ase the metaphor buffeting-about of the ... strikes by its strength and emotionality., Popular scientific texts are full of trite metaphors: .g. Thankfully, the Ziara Ringshows that there sa better, bigger and bolder way to win her heart (National Geographic, 2004) in scientific texts are used with a view to add figurativeness to the description.
. Epithets.is a figure of speech denoting a permanent or temporary quality of a person, thing, idea or phenomenon and characterizing it from the point of view of subjective perception. An epithet can be expressed by an attributive word, phrase, combination of words or sometimes by a whole sentence [Lehtsalu, 1973: 32] .epithet has always an emotional meaning or connotation. The emotional meaning may either accompany the denotational meaning or it may exist independently. Due to their main function of subjective assessment or evaluation epithets are seldom used in scientific prose with the exception of articles of a polemic character. However, in scientific prose style epithets are used widely to interest a reader. They literally strike a person by the vividness and emotional charge: .g. I couldn t stop reading about the freakish gargantuan tornado overtaking the doomed scientists and other victims..g. Under Mandela s charme d guidance, South Africa began the post-apartheid period as a country beguiled by its own miraculous stepping back from the brink of a full-blown race war. (National Geographic, 2003)
. Emotionalitycontrast to scientific prose style popular scientific prose is very emotive. First of all, a form question-answer is used to establish the contact with readers and to govern readers attention. This creates the atmosphere of dialog and the reader becomes interested in subject: .g Will you help save big cats, preserve ancient civilizations, and protect our precious oceans? By including National Geographic in your estate plans, you will share in Alexander Graham Bell s vision of preserving our planet for generations to come. (National Geographic, 2005) the next example the emotionality of the text is also emphasized by the usage of exclamation mark: .g. So now we want to know, where do these bees live? How far do they travel? Do they like only the big forest, or can they live in the small bits and corridors too? Many questions! (National Geographic, 2004) is important to know that popularization of science started long time ago, so in XVII century Cyrano de Bergerac made a considerable contribution in popularization of science. He tried to disguise the complexity of new heliocentric theory of our Galaxy and represented it as a fairy-tale about the journey to the Moon and the Sun [Nazarenko, 2000: 56] .way of representation can quickly interest the reader and draw his or her attention to the subject. interesting fact is that stylistic devices are often used not only to give vividness, but lead to the exactness of described phenomenon.Descartes used in his treatises such stylistic devices as simile and metaphors for the illustrative purposes in order to make abstract notions more comprehensible:
Throughout my writings I have made it clear that my method imitates that of the architect. When an architect wants to build a house which is stable on ground where there is a sandy topsoil over underlying rock, or clay, or some other firm base, he begins by digging out a set of trenches from which he removes the sand, and anything resting on or mixed in with the sand, so that he can lay his foundations on firm soil. In the same way, I began by taking everything that was doubtful and throwing it out, like sand; and then, when noticed that it is impossible to doubt that a doubting or thinking substance exist, I took this as the bedrock on which I could lay the foundations of my philosophy. an architect who wants to build a stable house must find a firm base for it, so Descartes who wants to establish stable knowledge must doubt everything in order to find a firm base to his beliefs [Thagard, +2004: 505]. In this abstract Descartes employs simili which is used to appeal to the reader s imagination, thus inspiring his interest in the scientific subject. For the same effect a popular scientific writer employs colorful descriptions: .g. He is a short man, with a kind face, a trim beard, and eyes that sparkle yet remain distant, as if peering somewhere else, a distant horizon or a place in the past where he dared not to go. (National Geographic, 2003) the examples above show us that reading the popular scientific literature will not drive us to boredom, because the usage of stylistic devices makes the texts interesting and vivid. this chapter we discussed the differences between scientific prose style and its sub-style, popular scientific prose. We highlighted tha...
