A stock literary phrase is a ready-made comment that could be attached to any passage. In analysis, it takes the place of the evidence and effect you are asked to give.
This lesson ties together language choices, viewpoint comparison and structure, because all three go wrong when a phrase stands in for a point. The Chinese examples stay in Simplified Chinese.
How do you recognise and replace a stock phrase?
Use the swap test. Move your sentence to a different passage. If it still reads naturally, it is a stock sentence.
To repair it, follow three steps.
- Quote the exact words that create the effect.
- Say what they suggest, as a picture, feeling or idea.
- Link that to the passage’s point.
Typical stock phrases include 生动形象, 富有感染力, 给人留下深刻印象 and 增强了文章的表现力.
Worked example
Invented passage:
父亲背着行李走在前面，他的背影像一座山。我跟在后面，看不见他的脸。
Question: explain the effect of 他的背影像一座山.
Stock answer: 运用比喻，生动形象地写出了父亲的高大。
Swap test: paste this under any sentence about any father and it still fits. It also assumes the comparison is about height, which the passage does not mention.
Repair, step 1: quote. 像一座山 and 背影, together with 看不见他的脸 in the next sentence.
Step 2: suggest. A mountain is steady, silent and hard to move. A back view is something you can follow but cannot read. The reader senses a father who is dependable but not easy to understand.
Step 3: link. The narrator follows behind and cannot see his face, so the comparison suggests respect mixed with distance.
Better answer: 像一座山 suggests the father is steady and silent. Because the narrator can only see his 背影 and cannot see his face, the comparison shows a father who is dependable but hard to read.
A common mistake
Weak answer: 这个句子给人留下深刻印象。
It tells us how the sentence strikes the answer-writer, not what the sentence does. There is no quotation, no effect and no link.
Correction: remove the phrase, quote 像一座山, and write what a mountain suggests in this situation.
Self-check
- Is 富有感染力 a good explanation of 他把那张旧车票夹进书里?
Show answer
No. It names no words and no effect. A better explanation quotes 夹进书里 and says it shows careful keeping, which suggests the ticket is a memory.- Rewrite 生动形象地写出了雨很大 for the sentence 雨点砸在铁皮屋顶上，像一把把豆子.
Show answer
Sample: 砸 and 像一把把豆子 suggest loud, hard, scattering impacts on the tin roof, which makes the rain feel heavy and noisy, not just wet.- When is a phrase such as 生动 acceptable?
Show answer
As a short closing label after the evidence and effect are already given. It should add nothing the evidence did not show.Where next?
Check your habits in the mixed practice set, then review the module overview. Use the writing revision compare view to compare a draft full of stock phrases with a revised one.
A teacher in online one-to-one Chinese tuition can mark your answers with you and help you replace stock phrases with evidence.