什麼是英文的文采？
中國的文章都有文采可言，遣詞造句，各種修辭手法：比喻，擬人，排比，通感……
那麼在英文文章中有所謂的「文采」么？ 比如，結構的一致，押韻之類的？ 如何寫作才能寫出看上去很有文採的英語文章？
由於這個回答最近又有人看，略作一些修改和補充。
——2017.5.4 Second Edition——
題主應該是想了解一下英語中使用的修辭手法，從中獲得啟發以此來提高英語的寫作水平吧？這在《英語修辭賞析 (豆瓣)》一書中有很詳細的研究，我們常接觸到的是其中美學修辭的部分。簡單地介紹一下。
1.最常用——Figure of speech 比喻
比喻雖然最常見，但其中也有一些細分：明喻、隱喻、提喻。
①明喻
本體和喻體都會出現的比喻，A像B。（like,unlike,a bit like,as if,similar to,something of...)
例如：
Like a chameleon, he could merge unobtrusively into the background.
他就像一條變色龍，可以神不知鬼不覺地隱藏在背景中間。
明喻里又可細分為描寫型明喻、說明型明喻、啟髮型明喻。
描寫型明喻就是用簡明的形象和言辭把人物、事件說清楚。
說明型明喻就是通過簡單具體的形象把複雜的概念、過程等說清楚。
啟髮型明喻就是附帶一定暗示的明喻，需要思考才能懂得背後的含義。
以上中文裡都很常見，不作詳細闡述。
②隱喻
明喻的進一步，本體和喻體在形式上關係更密切，不再出現如「像」「好似」之類的詞。
其中又有兩種形式：認同結構、折射結構。
認同結構就是直接用「be 是。」 He is totally a chameleon. 他完全就是條變色龍。
折射結構中本體和喻體不一定同時出現，更含蓄一點。
（1）通過動詞折射：Let your unhappiness fly. 讓你的不快飛走吧。（通過一個「fly」把不快比喻成了某種會飛的東西）
又比如電影《死亡詩社》中的一句語錄：
Seize the day,boys. 把day比作了某種能seize的東西。
（個人覺得翻譯成及時行樂不是很妥，把握當下、抓住金日？也不知道怎樣才合適，seize有一種牢牢抓住不放手的感覺，day指日子、白天、時光都可以，真可謂只可意會不可言傳。）（2）通過名詞折射：She becomes my nanny. 她變成了我的保姆。（她關心我到了個什麼程度呢？簡直像個保姆照顧小孩子。）
③提喻用局部代表整體/整體代表局部。
He has seven mouths to feed in the family. 他家裡有七張嘴要喂。（家裡有七個小孩要撫養，用嘴代表人）2.Personification 擬人
這個沒什麼好介紹的，也是非常常見的手法。把物體直接當人一樣寫。3.Metonymy 借代
借代和隱喻的區別是借代的兩樣東西的關係非常接近，唇齒相依，互相代替並不影響表達的意思。像常見的：May I have a word with you？ 我能和你說一句嗎？其實就算借代，用一個word代指了一句sentence。No word has come from the battle filed. 前線還沒有消息傳來。（word代指news）The kettle is boiling. 水壺開了。（其實是水開了。用水壺代指水。）4.Antonomasia 換稱
用專有名詞代指一般概念。像著名的：用Uncle Sam代指the United States。宗教里Judas（猶大）是traitor（叛徒）的代名詞。
這些名詞大多來源於歷史文化、宗教文化等，希臘文化和希伯來文化是主要淵源。5.Bifocal Visions 雙重聚焦
貌似很厲害的樣子。。。= =其實就是雋語、反語、諷刺。。。事物似是而非，自己和自己對立。這是美式幽默的一大來源。①雋語（juan 第四聲，雋永的雋）雋語就是把話說得矛盾，達到言外有意的效果。Enemies are also friends. 敵人也是朋友。②反語，諷刺
不必多說吧，看看魯迅、契訶夫的文章。You have really done something good for me,huh? 你可真是給我做了點好事，嗯？6.Transferred Epithet 移就
把原來用來形容A的東西轉移來形容B。可分為通感、移情、轉類。①通感（Synesthesia）學校里都學過。一種感官的感受轉移到另一種感官上。the liquid stillness of night 夜靜如水noisy color 喧鬧的色彩（過分鮮艷的色彩）dry通常修飾與氣候相關的名詞，如乾旱，現在也用來修飾與態度有關的名詞，反應等。
7.Rhetorical Repetition 疊言
也就是重複和排比，往往是加強感情、留下深刻印象。①重複比如Shakespeare的《King Lear》里，愛女Cordelia冤死獄中，李爾王呼天搶地、痛不欲生：Lear：And my poor fool is hanged,no no no life! Why should a dog,a horse,a rat,have life,and thou（你，古英文）no breath at all?Thou"ll come no more!Never,never,never,never,never!李爾王：我可憐的傻瓜被絞死了。沒命、沒命、沒命了！為什麼狗、馬、鼠都有生命，唯獨你沒有一絲呼吸？你再也不會回來了！永遠永遠永遠永遠永遠不會回來了！連續用了四個「I have a dream that」，很有感染力。
著名的林肯總統的葛底斯堡演講：But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. 但是從更廣義上來說，對於這片土地我們無法獻身、無法神化也無法聖化。是那些死去了或存活的勇敢戰士們使它變得神聖，而我們無力為之增減一分。8.Climax and Anticlimax 層進和突降
①層進就是遞進，為了突出後面的東西，敘述由淺入深。
比如很多成功人士傳記故事，先從他的小成就敘述，一步步展開他的成功之路。常用來設置懸念，推向高潮。欲揚先抑、欲抑先揚也是其中的一種。②突降語意從重大、深刻忽然轉入平淡、荒謬，給讀者一個完全沒意料到的結果。不少英文詩歌里有這種手法。中文也有啊，魯迅先生就寫過：「樓下一個男人病得要死，那間壁的一家唱著留聲機；對面是弄孩子。樓上有兩人狂笑；還有打牌聲。河中的船上有女人哭著她死去的母親。 人類的悲歡並不相通，我只覺得他們吵鬧。」前面是紛雜的人生百態，好像要說什麼大道理似的，結果最後就一句「我只覺得他們吵鬧。」看看，不愧是大家！（跑題了）9.Quote 引用
名人名言，引經據典，不多說。10.Hyperbole 誇張
言過其實，幽默，加深印象。比如表達驚訝：眼睛都蹬出來 Eyes stare out.下巴都掉到地上了 The chin fell to the ground. 褒貶逆用也包含在其中，用來表達委婉的意思。比如學生很笨。直言：The student is obtuse.婉言：The student is a bit slow for his age. 反應較慢。11.Pun 雙關
文字遊戲一大來源。具體有詞義雙關、諧音雙關兩種。詞義雙關，比如美國獨立戰爭時期著名戰爭政治家本傑明·富蘭克林的一句名言：We must all hang together,or we shall all hang separately. 我們必須團結一致，否則我們會被一個個絞死。這個翻譯難以還原，不過每個語言有自己的體系，沒啥好說的。至於諧音雙關就是讀音相同，利用相同讀音達到幽默、強調的效果。雙關就看廣告好了，玩得很6。
12.Antithesis 對照
並列兩組截然不同的詞，強調差異，突出矛盾，表達深層主旨。As a spot on the weather map,Rochester is one chilly town.But as a model for education reform,it"s shaping up as the hottest place in America.在氣象圖上，羅切斯特只是一座寒冷的小鎮。但作為教育改革的典範，該市正漸漸成為全美熾熱的焦點。又或者好壞對比、高的階級與低的階級對比、過去與今天對比。只要含有對立的屬性。13.End Weight 重尾
在全文結束時，以凝重簡練的文辭、出其不意的方式，點清題旨，發人深省，意味深長。比如在全文結束，獨立成段，提出一個問題：So what"s the next problem? 那麼下一個問題又會是什麼呢？
大致就是以上這些。你可以發現，英語的修辭基本中文是都有的。
說完英語使用的修辭後，我想再談談對「文采」的看法。
百科對「文采」一詞是這樣定義的：本指事物具有錯雜艷麗的色彩，現多指文章中表現出來的典雅艷麗和令人賞心悅目的色彩和風格。一般來說，一篇文章的文采主要通過其優美的語言表現出來。
也就是說，用優美的語言，讓人覺得讀來賞心悅目。怎麼樣算賞心悅目？
這些嗎？
①人生只不過是唯美的脆弱，我們在夏里拾起那遠去的一角。我們的過去都已經在逝去里消失了，停留於下一秒的空白的是關於我們還在繼續的整個城市的青春。人生只不過是唯美的脆弱。我們在城市裡行走。心。開始藏在被現實掩蓋的地方。
②在情感流露的真實里，或許，我們都會把脆弱隱藏，直到離我們心臟最痛的地方。風吹亂了又一季的憂傷，突然想起了很喜歡的曾經自己的一句話『把你的名字刻在煙上，然後吸進肺里，把悲傷埋葬，把憂傷遺忘』。如果我的世界是一座空城，我還是會站在這城市，流離失所的仰望。
③胭脂暈浮，少年時光楚楚，輕狂多年不服輸，一剎那恍惚，落花不知歸宿，只等一人朝暮，一人歸途，憂心處處，驚擾了時光中的孤獨。
這三段隨機摘自美文網站的首頁和美文貼吧精品貼。雖似各有千秋，實則大同小異。
這種才算具有典雅艷麗和令人賞心悅目的色彩和風格的文章？
然後我去查了查大家認為的英語美文，是這樣的：
風格迥異。英語美文大多敘述故事，很少有成段成段的抽象描寫，言辭相較中文樸實無華。
它們最大的區別就在於此：在大多人的觀念中，中文美文是以文而美，而英文的美文是以理而美。
何以見得呢？
中文有積澱了幾千年的語言體系，在言簡意賅，含蓄婉轉的文言文中醞釀，又脫胎換骨以白話文換來重生。中文是象形字，很多字單獨拿出來也有意思和淵源。除此以外，中文相較英文來說語法也不那麼嚴格。
這些原因導致了中文具有高度的靈活性。這份天然的靈活衍生自文化，又反作用於文化，我們可以用複雜多變的文字來表達複雜多變的心情，所以才有這麼個成語：舞文弄墨。舞弄之間，意在不言外。含蓄朦朧好似一層神秘又艷麗的面紗，恰恰迎合了人在成長期豐富變換的感情膠著，所以極盡文字之美、夾雜不言的憂愁和感傷就能在年輕人群中大行其道。
可是，一味地舞弄，驚艷就變成了俗艷。當人們走過成長期以後，再回首時就會看到面紗背後的虛假和空虛。
真正的美是能經歷時間的考驗的，文字的美也不出其外。許多國外的作品，其中的經典語錄都平平無奇，卻實則言簡意不簡，在語言包裹下的，是它通過一系列情節鋪墊好的感情和哲理。它想要傳達的，早就已經暗暗塞進你的心裡了，只是通過一句略帶文採的話語，點亮了它們，讓你看得更加清晰明確。
英文的文采，體現在對它敘述的內容的表現力上。也就是把一個東西說清楚。一件事情，一個人，一種現象，一段過程，一種原理或者一種感情，都隨便，只要說得清楚，語言可以隱晦、生動，但是再隱晦，再生動，也是為了說清楚。
《On writing well》一書中提到，好的寫作取決於五個關鍵：Simplicity、style、audience、words、unity。言辭簡潔、有自己的風格、區分受眾、改善表達、講求整體連貫。這幾大特徵，不就是為了流暢地表達思想而服務的嗎？《中式英語之鑒》一書中也曾指出中式英語的一大毛病：啰嗦，多餘。這種啰嗦多餘暗含了我們喜歡反覆表達同一意思的習慣，說白了，就是話總說不到點上，沒法給人清晰明了的感覺。
所以說，舞文弄墨對於五千年的文化不是難事，但是一味追求文字優美，就會失去表達的本來意義。加強內容，再用文字去表現，在這一點上，是值得我們反思並向西方學習的。
希望對你有啟發。
英語的文采主要體現在用詞，不僅龐大，多樣，而且準確，不多餘。
做一回Quora的搬運工，來看看大神的押頭韻。
https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-grammatically-sound-sentences-in-English-where-every-word-starts-with-the-same-letter
謝邀。
我最近在讀《現代英文選評註》。
我拿第一章舉例吧：The Bear。福克納是一個難讀的作家，《熊》又是一篇難讀的中篇小說。福克納的艱澀，同近代詩歌的艱澀是同一種性質：都是用不平常的字，再用字和字之前的不平等的結構來表現一個對於作者有特殊意義的世界。
按照知乎搞事情的講法：你讀過的英文小說中，最長的一句話是多少字？
The Bear中有一個長句，一句長達1600字。這種長達一千六白字、創紀錄的句子，是要從感覺印象和回憶所交織的心理狀態反映幾十年的事情，那是不容易分析的。夏老這本書，《現代英文選評註》，起初是偷懶，厚厚的英文選集懶得讀，想看看這類書來圈個大概，亞馬遜的Kindle版只賣4.99元。
沒想到內容深入淺出，或許是因為我一直很喜歡英語語法的緣故，讀了喜歡極了，專門去讀肯定讀不下去，但當床邊書讀，每天晚上睡覺前讀一會兒。它從語法、詞法、文學修辭等各個角度剖析，這本書最能讓中國讀者感受到英文文采。
它告訴你，什麼是美，哪裡好，好在哪裡，忍不住做筆記，可做筆記又忍不住把整本書抄一遍，索性難得管了，慢慢讀。
很像《金聖嘆評水滸》。專門找了The Bear的英文注釋評註讀了讀，完全不如夏志清這本書寫得好。
哎，中國人的英語水平怎麼能這樣厲害。
喜歡英文的人，只要試讀一章，保證喜歡，推薦。
開通了個人公眾號——sparetime2017 / 姜大白，在哪裡我把關於自學英語的內容系統的整理了，現已開門迎客，歡迎大家去看一看，有朋自遠方來~謝邀！
題主所列的中文寫作手法，英文中也都有。多讀一些精彩的英文著作，就慢慢都能體會到了。比如排比，去讀一下羅斯福對日宣戰演講中的那一長串 Yesterday，或丘吉爾的 We will fight them in / on the XX 的演講稿，就知道了。如何寫作才能寫出看上去很有文採的英語文章
謝邀，回答不了。我自己也寫不出這樣的文章。
但大致的方向我想應該是：多讀、多寫、多修改。個人感覺，與其說英文的文采，不如說英文的風格。
英文的風格，就是簡明，直白（用詞特別形象，就是「直白」）。還有一點，像個故事，而不是一幅畫。
轉載一篇William Zinsser的演講整理稿（英中對照）
William Zinsser - Writerhttps://theamericanscholar.org/writing-english-as-a-second-language/
Writing English as a Second LanguageThe American Scholar: Writing English as a Second Language - William Zinsser
美國學者：用第二語言英語寫作
A talk to the incoming international students at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, August 11, 2009
致哥倫比亞新聞學研究生院的國際留學生們的一段話，2009年，8月11日
Five years ago one of your deans at the journalism school, Elizabeth Fishman, asked me if I would be interested in tutoring international students who might need some extra help with their writing. She knew I had done a lot of traveling in Asia and Africa and other parts of the world where many of you come from.
五年前，伊麗莎白，新聞學院的一位教務長，詢問我是否有興趣輔導一下國際留學生們，那些在寫作方面可能需要些額外幫助的學生。她知道我遊歷過亞洲和非洲的很多地方以及世界上的其他角落，而你們又大多來自那裡。
I knew I would enjoy that, and I have—I』ve been doing it ever since. I』m the doctor that students get sent to see if they have a writing problem that their professor thinks I can fix. As a bonus, I』ve made many friends—from Uganda, Uzbekhistan, India, Ethiopia, Thailand, Iraq, Nigeria, Poland, China, Colombia and many other countries. Several young Asian women, when they went back home, sent me invitations to their weddings. I never made it to Bhutan or Korea, but I did see the wedding pictures. Such beautiful brides!
我知道自己喜歡輔導國際留學生們，而且，我會一直這麼做下去。我就像個醫生，教授們覺得我能夠修改他們學生的書寫錯誤，就讓他們到我這兒。算是種獎勵吧，我交到了很多朋友，烏干達，烏茲別克，印度，衣索比亞，泰國，奈及利亞，波蘭，中國，哥倫比亞以及其他國家的朋友。幾位年輕的亞洲女性，在她們回國之後，給我寄來了婚禮邀請。我從未去過不丹和韓國，卻看到了那裡的結婚照片。多美的新娘啊！
I can』t imagine how hard it must be to learn to write comfortably in a second—or third or fourth—language. I don』t think _I _could do it, and I admire your grace in taking on that difficult task. Much of the anxiety that I see in foreign students could be avoided if certain principles of writing good English—which nobody ever told them—were explained in advance. So I asked if I could talk to all of you during orientation week and tell you some of the things my students have found helpful.
我想像不出，用第二語言或者第三，第四語言流利的書寫，該有多難。我想我做不到，我佩服你們堅持下來的毅力。倘若有人向他們說明其中的一些準則，我看到的大多數焦躁他們都能避免，然而從來沒有人告訴過他們。因此，我就問道，能不能在」迎新周「上發言，說點學生們覺得有用的內容。
So that』s why we』re here today.
這也就是為什麼我們今天在一起。
I』ll start with a question: What is good writing?
我有個問題，什麼是好的寫作？
It depends on what country you』re from. We all know what』s considered 「good writing」 in our own country. We grow up immersed in the cadences and sentence structure of the language we were born into, so we think, 「That』s probably what every country considers good writing; they just use different words.」 If only! I once asked a student from Cairo, 「What kind of language is Arabic?」 I was trying to put myself into her mental process of switching from Arabic to English. She said, 「It』s all adjectives.」
恐怕這要看你來自哪一個國家。我們都清楚自己國家中好的寫作。我們沉浸在母語的節奏和詞句結構中長大，我想，也許那就是每個國家中認為的好的寫作，只是詞語不一樣而已。我曾經問過一位來自開羅的的學生，「阿拉伯語是什麼樣的語言？」我試圖切入到她從阿拉伯語轉換到英語的思考過程。她說「都是形容詞」。
Well, of course it』s not all adjectives, but I knew what she meant: it』s decorative, it』s ornate, it』s intentionally pleasing. Another Egyptian student, when I asked him about Arabic, said, 「It』s all proverbs. We talk in proverbs. People say things like 『What you are seeking is also seeking you.』」 He also told me that Arabic is full of courtesy and deference, some of which is rooted in fear of the government. 「You never know who』s listening,」 he said, so it doesn』t hurt to be polite. That』s when I realized that when foreign students come to me with a linguistic problem it may also be a cultural or a political problem.
好吧，當然不會都是形容詞，但我明白了她的意思：修飾性的，華麗，極力的取悅。我又向另外一位埃及學生又問了同樣的問題，他說「都是箴言」。我們用箴言交流。「你追尋的東西也會追尋你」，人們都像這樣說話。他還告訴我阿拉伯語中充滿了禮節和謙恭，有些是出於根深蒂固的對政府的害怕。」你永遠不知道誰會聽到「，他接著說，所以說話時謙恭就不會受到傷害。就在那時，我意識到外國留學生們帶著語言問題而來，同樣可能是一種文化上或者政治上的問題。
Now I think it』s lovely that such a decorative language as Arabic exists. I wish _I_could walk around New York and hear people talking in proverbs. But all those adjectives and all that decoration would be the ruin of any journalist trying to write good English. No proverbs, please.
現在，我覺得存在著像阿拉伯語這樣的充滿修飾用語的語言，真的很可愛。我要是能在紐約轉轉，還聽到人們用箴言交談，多好。但是，所有這些形容詞和所有的修飾用語，對於想要寫出優美英文的記者來說，是毀滅性的。請你們，不要使用箴言。
Spanish also comes with a heavy load of beautiful baggage that will smother any journalist writing in English. The Spanish language is a national treasure, justly prized by Spanish-speaking people. But what makes it a national treasure is its long sentences and melodious long nouns that express a general idea. Those nouns are rich in feeling, but they have no action in them—no people doing something we can picture. My Spanish-speaking students must be given the bad news that those long sentences will have to be cruelly chopped up into short sentences with short nouns and short active verbs that drive the story forward. What』s considered 「good writing」 in Spanish is not 「good writing」 in English.
西班牙語同樣帶著一大堆美麗的用語，那也會扼殺用英文書寫的記者。西班牙語是民族的瑰寶，僅限於鍾愛西班牙語的人們。然而，正是西班牙語中那些的長句，和表達大體意思的悅耳的長名詞才把它變成了民族的瑰寶。那些名詞給人帶來豐富的感受，可是並沒有什麼實質動作，我們也想像不出實際的意義。我不得不把這個壞消息帶給說西班牙語的學生，那些長句只能被粗魯的用短動詞和短主動詞截成短句，從而使行文流暢起來。西班牙語中認為的」優美的寫作「並不等同於英語中」優美的寫作「。
So what is good English—the language we』re here today to wrestle with? It』s not as musical as Spanish, or Italian, or French, or as ornamental as Arabic, or as vibrant as some of your native languages. But I』m hopelessly in love with English because it』s plain and it』s strong. It has a huge vocabulary of words that have precise shades of meaning; there』s no subject, however technical or complex, that can』t be made clear to any reader in good English—if it』s used right. Unfortunately, there are many ways of using it wrong. Those are the damaging habits I want to warn you about today.
那麼，什麼是優美的英文，也就是我們今天在這裡要儘力搞明白的。它不像西班牙語或者義大利語，或者法語那樣悅耳，也不像阿拉伯語充滿修飾用語，更不想某些母語那樣有節奏。但我就是不可救藥的喜歡上了英語，因為它的直白和強烈。它有一個海量的辭彙表，能夠精確的表達含義的強弱；任何主題，無論多專業，多複雜，用良好的英語表達出來，對於讀者來說，再為清晰不過了，而前提是正確使用。不幸的是，錯誤的使用方式很多。那些惡習，就是今天我要提醒你們的地方。
First, a little history. The English language is derived from two main sources. One is Latin, the florid language of ancient Rome. The other is Anglo-Saxon, the plain languages of England and northern Europe. The words derived from Latin are the enemy—they will strangle and suffocate everything you write. The Anglo-Saxon words will set you free.
首先，介紹一些相關的歷史。英語有兩個主要來源。一個是拉丁語，絢麗的古羅馬語言。另外一個是盎格魯薩克遜，樸素的英格蘭和歐洲北部語言。來源於拉丁語的詞語就像仇敵一樣，它試圖扼殺和阻撓你想寫的任何東西，而盎格魯薩克遜詞語會帶給你自由。
How do those Latin words do their strangling and suffocating? In general they are long, pompous nouns that end in -ion—like implementation and maximization and communication (five syllables long!)—or that end in -ent—like development and fulfillment. Those nouns express a vague concept or an abstract idea, not a specific action that we can picture—somebody doing something. Here』s a typical sentence: 「Prior to the implementation of the financial enhancement.」 That means 「Before we fixed our money problems.」
拉丁詞語又是如何扼殺和阻撓寫作的？總體上，是那些冗長而浮華的以ion結尾的名詞，比如「implementation」和「maxmization」和「communiciation」（竟然有五個音節）。或者以ent結尾的像「development」，「fufillment」這樣的單詞。這些名詞傳遞了一個模糊的概念，或者一種抽象的觀點，並非是我們想像得出的某種動作，好比「somebody doing something」（某人做了某事）。這有一個典型的例句「Prior to the implementation of the financial enhancement」。它的意思是「在我們解決前的問題之前」。
Believe it or not, this is the language that people in authority in America routinely use—officials in government and business and education and social work and health care. They think those long Latin words make them sound important. It no longer rains in America; your TV weatherman will tell that you we』re experiencing a precipitation probability situation.
不管你們相信不詳細，這就是在美國手握大權的人們慣用的語言，那些政府和商業和教育以及社會福利和健康保健的官員們。他們認為那些長拉丁單詞讓人們聽起來，覺得他們很重要。最近，美國好長時間沒下雨了，電視中的天氣預報員播送道我們正處於可能降雨的狀況。
I』m sure all of you, newly arrived in America, have already been driven crazy trying to figure out the instructions for ordering a cell phone or connecting your computer, or applying for a bank loan or a health insurance policy, and you assume that those of us who were born here can understand this stuff. I assure you that we don』t understand it either. I often receive some totally unintelligible letter from the telephone company or the cable company or the bank. I try to piece it out like a hieroglyphic, and I ask my wife, 「Can you make any sense of this?」 She says, 「I have no idea what it means.」
我確信你們所有人，剛到美國的新人們，早就被搞清楚購買一部電話或者聯通你的電腦，或者申請一份銀行貸款或者一份健康保險的各種說明逼瘋了，恐怕你們認定出生在這裡的我們很清楚這些事情。我向你們保證，我們也不明白。我就經常從電信公司和有線電視公司以及銀行收到一些完全不知所措的信件。我只好把他們像象形文字一樣拼起來，而且我還問了我老婆，「你覺得這是啥意思？」她說，「完全沒有頭緒。」。
Those long Latin usages have so infected everyday language in America that you might well think, 「If that』s how people write who are running the country, that』s how I』m supposed to write.」 It』s not. Let me read you three typical letters I recently received in the mail. (I keep letters like this and save them in a folder that I call 「Bullshit File.」)
那些長拉丁文的用法對美國的日常語言的滲透竟然到了如此地步，你們能夠想像到了吧。難道是那些管理這個國家的官員怎樣描述，我就應該怎樣寫作？豈能這樣。 讓我讀三封最近在郵箱里收到的此類典型信件。（我把這類信件都保留下來了，並放在一個名為「狗屎文件」的文件夾中。）
The first one is from the president of a private club in New York. It says, 「Dear member: The board of governors has spent the past year considering proactive efforts that will continue to professionalize the club and to introduce efficiencies that we will be implementing throughout 2009.」 That means they』re going to try to make the club run better.
第一封來自一位紐約的私人俱樂部總裁。裡邊寫道「親愛的會員：管理委員會花了去年一年時間，考慮積極的措施，來繼續專業化俱樂部的運營，並引入我們在2009年中一直實施的效率管理」意思是他們打算把俱樂部運營的更好。
Here』s a letter to alumni from the head of the New England boarding school I attended when I was a boy. 「As I walk around the Academy,」 she writes, 「and see so many gifted students interacting with accomplished, dedicated adults」 [that means boys and girls talking to teachers] and consider the opportunities for learning that such interpersonal exchanges will yield…」 Interpersonal exchanges! Pure garbage. Her letter is meant to assure us alumni that the school is in good hands. I』m not assured. One thing I know is that she shouldn』t be allowed near the English department, and I』m not sure she should even be running the school. Remember: how you write is how you define yourself to people who meet you only through your writing. If your writing is pretentious, that』s how you』ll be perceived. The reader has no choice.
這有一封致校友的信件，來自一家新英格蘭住宿學校的主管，我小時候在那裡呆過。她寫道「當我漫步在校園，並看到這麼多極具天賦的學生和功成名就並獻身於教育的老師們交談【意思是與老師交談的男生和女生】，憧憬著只有這種人與人間的交流才能產生的學習機會...」【人與人之間的交流】！純粹的垃圾。她的來信想告知我們學校發展勢頭良好。我懷疑這一點。我唯一想說的是，應該讓她離英語系遠一點，甚至我懷疑竟然讓這樣的人管理一所學校。牢記一點：對於那些僅僅通過寫作而接觸到你的人來說，你如何描寫就是你如何向別人定義自己。倘若你的寫作中充滿了誇大和做作，那也將是別人對你的判斷。讀者別無選擇。
Here』s one more—a letter from the man who used to be my broker; now he』s my investment counsel. He says, 「As we previously communicated, we completed a systems conversion in late September. Data conversions involve extra processing and reconciliation steps [translation: it took longer than we thought it would to make our office operate better]. We apologize if you were inconvenienced as we completed the verification process [we hope we』ve got it right now]. 「Further enhancements will be introduced in the next calendar quarter」 [we』re still working on it]. Notice those horrible long Latin words: communicated,conversion, reconciliation, enhancements, verification. There』s not a living person in any one of them.
這裡還有一封信件，來自於一位我過去的經紀人，現在他是我的投資顧問。他說道，「正如我們上次談過的，我們在9月完成了系統的轉換。數據轉換需要額外的處理和整合步驟【翻譯：該操作比我們預想的時間要長，但它有助於我們辦公運營】。在我們完成驗證處理的過程中，如果給你帶來不便，我們表示道歉【我們希望儘快弄好】。未來的完善將於下一個日曆季度開始【我們還要繼續完善】」。看到沒有，那些可惡又冗長拉丁詞語：「communiciated」，「conversion」，「reconcilliation」，「enhancements」，「verification」。那裡邊沒有一個活人。
Well, I think you get the point about bad nouns. (Don』t worry—in a minute I』ll tell you about good nouns.) I bring this up today because most of you will soon be assigned to a beat in one of New York』s neighborhoods. Our city has been greatly enriched in recent years by immigrants from every corner of the world, but their arrival has also brought a multitude of complex urban problems. You』ll be interviewing the men and women who are trying to solve those problems—school principals, social workers, health-care workers, hospital officials, criminal justice officials, union officials, church officials, police officers, judges, clerks in city and state agencies—and when you ask them a question, they will answer you in nouns: Latin noun clusters that are the working vocabulary of their field. They』ll talk about 「facilitation intervention」 and 「affordable housing」 and 「minimum-density zoning,」 and you will dutifully copy those phrases down and write a sentence that says: 「A major immigrant concern is the affordable housing situation.」 But I can』t picture the affordable housing situation. Who exactly are those immigrants? Where do they live? What kind of housing is affordable? To whom? As readers, we want to be able to picture specific people like ourselves, in a specific part of the city, doing things we might also do. We want a sentence that says something like 「New Dominican families on Tremont Avenue in the Bronx can』t pay the rent that landlords ask.」 I can picture that; we』ve all had trouble paying the landlord.
好了，我想你們明白了那些可惡的名詞了吧。（別急，接下來我就要說說優美的名詞）。今天我準備了這些內容，是因為你們中的大多數很快會在紐約的某個居住區經歷一次考驗。近年來在這個城市中，來自世界各個角落的移民們極大的豐富了這裡，同時，他們的到來也引起了大量複雜的市政管理問題。在那些市立機構和州立機構的工作人員，校長，社會服務人員，衛生保健人員，醫院官員，刑事司法官員，工會官員，教會官員，警官，法官，職員等儘力解決這些問題的時候，你們就好像是在面試他們。並且當你問完一個問題，他們就會用名詞回答你，成串的拉丁名詞是他們這些職能的工作語言。他們會談起「facilitation intervention【有益介入】」以及「affordable housing【可承受住宿】」，你們將把這些用語照單全收，並且寫出這樣的句子，「A major immigrant concern is the affordable housing situation【移民的一項主要顧慮是可承受住宿的狀況】」但我想像不出「可承受住宿的狀況」。誰是這些移民？他們又住在哪裡？什麼樣的住宿是可承受的？對誰來說？作為讀者，他們希望能夠想像出像我們這樣的特定的人，在城市的某個地區，做著他們可以想像的出的事情。我們本來預期像這樣的某種說法「新遷入布朗克斯地區蒙特大道的多米尼加住戶支付不起房東要求的房租。」我想像得出來，因為我們在支付房租上都有過麻煩。
So if those are the bad nouns, what are the good nouns? The good nouns are the thousands of short, simple, infinitely old Anglo-Saxon nouns that express the fundamentals of everyday life: house, home, child, chair, bread, milk, sea, sky,earth, field, grass, road … words that are in our bones, words that resonate with the oldest truths. When you use those words, you make contact—consciously and also _sub_consciously—with the deepest emotions and memories of your readers. Don』t try to find a noun that you think sounds more impressive or 「literary.」 Short Anglo-Saxon nouns are your second- best tools as a journalist writing in English.
那麼，如果那些就是可惡的名詞，優美的名詞又是什麼？優美的名詞是成千上萬的簡短而直白，極其古老的，盎格魯薩克遜風格的名詞，那些被用來描述日常生活中的根本問題的名詞，比如：住房，家庭，兒童，頭髮，麵包，牛奶，大海，天空，土地，田地，草，道路等。也就是那些與我們骨肉相連，激發出對古老真理的共鳴的名詞。在你們使用這些詞語的時候，你們有意識的或許潛意識下觸動了讀者們最深處的情感與記憶。你們不用費力去尋找自己認為的聽起來更響亮或者「更文藝」的名詞。作為用英語寫作的一名記者，簡短的盎格魯薩克遜名詞是你們第二個最好的工具。
What are your best tools? Your best tools are short, plain Anglo-Saxon verbs. I mean active verbs, not passive verbs. If you could write an article using only active verbs, your article would automatically have clarity and warmth and vigor.
什麼是你們的最好的工具呢？你們最好的工具是，簡短而直白的昂貴格魯薩克遜動詞。我是指主動動詞，不是被動動詞。倘若你只使用主動動詞寫出一篇文章，那它必然是自然而然的清晰，溫暖，而且充滿活力。
Let』s go back to school for a minute and make sure you remember the difference between an active verb and a passive verb. An active verb denotes one specific action: JOHN SAW THE BOYS. The event only happened once, and we always know who did what: it was John who activated the verb SAW. A passive-voice sentence would say: THE BOYS WERE SEEN BY JOHN. It』s longer. It』s weaker: it takes three words (WERE SEEN BY instead of SAW), and it』s not as exact. How often were the boys seen by John? Every day? Once a week? Active verbs give momentum to a sentence and push it forward. If I had put that last sentence in the passive—「momentum is given to a sentence by active verbs and the sentence is pushed forward by them」—there is no momentum, no push.
讓我們稍事回到課堂，檢查一下你是否還記得一個主動動詞與一個被動動詞之間的差異。一個主動動詞表示了某個特定的動作：John Saw Boys【約翰看見了男孩們】。這個事件之發生了一次，並且我們很清楚誰做了什麼：是約翰發出了動詞看見這個動作。被動語氣的句子是這樣：男孩們被約翰看見。這句稍微長一點，表達也弱一點：它用了三個單詞（were seen by 【是看見由】instead of Saw【而非看見】），而且也不夠確切。男孩們就會被約翰看見，要過一次？每天？一周一次？主動動詞為某個句子帶來了更多的份量，並且推動行文。假如我把上個句子換成被動語態---「份量被主動動詞傳給了某個句子，並且行文是被他們所推動」。可見，沒有份量，就不能推動行文。
One of my favorite writers is Henry David Thoreau, who wrote one of the great American books, Walden, in 1854, about the two years he spent living—and thinking—in the woods near Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau』s writing moves with simple strength because he uses one active verb after another to push his meaning along. At every point in his sentences you know what you need to know. Here』s a famous sentence from Walden:
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of nature, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
我最喜歡的作家之一是亨利戴維梭羅，他於1854年完成了美國歷史上最為偉大的著作之一，瓦爾登湖《Walden》，描述了在他隱居於馬薩諸塞州康科德鎮的瓦爾登湖畔的樹林中為期兩年的生活。梭羅的著作中以簡潔的力量，因為他用一個接著一個的動詞來推動文脈。在他的語句中的每一點，你明白你需要了解什麼。以下是摘自瓦爾登湖的名句。
Look at all those wonderful short, active verbs: went, wished, front, see, learn,die, discover. We understand exactly what Thoreau is saying. We also know a lot about him—about his curiosity and his vitality. How alive Thoreau is in that sentence! It』s an autobiography in 44 words—39 of which are words of one syllable. Think about that: only five words in that long, elegant sentence have more than one syllable. Short is always better than long.
瞧瞧所有這些漂亮又簡短的主動動詞：went【前往】，wished【想要】，front【直面】，see【試一試】 ，learn【學會】，die【死去】，discover【發現】。我們清晰的理解梭羅在說什麼。而且我們也了解到了不少他的為人---好奇心與活力。在句中，梭羅是如此的鮮活！那就是一部44個單詞的自傳，其中的39個單詞是單音節的。想想這一點：在這個長而簡練的句子中，只有五個單詞超過了一個音節。簡短大多勝於冗長。
Now let me turn that sentence into the passive:
A decision was made to go to the woods because of a desire for a deliberate existence and for exposure to only the essential facts of life, and for possible instruction in its educational elements, and because of a concern that at the time of my death the absence of a meaningful prior experience would be apprehended.
現在讓我們把它轉化成被動形式：
All the life has been taken out of the sentence. But what』s the biggest thing I』ve taken out of that sentence? I』ve taken Thoreau out of that sentence. He』s nowhere to be seen. I』ve done it just by turning all the active verbs into passive verbs. Every time I replaced one of Thoreau』s active verbs with a passive verb I also had to add a noun to make the passive verb work. 「I went to the woods because」 became 「A decision was made.」 I had to add the noun decision. 「To see if I could learn what it had to teach—two terrific verbs, learn and teach; we』ve all learned and we』ve all been taught—became 「for possible instruction.」 Can you hear how dead those Latin nouns are that end in i-o-n? Decision. Instruction. They have no people in them doing something.
句子中的所有的活力都被剝離了。可是，我從句中剝離出來的內容又有什麼大不了的？那是我把活生生的梭羅從句中剝離出去了，再也難覓梭羅的身影。我只是把所有的主動動詞替換成了被動動詞，就成這樣了。每一次我把梭羅用的某一個主動動詞替換成一個被動動詞，我還不得不添加一個名詞，從而確保被動動詞與原意匹配。「I went to the woods because【我前往了樹林，因為】」變成了「A decision was made.【（我）做了個決定】」 我不得不添加了名詞」decision【決定】」。「To see if I could learn what it had to teach」---兩個醒目的動詞，學會和教給；我們都學過並且我們都被教過---變成了「For possible instruction.「你能感覺到那些以ion結尾的拉丁名詞有多麼的死氣沉沉了吧？Decision. Instruction.句子里根本就沒有做事的人。
So fall in love with active verbs. They are your best friends.
由此，與主動動詞墜入愛河吧。他們是你最好的夥伴。
I have four principles of writing good English. They are Clarity, Simplicity, Brevity, and Humanity.
我有四條寫出優美英文的準則。他們分別是清晰，簡單，簡潔和人性化。
First, Clarity. If it』s not clear you might as well not write it. You might as well stay in bed.
第一條，清晰。如果本身都不清楚，你可能都不會寫它。你還不如躺在床上。
Two: Simplicity. Simple is good. Most students from other countries don』t know that. When I read them a sentence that I admire, a simple sentence with short words, they think I』m joking. 「Oh, Mr. Zinsser, you』re so funny,」 a bright young woman from Nigeria told me. 「If I wrote sentences like that, people would think I』m stupid.」 Stupid like Thoreau, I want to say. Or stupid like E. B. White. Or like the King James Bible. Listen to this passage from the book of Ecclesiastes:
I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all. [Look at all those wonderful plain nouns: race, battle, bread, riches, favor, time, chance.]
第二條，簡單。簡單的就是好的。大多數來自其他國家的學生並不了解這一點。當我讀給他們自己欽佩的一個句子的時候，只有幾個單詞的簡單句子，他們覺得我在開玩笑。」哦，Zinsser先生，你真搞笑「，一位年輕而聰明的奈及利亞女學生這麼告訴我。」假如我寫出那樣的句子，人們會認為我是個蠢貨。「 和梭羅一樣蠢？我本來想說，或者像E.B.White一樣蠢？還是像欽定版聖經一樣？聽聽傳道書中的這一段：
Or stupid like Abraham Lincoln, whom I consider our greatest American writer. Here』s Lincoln addressing the nation in his Second Inaugural Address as president, in 1865, at the end of the long, terrible, exhausting Civil War:
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right [eleven straight one-syllable words], let us strive on [active verb] to finish the work we are in, to bind up [active verb] the nation』s wounds, to care [active verb] for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan [specific nouns],—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
還是像亞伯拉罕林肯一樣蠢，那個我認為的最偉大的美國作家。這裡是林肯，在那漫長而可怕的，讓人筋疲力竭的美國國內戰爭結束之際，於1865年在第二次總統就職演說中，致全民的一段話。
Here』s another American President, Barack Obama, also a wonderful writer, who modeled his own style on Lincoln』s. In his memoir, Dreams from My Father. a beautifully written book, Obama recalls how, as a boy,
At night, lying in bed, I would let the slogans drift away, to be replaced with a series of images, romantic images, of a past I had never known. They were of the civil rights movement, mostly, the grainy black-and-white footage that appears every February during Black History Month. . . . A pair of college students . . . placing their orders at a lunch counter teetering on the edge of riot. . . . A county jail bursting with children, their hands clasped together, singing freedom songs. Such images became a form of prayer for me [beautiful phrase], bolstering my spirits, channeling my emotions in a way that words never could. They told me [active verb] . . . that I wasn』t alone in my particular struggles, and that communities . . . had to be created, fought for, tended like gardens [specific detail]. They expanded or contracted [active verbs] with the dreams of men. . . . In the sit-ins, the marches, the jailhouse songs [specific detail], I saw [active verb] the African-American community becoming more than just the place where you』d been born or the house where you』d been raised [simple nouns: place, house]. . . . Because this community I imagined was still in the making, built on the promise that the larger American community, black, white, and brown, could somehow redefine itself—I believed [active verb] that it might, over time, admit the uniqueness of my own life.
這裡還有另外一位總統，巴拉克奧巴馬，同樣是一位傑出的作家，他在林肯的風格上鑄造出了自己的風格。
在他的傳記中【父親的夢想】，一本寫得很漂亮的一本書，奧巴馬回憶起小男孩時候如何的，
So remember: Simple is good. Writing is not something you have to embroider with fancy stitches to make yourself look smart.
因此記住，簡單就挺好。寫作並不像你想像的，必須用漂亮的線去刺繡從而讓你看起來機靈一些。
Principle number 3. Brevity. Short is always better than long. Short sentences are better than long sentences. Short words are better than long words. Don』t say_currently_ if you can say now. Don』t say assistance if you can say help. Don』t say_numerous_ if you can say many. Don』t say facilitate if you can say ease. Don』t call someone an individual [five syllables!]; that』s a person, or a man or a woman. Don』t implement or prioritize. Don』t say anything in writing that you wouldn』t comfortably say in conversation. Writing is talking to someone else on paper or on a screen.
準則三。簡潔。簡短通常勝於冗長。短句勝於長句。簡短的詞語勝於冗長的詞語。能說」now「就不要說」currently「。能說」help「就不要說」assitance「。能說」many「就不要說」numerous「.能說」ease「就不要說」facilitate「。不要稱呼某個人為」individual「，那是一個人，或者一個」男人「或者一個」女人「。
不要使用」implement「或者」priortize」。不要在書寫中使用在對話中連你都覺得不舒服的用語。寫作實際上是與另外一個人在書面上或者屏幕上的交談。
Which brings me to my fourth principle: Humanity. Be yourself. Never try in your writing to be someone you』re not. Your product, finally, is you. Don』t lose that person by putting on airs, trying to sound superior.
這一點啟發了我的第四條準則：人性化。做你自己。在你們的寫作中，千萬不要試圖扮成另外一個人。你的作品，最終就是你自己。千萬不要裝腔作勢，或者聽起來高人一等，從而迷失了那個你自己（作品中的你）。
There are many modern journalists I admire for their strong, simple style, whom I could recommend to you as models. Two who come to mind are Gay Talese and Joan Didion. Here』s a passage by Talese, from his book of collected magazine pieces, The Gay Talese Reader, about the great Yankee baseball star, Joe DiMaggio, who at one point was married to Marilyn Monroe:
_Joe DiMaggio lives with his widowed sister, Marie, in a tan stone house on a quiet residential street near Fisherman』s Wharf. He bought the house almost thirty years ago for his parents, and after their death he lived there with Marilyn Monroe. . . . There are some baseball trophies and plaques in a small room off DiMaggio』s bedroom, and on his dresser are photographs of Marilyn Monroe, and in the living room downstairs is a small painting of her that DiMaggio likes very much [___how nice that sentence is—how simple and direct___]: It reveals only her face and shoulders, and she is wearing a very wide-brimmed sun hat, and there is a soft sweet smile on her lips, an innocent curiosity about her that is the way he saw her and the way he wanted her to be seen by others.
我知道不少以強烈而簡潔著稱的現代作家，我欽佩他們的風格，在此我打算推薦給你們作為典範。嘴邊的兩個是Gay Talese和Joan Didion。這裡是Talese的一段文字，來自於發表在雜誌上的文章的合集，《致Gay Talese的讀者們》，都是關於偉大的「Yankee」棒球隊明星Joe DiMaggio，也就是與Marilyn Monroe有過一段婚姻的那位。
[Notice all those one-syllable words: 「the way he saw her and the way he wanted her to be seen.」 The sentence is absolutely clean—there』s not one word in it that』s not necessary and not one extra word. Get rid of every element in your writing that』s not doing useful work. It』s all clutter.]_
瞧瞧所有這些單音節單詞：「the way he saw her and the way he wanted her to be seen.【他看她的方式，】」句子絕對的簡明，每個單詞都用的恰如其分，更沒有多餘的詞。在寫作中，去掉那些沒用的詞藻，這就是所有的秘密。
And here』s Joan Didion, who grew up in California and wrote brilliant magazine pieces about its trashy lifestyle in the 1960s. No anthropologist caught it better. This passage is from her collection of early magazine pieces, Slouching Toward Bethlehem.
There are always little girls around rock groups—the same little girls who used to hang around saxophone players, girls who lived on the celebrity and power and sex a band projects when it plays—and there are three of them out here this afternoon in Sausalito where the Grateful Dead rehearse. They are all pretty and two of them still have baby fat and one of them dances by herself with her eyes closed [perfect simple image]. . . . Somebody said that if I was going to meet some runaways I better pick up some hamburgers and Cokes on the way, so I did, and we are eating them in the Park together, me, Debbie who is fifteen, and Jeff who is sixteen. Debbie and Jeff ran away twelve days ago, walked out of school with $100 between them [active verbs: ran away, walked out of school]. . . . Debbie is buffing her fingernails with the belt to her suède jacket. She is annoyed because she chipped a nail and because I do not have any polish remover in the car. I promise to get her to a friend』s apartment so that she can redo her manicure, but something has been bothering me and as I fiddle with the ignition I finally ask it. I ask them to think back to when they were children, to tell me what they had wanted to be when they were grown up, how they had seen the future then. Jeff throws a Coca-Cola bottle out the car window. 「I can』t remember I ever thought about it,」 he says. 「I remember I wanted to be a veterinarian once,」 Debbie says. 「But now I』m more or less working in the vein of being an artist or a model or a cosmetologist. Or something.」
這還有Joan Didion，在加利福尼亞長大並寫出了膾炙人口的雜誌社論，大多關於她在1960年垃圾般的生活方式。沒有其他人類學家，比她做的更好。以下的片段來自於她早期的報刊文章合集，《Slouching Toward Bethlehem》。
Here』s the first paragraph of an article of mine that originally ran in The New Yorker. (It』s now in my book Mitchell Ruff.)
Jazz came to China for the first time on the afternoon of June 2, 1981, when the American bassist and French-horn player Willie Ruff introduced himself and his partner, the pianist Dwike Mitchell, to several hundred students and professors who were crowded into a large room at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The students and the professors were all expectant, without quite knowing what to expect. They only knew that they were about to hear the first American jazz concert ever presented to the Chinese. Probably they were not surprised to find that the two musicians were black, though black Americans are a rarity in the People』s Republic. What they undoubtedly didn』t expect was that Ruff would talk to them in Chinese, and when he began they murmured with delight.
這裡是我的一篇文章的第一段，起初發表在《紐約人》之上。（現在收錄到了我的《Mitchell Ruff》書中。）
Five plain declarative sentences that get the story started at full speed—WHAP! You』re right in that room at the Shanghai Conservatory on that June afternoon in 1981.
五句直白而明確的陳述全速拉開了故事的序幕。好象你就坐在上海音樂學院的房間里，在1961年6月的某個下午。
I』ve given you these examples because writing is learned by imitation. We all need models. Bach needed a model; Picasso needed a model. Make a point of reading writers who are doing the kind of writing you want to do. (Many of them write for_The New Yorker_.) Study their articles clinically. Try to figure out how they put their words and sentences together. That』s how I learned to write, not from a writing course.
我把這些例子講給你們，是因為寫作是通過模仿而學會的。我們都需要典範。Bach【巴赫】需要典範；Picasso【畢加索】也需要典範。點明閱讀那些與你們喜歡的風格一致的名家作品的意義。（他們中的大多數為《紐約人》撰稿。）仔細琢磨他們的文章，儘力去領悟他們是如何把詞語和句子組織起來的。這也是我如何學會寫作的，絕非一門寫作課。
Two final thoughts. Some of you, hearing me talk to you so urgently about the need to write plain English, perhaps found yourself thinking: 「That』s so yesterday. Journalism has gone digital, and I』ve come to Columbia to learn the new electronic media. I no longer need to write well.」 I think you need to write even more clearly and simply for the new media than for the old media. You』ll be making and editing videos and photographs and audio recordings to accompany your articles. Somebody—that』s you—will still have to write all those video scripts and audio scripts, and your writing will need to be lean and tight and coherent: plain nouns and verbs pushing your story forward so that the rest of us always know what』s happening. This principle applies—and will apply—to every digital format; nobody wants to consult a Web site that isn』t instantly clear. Clarity, brevity, and sequential order will be crucial to your success.
最後兩點，你們中的一些，聽到我這樣迫切的要求你們用直白的英文寫作，心裡許會想：「那早就過時了，新聞行業已經進入了數字化時代，並且我們來到哥倫比亞，是為了學習流行的數字化媒體的，我沒必要寫的那麼好。」為新媒體寫作，我反而覺得你們需要寫的比傳統媒體更為清晰簡潔。你們甚至需要製作和編輯文章附帶著的視頻，圖片和錄音。一些人---估計還是你們，還不得不寫上視頻旁白和音頻旁白，文字必須簡練而緊湊，保持連貫性：用直白的名詞和動詞推動情節展開，這樣我們中的其他人才能看明白髮生了什麼。前邊的準則同樣有效，甚至適用於每一類數字化媒體；沒人原意求助於一家網站，卻很快發現網站上啥也沒說清楚（立馬暈菜了）。清晰，簡潔，條理是你們成功的必要條件。
I emphasize this because the biggest problem that paralyzes students is not how to write; it』s how to organize what they are writing. They go out on a story, and they gather a million notes and a million quotes, and when they come back they have no idea what the story is about—what is its proper narrative shape? Their first paragraph contains facts that should be on page five; facts are on page five that should be in the first paragraph. The stories exist nowhere in time or space; the people could be in Brooklyn or Bogotá.
我強調這一點，是因為麻痹學生們的最大問題不是該如何寫作的；而是如何組織要寫的內容。他們想出個故事開頭，並且收集了數不清的筆記和注釋，當他們收尾的時候，卻不知道故事說了點啥。究竟怎樣才算是適宜的敘事手法？他們在第一段包含了應該出現在第五頁的事件；而第五頁上的其他事件本該出現在第一段。這樣的故事無論在時間上或者在空間上都沒有出口，人物及可能在布魯克林或者在波哥大。
The epidemic I』m most worried about isn』t swine flu. It』s the death of logical thinking. The cause, I assume, is that most people now get their information from random images on a screen—pop-ups, windows, and sidebars—or from scraps of talk on a digital phone. But writing is linear and sequential; Sentence B must follow Sentence A, and Sentence C must follow Sentence B, and eventually you get to Sentence Z. The hard part of writing isn』t the writing; it』s the thinking. You can solve most of your writing problems if you stop after every sentence and ask: What does the reader need to know next?」
我最擔心的流行病不是豬流感，而是邏輯思維的消亡。原因，我認為是，現在的大多數人們從屏幕上---彈出窗口，窗口，邊欄---隨機出現的圖片中，或者從數字電話通訊時的隻言片語中，獲取信息。可是，寫作是線性而有序的；語句B必須出現在語句A之後，語句C必須出現在語句B，這樣自然就到了語句Z（終點）。寫作中難的地方並不是書寫本身，而是思考。倘若你們在每一句之後停一停，問問自己：「讀者接下來需要知道些什麼」，你們就能夠自己解決寫作中的大多數問題。
One maxim that my students find helpful is: One thought per sentence. Readers only process one thought at a time. So give them time to digest the first set of facts you want them to know. Then give them the next piece of information they need to know, which further explains the first fact. Be grateful for the period. Writing is so hard that all of us, once launched, tend to ramble. Instead of a period we use a comma, followed by a transitional word (and, while), and soon we have strayed into a wilderness that seems to have no road back out. Let the humble period be your savior. There』s no sentence too short to be acceptable in the eyes of God.
有這麼一條格言，我的學生們發現很有用，那就是：每一句表達一個意思。讀者們一次只能理解一個意思。因此，給他們一些時間去消化你希望他們了解的第一批信息，然後告訴他們接下來的需要知道的信息，這些信息是為了更為明確的說明第一批信息。在此萬分感謝句號。寫作是如此之難，以至於所有人一旦開頭，思路就開始漫無目標的遊走。假如我們用了逗號，而不是句號，後邊接著是轉換動詞（and,while），很快我們就發現自己迷失在了看上去沒有回頭路的荒野。就讓謙卑的句號成為你們的救世主吧，在上帝眼中，句子不會因為太短而不被接納。
As you start your journey here at Columbia this week, you may tell yourself that you』re doing 「communications,」 or 「new media,」 or 「digital media」 or some other fashionable new form. But ultimately you』re in the storytelling business. We all are. It』s the oldest of narrative forms, going back to the caveman and the crib, endlessly riveting. What happened? Then what happened? Please remember, in moments of despair, whatever journalistic assignment you』ve been given, all you have to do is tell a story, using the simple tools of the English language and never losing your own humanity.
從這周起，隨著你們在這裡，哥倫比亞新聞學院，開始自己的旅程，你們也許會告訴自己，我們是在從事著」傳播「，或者」新媒體「，或者」數字媒體「或者其他時髦的新形式寫作。但你們最終會發現處於講故事的行業。我們都是如此。還是那種最為古老的敘事形式，一直可以追溯到「穴居人」和"嬰兒欄"，無窮無盡的。發生了什麼？接著發生了什麼？請記住，在那些絕望的時刻，無論你收到什麼樣的新聞學作業，你們需要做的所有事情，就是用英語的簡單技巧講一個故事，而且永遠不要失掉你自己的人格。
_Repeat after me:
Short is better than long.
Simple is good. (Louder)
Long Latin nouns are the enemy.
Anglo-Saxon active verbs are your best friend.
One thought per sentence._
Good luck to you all.跟我重複：
簡單勝於冗長。
簡明總是好的。
長拉丁名詞是仇敵。
盎格魯薩克遜主動動詞是你們最好的朋友。
每一句包含一個意思。
祝你們好運。
來了，書不白讀的啊，終於有在學校外派一本正經的用場的地方了，英語文學學的吐血了，老師要求高一學生賞析莎士比亞的sonnet還要寫anlysis essay背誦劇本台詞自己製作道具表演簡直喪心病狂，有木有啊，
要開始好好搬運筆記了，
照片上傳失敗，還是辛辛苦苦一個一個字打吧，
既然你說修辭手法啊，figurative language，有好多要說的呢，
whenever u describe sth. by comparing it with something else, u r using f.l.
any language that goes beyond the literal meaning go words in order to an idea or a subject.
the most common figures of speech r smile, metaphor, alliteration, imagery, onomatopoeia, personification,idioms, symbolism, irony
＊imagery
language that appeal to the 5 senses (touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing)
descriptions of people or objects stated in terms of our senses.
eg.
The entire silence was shattered by her scream.
she was like a breath of are＊sh air infusing life back
The shampoo smelled like lemons.
＊Simile
a figure of speech that involves a direct comparison between two unlike things, usually with the words like or as.
eg.
I turned as white as a ghost when you jumped put at me.
My father is as busy as a bee.
She was as cute as a kitten.
My brother runs like the wind.
＊Metaphor
a figure of speech which involves an implied comparison between 2 relatively unlike things using a form of be. the comparison is not announced by like or as.
eg.
The road was ribbon of moonlight.
The snow is a white blanket.
＊Alliteration
-same word
-first letter
-sound the same
Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words.
Alliteration is used to create melody, establish mood, call attention to important words, and point out similarities and contrasts.
eg.
Wide-eyed and wondering while we wait for others to waken.
＊Onomatopoeia
The use of words that mimic sounds.
They appealed to our sense of hearing and they help bring a description to life.
A string of syllables the author has made up to represent the way a sound really sounds.
eg.
BOOM!
SHOO!
POW!
ACHOO!
BUU!
ZOOM!
BANG!
＊Personification
A figure of speech which gives the qualities of a person to an animal an object 2 idea.
It is a comparison which the author uses 2 show something in an entirely new light 2 communicate a certain feeling attitude towards it.
eg.
The wind howled in the night.
The car complained as the key was turned.
The birds are singing.
The insects are dancing.
＊Hyperbole
An exaggerated statement used to heighten effect
It is used 2 mislead the reader, but 2 emphasize a point.
eg.
I am so hungry that I can eat an elephant.
She"s said so on several millions occasions.
It was 1000 degrees yesterday.
I was so cold my face nearly froze.
＊Idiom
Language specific expression, figures of speech
eg.
hit a brick wall
( If u hit the wall when u r trying 2 achieve sth. u reach a situation where u can not make any more progress )
＊Symbolism
A character, an action, a setting, or an object representing something else can be a symbol.
Most often, the symbol in a story is an object that represent its owner"s character to situation, or both.
eg.
a seclude, near-empty apartment might represent the alienation and emotion emptiness of the person living there.
symbols r usually recognizable by the amount of emphasis they receive.
Objects intended 2 be viewed as symbolic may be described in detail, be included in the title, be referred to frequently, or emphasized at the beginning or ending of the story .
When we recognize a symbol and understand its meaning we see more clearly what the writer choose to emphasize.
＊Irony
3 main types of irony
-verbal irony
-dramatic irony
-situational irony
Verbal irony
the contrast between what is said and what is meant.
in other words, sarcasm
eg.
She is as smart as a brick.
The water was as clear as mud.
I got in a cat accident, lucky me.
That was as pleasant as surgery.
Dramatic irony
contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what we know to be true.
The reader knows more than the characters.
Because we know sth. the character dose not, we read to discover how the character will react when he or she learns the truth of the situation.
eg.
2 people in a story r engaged to be married but we know through the narration that the man is planning on running away before the wedd
Situational irony
contrast between what happens and what was expected or what would seem appropriate
eg.
A fire station burns down.
The police station gets robbed.
The teacher failed the test they created.
嗯，差不多就先這樣吧，一個一個字打的，打了兩個多小時啊，好了好累，差不多就先這樣吧，歡迎評論補充
大家都好厲害哇！我講一下詩歌好了。非專業學生，輕噴啊～
我覺得很大一種程度上「文采」是讓人覺得舒服的。就像詩詞格律一樣。
1. Rhythm/metre; 節奏感。
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
一句話
It was/ the best/ of times,/ it was/ the worst/ of times./
按照語氣可以斷句
其中重讀也很有講究，大家可以讀一下。
It was/ the best/ of times/ it was/ the worst/ of times.
Each foot has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. These are called iambs 抑揚.
London/ bridge is/ falling/ down.
Here the feet are made up of stressed syllables followed by unstressed syllables. These are called trochees 揚抑.
在英文詩歌里，有不同的feet（我翻譯成韻腳吧），比如 iamb (rising)，trochee (falling)， spondee，pyrrhic，anapaest (rising)，dactyl (falling)，對應不同的側重。也就是 Iambic抑揚格，Trochaic揚抑格，Spondaic揚揚格，Pyrrhic抑抑格，Anapestic抑抑揚格，dactylic揚抑抑格。翻譯也有說長短格／短長格的。
對於這個feet的數量，有 monometer，dimeter，trimeter， tetrameter，pentameter， hexameter， heptameter，octameter （一二三四五六七八，步）。。
比如說
Shall I/ compare/ thee to/ a sum/mer』s day?
Iambic pentameter 抑揚，五音步
Double,/ Double,/ Toil and/ Trouble;
Fire/ burn and/ cauldron/ bubble.
Trochaic tetrameter 揚抑，四音步
不同的音重表達不同的情緒，比如iamb（抑揚）就非常自然，據說四分之三的英文詩歌都是抑揚的。揚抑就比較快一些，比如London/ bridge is/ falling/ down。
2. 押韻／重複
比如alliteration（頭韻）
「People praise prophetic poetry.」
Assonance（元韻）
「That solitude which suits abstruser musings.」
Consonance（輔韻）
「She tipped her loyal big dog a big hug」
用在一起的，如
『And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain.』
－ Edgar Allen Poe, 『The Raven.』
栗子很多，再比如Wilfred Owen』s 『Anthem for Doomed Youth.』 大家可以關注一下加粗體的部分。
What pass/ing-bells/ for these/ who die/ as cattle?
Only /the mon/strous an/ger of/ the guns. Only /the stut/tering/ rifles『/ rapid/ rattle Can pat/ter out/ their ha/sty or/isons.No mock/eries/ now for/ them; no /prayers/ nor bells; Nor an/y voice/ of mourn/ing save/ the choirs, –The shrill/, demen/ted choirs/ of wail/ing shells; And bu/gles call/ing for/ them from/ sad shires.What can/dles may/ be held/ to speed/ them all? Not in/ the hands/ of boys/ but in/ their eyes Shall shine/ the ho/ly glimm/ers of/ goodbyes. The pall/or of/ girls" brows/ shall be/ their pall; Their flowers/ the ten/derness/ of pat/ient minds, And each/ slow dusk/ a draw/ing-down/ of blinds.
關於音韻，這個英韻淺談：Alliteration, Consonance amp; Assonance 講的很清楚～
但是，對於韻而言，不同人也有不同的觀點，諸如有人說，rhyme only sounds nice。聽上去好沒多大意義對不對，（讓人想起了一些駢文和古風……）；也有人說all poems need rhyme，其實也不必。
所以後來也有blank verse這種東西存在啦，比如 "In the Back of the Real"（ Allen Ginsberg）
Yellow, yellow flower, and
flower of industry, tough spiky ugly flower, flower nonetheless, with the form of the great yellow Rose in your brain! This is the flower of the World.
但是，實際上，廣義的rhyme也不是一直都有的。中世紀末的英文詩歌才會用。在那之前（比如十四世紀，只用頭韻比較多）
Since the siege and assault had ceased at Troy,
The city left broken and burned to brands and ashes,The knight who wove the trammel nets of treason thereWas tried for his treachery, the truest on earth.
壓在重讀音節末尾有男韻（masculine），非重讀音節末女韻（feminine）。
A rhyme ending on a single stressed syllable is called a "masculine rhyme."
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.A rhyme using two or more syllables and ending on an unstressed syllable is called a "feminine rhyme."This is a job – I get paid to sling some raps,What you made last year was less than my income tax.Big Daddy Kane, "One Day."
先寫這些啦～ 希望有所幫助
有很多英文歌詞就寫得很有文采呀~利用比喻，典故，押韻等手法會讓語言變得優美。
舉個栗子，霉霉的blank space里有一句「I"m a nightmare dressed like a day dream」 用夢魘和白日夢進行對比，挺值得玩味的。
還有我很喜歡的viva la vida的歌詞，描寫的是沒落的路易十四世臨刑前的內心活動，借用對比，比喻，典故等手法寫出了一種蒼涼感。歌詞如下：
I used to rule the world
昔日萬邦孤為王Seas would rise when I gave the word四海沉浮吾獨斷Now in the morning I sleep alone今朝悚悟廣寒中Sweep the streets I used to own煢煢孑立如孤魂I used to roll the dice
昔日生殺吾人掌Feel the fear in my enemy"s eyes談笑聲中梟敵首Listen as the crowd would sing:略聽草民高聲贊"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"成王敗寇皆正義！One minute I held the key
黃袍加身掌權柄Next the walls were closed on me萬丈高牆孤自囚And I discovered that my castles stand枉有阿房三千里Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand根如酥鹽碎沙礫I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
聖城鐘聲驚孤魂Roman Cavalry choirs are singing驍騎戰歌譏吾行Be my mirror my sword and shield諍友忠諫與勇將My missionaries in a foreign field旨諭番邦諸王知！For some reason I can"t explain
天子寂然事終焉Once you go there was never, never an honest word君可知？為王稱孤，絕盡諍言終愚己That was when I ruled the world此誠寡人為王一世鑒It was the wicked and wild wind滾滾紅塵如浪潮Blew down the doors to let me in寡人逐流如朽竹Shattered windows and the sound of drums賊逆兵禍百業零People couldn"t believe what I"d become世人皆驚英雄歿Revolutionaries wait
弒君志士皆翹首For my head on a silver plate血祭孤首謝干支Just a puppet on a lonely string如若傀儡隨弦舞Oh who would ever want to be king?誰願稱王百年孤I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
聖城鐘聲驚孤魂Roman Cavalry choirs are singing驍騎戰歌譏吾行Be my mirror my sword and shield諍友忠諫與勇將My missionaries in a foreign field旨諭番邦諸王知：or some reason I can"t explain
天子寂然事終焉I know Saint Peter won"t call my name聖人離棄吾自知Never an honest word絕盡諍言終愚己But that was when I ruled the world此誠寡人為王一世鑒(中文翻譯轉載自網路，侵刪)
另外還有幾首歌詞我也很喜歡，之前收錄在公眾號的文章里了，有興趣可以看看~傳送門：http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/hE9ftWj3PiizzkVx3_WqpA分享一下我在自己公眾號上寫的一個答案(????ω????)
對於英文文採的理解每個人可能都不一樣。但文采絕對不是浮誇的詞語或艱澀難懂的表達。我個人理解，有文採的文字，一般能達到三種效果。
喚醒你塵封已久的情感。
勾起你往昔美好的回憶。
將複雜的概念用簡單清楚的文字表達出來。
我舉一個例子，Stephen King 的 Lisey"s Story有這麼一句話。
Time apparently did nothing but blunt grief"s sharpest edge so that it hacked rather than sliced.
非常簡單形象的一句話，但極其精到的點出了失去親人的痛苦是什麼樣的。
除了修辭手法和用詞，個人覺得是structure啊
analogy 類比
personification 擬人
alliteration 頭韻
metaphor 隱喻
similes 明喻
修辭外國也有，而且說實話，我覺得修辭這東西既是外國先系統地研究的，也是他們運用地更好，就像高票答案說的，英語寫作人很擅長遣詞造句，寫出外表上就很有文採的句子。
比如：
「I wasted time, and now doth time waste me;
For now hath time made me his numbering clock:
My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar
Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward watch,
Whereto my finger, like a dial"s point,
Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears.
Now sir, the sound that tells what hour it is
Are clamorous groans, which strike upon my heart,
Which is the bell: so sighs and tears and groans
Show minutes, times, and hours.」
理查二世
It』s perpetual motion; the thing man wanted to invent but never did. . . . It』s a mystery. . . . Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences . . . clean, quick, sure; nothing to rot later. Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical. 華氏451
反而，我覺得咱中文的文采不在擅長用修辭和大量的辭彙上面，而是在用普通的語言營造出「情致」，「情韻」，「意境」。
看下面的例子：
我看青山多嫵媚，料青山見我應如是。
夜來幽夢忽還鄉，小軒窗，正梳妝，相顧無言，唯有淚千行。料得年年腸斷處，明月夜，短松岡。
李白乘舟將欲行，忽聞岸上踏歌聲，桃花潭水深千尺，不及汪倫送我情。
是非成敗轉頭空，青山依舊在，幾度夕陽紅。
有用各種修辭嗎，有用很華麗的辭藻嗎，沒有啊。那些超級華麗的俳句和過於香艷的宋詞反而都被淘汰了。中國人喜歡這些有韻致的東西，這些沒有用很多辭藻和修辭包裹的，卻渾然天成的句子。
多看幾遍著名的演說，我有一個夢想之類，可以讓自己感受到英語的組織語言能力；另外，尤其要背葛底斯堡演說，因為字數少還有韻律。
說個老梗 r u thinking what i am thinking
曾經自己研究過一段時間英文的寫作。才疏學淺，把自己的些許研究成果給大家分享。
很多人說，英文寫作，要寫得好，句式要多樣，用詞要難而精準。
不完全對。
寫作真的是很快樂的一件事情，不要被考試思維僵化了。考試考的是應試能力，而文采絕非僅此。
看看那些名人大家寫出來的句子，或許用詞沒我們難，句法沒我們複雜，沒有什麼賓從套定從。但是字裡行間就感受到「文採好」。
這麼說太抽象，我們結合具體例子來看。
我從一本不是很有名的作家的書上隨意截取的一句景色描寫。The leaves in the cottonwood grove whispered in the breeze high over my head.
不翻譯了。
我們來看這句話，是一個native speaker寫出來的。首先注意動詞，whisper。不難吧，高中辭彙而已。但人家就是用的好。放到修辭里這就叫「擬人」。中文有修辭手法英文也有啊！！！用起來！！！什麼比喻擬人誇張等等，用起來！！！（rhetoric )
再放兩句，寫恐懼的。摘自喬治奧威爾的《1984》
Her face had turned a milky yellow. The smear of rouge that was still on each cheekbone stood out sharply, almost as though unconnected with the skin beneath.
可以自己體會一下。
第二個我要說的點，很重要！！！
英文文采，自然要結合英文文化習慣。任何一門語言都是一樣的，不同國家寫作的習慣都是有細微的差異的。而native speakers的一個非常突出的寫作習慣就是細節（details）
這點我一直覺得很符合王家衛的特點哈哈。好，言歸正傳。我們繼續放到例子里來看。The recent investigation shows that women spend 40% of their working hours scrubbing the floors, washing the dirty clothes, cooking the nice meals, and taking care of babies.
寫的不算好，但是映射出英文的一個重要寫作習慣：細節化。
怎樣寫細節？關鍵詞聯想擴展。
比如，學生很忙（students are busy)忙就是關鍵詞，那麼忙怎麼擴展呢？E.g. Students, attending schools in China, are mandated to study over ten academic subjects, including Chinese, mathematics, and English, simultaneously. Meanwhile, the overwhelming assignments, would take up their sleep hours to a tremendous extent.這段我自己寫的，有點故意的意味了，但還是為了說明這個點，細節要擴展。
第三才是辭彙和句式 ( vocabulary sentence structure)
一篇作文不可能全是簡單的初中詞，也不可能全是I love you這種簡單句。那麼怎樣處理出文採好不做作的句子呢？
句式多樣化
前一句用主動，那麼後一句就用被動唄。然後，妙用插入語，一定要插，應試也是一樣的，你多插，考官爽了，那麼你也會爽的。插的很生硬，考官不爽，給你個不好的分數，你也不爽對吧。多用非謂語。有時候非謂語和從句是可以互換的，那就兩種都兼顧著用。辭彙精準化
我這裡說的是「精準」而不是「高級」。不一定要用難詞，把詞用對了就好。比如，significant在很多英漢詞典上都有一個意思是「大的」。然而這個「大的」指的是「意義大」。總不能說"What a significant square!"吧...可以說它意義重大，但不能表示huge。
關於這個我只能說，積累很重要，看到好詞隨手記一記查一查，多查英英少用英漢。
短語單詞靈活互換
很多單詞是可以用短語替代的，也有很多短語是可以用單詞替代的。靈活使用最重要，哪個好用哪個。隨便舉舉個例子。Walk unsteadily --- totterCry loudly --- wailMake upset --- frustrateOccupy --- take upContinue --- see through 最後一點是邏輯（logic）這點和中文是一樣的，主要還是看一個人的綜合寫作水平了。在這裡我不多寫了。推薦閱讀：
※如何在大學裡高效的學好英語口語和聽力？
※《英語聽力入門 》step by step ,這個系列的書怎麼樣？適合什麼聽力水平的人？
※已工作人士怎麼定英語學習目標？
※在進行英語閱讀的時候，看一句翻譯一句這個做法對提高英語閱讀水平與速度的效果是好還是壞？
※陌生的英語單詞找不到翻譯該怎麼辦？