MINOR M.A THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

CODE: 602215 SUPERVISOR: VĂN THỊ THANH BÌNH, M.A

HÀ NỘI, 2010

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Scope of the study 2

3 Objectives of the study 2

4 Methods of the study 3

5 Design of the study 3

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT 4

Chapter 1: Theoretical background 4

1.1 An overview of metaphor 4

1.1.1 What is metaphor? 4

1.1.2 Components of metaphor 5

1.1.3 Types of metaphor 6

1.2 Metaphor in literature 7

1.3 American short stories of the 20th century 9

1.4 Vietnamese short stories of the 20th century 10

Chapter 2: Water and fire as metaphors in American and Vietnamese short stories of the 20 th century 12

2.1 The popularity of water and fire as metaphors 12

2.2 The formation of metaphors of water and fire 14

2.2.1 Lexical items 14

2.2.2 Parts of speech 20

2.3 The functions of metaphors of water and fire 23

2.3.1 The description of strong emotions 23

v

2.3.2 The creation of imagery 32

2.4 Summary of the chapter 36

PART THREE: CONCLUSION 38

1 An overview of the study 38

2 Pedagogical implications 40

3 Suggestions for further studies 42

REFERENCES 43 APPENDIX A I APPENDIX B II APPENDIX C III APPENDIX D VIII APPENDIX E XX APPENDIX F XXIX APPENDIX G XXX