修辞学总复习

英语修辞学总复习Review of the English RhetoricCourse descriptionThis course will be oriented by the following aspects:General idea about English rhetorica brief and interesting survey of the history of rhetoric with emphasis on several major classical rhetoricians and their theories and applicationCommunicative rhetoric (the choice of words and sentences)Aesthetic rhetoric: figures of speech (phonetic, syntactic, semantic, logic)Lead-in…1.I see students taking premedical courses with joyless determination.2.They go off to their labs as if they were going to the dentist. Simile 明喻2. No X in Nixon. Palindrome 回文Rhetoric is power.Whoever does not study rhetoric will become a victim of it.--Ancient Greek wall inscription Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep, moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend争辩. --Francis BaconRhetoric in AdvertisementsSimile : Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.眉笔像花瓣一样柔和。

（眉笔）像母亲的手一样柔软。

（童鞋）Phonetic rhetoric : Once tasted, always loved.（饮料）Big thrills. Small bills.（出租车）Pepsi-Cola hits the spot, Twelve full ounces, that’s a lot,Twice as much for a nickel, too, Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you.一册在手，纵览全球。

（《全球杂志》）来也匆匆，去请冲冲。

非常可乐，非常选择。

（非常可乐饮料）买电视就要买金星，买金星就是买放心！Let TUGU INSURANCE keep you afloat in the face of the worst of elements….（保险公司）…The whole area becomes ablaze with the whites, yellows, reds, and oranges of tulips, daffodils and other species popular in English gardens….（苏格兰旅游广告）Antithesis对偶输入千言万语，奏出一片深情（文字处理机）皮张之厚无以复加；利润之薄无以复减。

（上海鹤鸣皮鞋厂广告）她工作，你休息。

（洗衣机）Pun双关语甜甜蜜蜜，无限爱恋尽在其中。

（饮料）With boundless love in it, the drink is more than sweet.第一流产品，为足下增光。

（红鸟鞋油广告标语）Metaphor隐喻Blessed by year round good weather, Spain is a magnet for sun-worshippers and holidaymakers….You can spread your wings with Open Studies.（开放型大学招生广告标语）Flowers by Interflora speak from the heart. 随身的绿荫。

（爱萝莉护肤膏）Green shadow which kisses your skin.What is rhetoric ?1rhetoric n.1. (technical term) the skill or the art of using language effectively and persuasively in speech or writing修辞;修辞学; 修辞技巧2. (general word)a. A style of speaking or writing, 语言艺术e.g. the rhetoric of fiction, body rhetoricb. The language of a particular subject: 辞令，语言e.g. fiery political rhetoric, soothing rhetoric, employ stirring rhetoric3.derogatory）Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or empty: 【贬】华丽的词藻，花言巧语, 浮夸之词e.g. His offers of compromise were mere rhetoric.Discuss:Identify the differ ent meanings of “rhetoric” in the following phrases/sentences:1. Cold war diplomacy and rhetoric2. As the clamor for basic skills continue to grow, it may be time for the fourth R—Rhetoric—to reenter the classroom.3. Campaign promises have proved to be empty rhetoric.4. Despite their tough anti-American rhetoric, the government is privately trying to maintain good relations with the U.S.5. the rhetoric of film2. rhetoric, rhetorical device and figure of speechrhetorical device - a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance)figure of speech - Form of expression used in a figurative or nonliteral sense, including simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, irony, alliteration, antithesis, and puns etc. for the purpose of clarity, emphasis, or freshness of expressionExamples of figures of speechPlease identify the figures of speech used in the following examples:Speech is silver, but silence is golden. (Alliteration)Have a nice trip, buy-buy! (A sign in front of a shop at the airport) (Pun)To err is human; to forgive divine.(Antithesis)Rhetorician1. An expert or theorist/theoretician of rhetoric.2. An orator or eloquent public speaker.3. A Brief Introduction to English Rhetoric Origin of modern rhetoric: a brief historyContents of modern rhetoricThe difference between grammar and rhetoricWhat we learn in English rhetoric:1definition and development 2Rhetoric originated in speaking.Plato maintained that rhetoric was the expression of truth and the art of rational discourse rather than the art of eloquent expression. (Aristotle, in the 4th c. B.C.)first defined rhetoric as the art of persuasion, equivalent to argumentation as people understand today.Arguments should include four sections:1.the introduction;2.the outline or narration of the subject;3.the proofs for and against the case;4. the summary.In Athens, the center of western civilization, great orators, by exercising their rhetoric, gained following and support, and eventually, political power.Cicero and Quintilian’s Five ArtsCicero (106-43B.C.) : Roman statesman and philosopherRhetoric is a branch of political science.To defend the political state eloquently, the orator should know a great deal about human experience and command a broad understanding of culture.Quintilian (A.D.35-95.) : Roman rhetoricianFurther expanded Cicero’s rhetoric and emphasized the idea that a good speaker must be a good man.Five arts:1. invento (invention);2. dispositio (arrangement);3. elocutio (style);4. memoria (memory);5. pronuntiatio (delivery).Invention is about the discovery of valid or seemingly valid arguments, mainly concerns who, what, when, where, how and why. This is the art of discovering a means for finding arguments on any topic.Arrangement is about how to organize the proofs effectively. This is the method of organizing an argument.Style is about diction and the organization of phrase, i.e., about effective sentences, clarity, force and beauty and using figures of speech.Memory is the art of committing the speech to memory by mnemonic devices. A mnemonic relies not only on repetition to remember facts, but also on creating associations among easy-to-remember constructs and lists of data.Delivery is the art of speaking concerning the speakers’ pose, tone, gesture, facial expression, and so forth.John Locke, English philosopher of the late 17th c., described rhetoric as “the science of oratory (演讲)”, or “the art of speaking with propriety, elegance, and force”.In the 19th c., rhetoric came to be understood as the ability to write or speak well in ornate (词藻华丽的), showy language.Overuse of these figures in speech or writing gave them a bad reputation. They once became associated with “artifice” and “ornamentation” and even with verbal hypocrisy（虚伪造作）. Present tendency:There are still people who equate rhetoric with the adoption of stylistic devices or the use of figures of speech in speech or writing.More and more people have come to regard rhetoric as the art of effective communication. Furthermore, rhetoric tends to be connected more with writing than with speech, and more with prose than with verse.Rhetoric: the art of speaking or writing to persuade or influence people.------ (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 1995)Rhetoric: art of using words impressively in speech and writing.------ (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, 1984)two main rhetoric trends in contemporary western culture:a) Stylistics （文体论）,b) Rhetoric ,a. Stylistics, which is associated with two aspects of writing:First, the various registers （语域）, e.g., scientific and technical writing, business writing and journalism.Second, the stylistic variants---literary language and style, including personal style, and styles of different times and schoolsExample：科技文章要求简明，准确，精炼，不宜使用修辞格．而小说经常使用各种修辞格，语言生动难忘．试比较：１．Mercury vapor produces a brilliant light that looks white but is really a mixture of green and violet.２．She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors stated their errand.政论文章与政治演讲应具备争论的特点，主要靠事实、逻辑来征服听众，但好的政论并不排斥文学色彩。