English Rhetoric
Chapter 1 Introduction
•Distinguish the shades of meanings of the word rhetoric in the following sentences. Tell whether they are used in their common sense or as a technical term.
1.The emotional confrontation showed that the real problem of the Police Division and the community are being aggravated by persistent, divisive rhetoric.
2.The Urban League intends to translate the symbols into substance and the rhetoric into relevance.
3.Rhetoric at its best tries to teach the pupil to exploit the possibilities the language gives him.
4.The trial was only a few hours old, but I was already annoyed. Rothblatt, the defense attorn
ey, took off on a rhetorical binge about “this temple of justice” and the “hysteria of overwhelming publicity” that brought an objection from the prosecutors.
5.As the clamor for basic skills continues to grow, it may be time for the fourth R—Rhetoric—to reenter the classroom.
6.English teachers have almost abandoned the very name of rhetoric, and the classical tradition is now completely in our hands.
7.Without rhetoric there is silence—and tyranny.
8.For all the rhetorical smoke, the President and the Democrats are not that far apart on many other aspects of the program.
9.In its best sense, rhetoric seeks to draw men together, attempts to establish agreement by willing consent, and tries to create an identity of purpose among them, to promote meaningful action.
    According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, the word “rhetoric” can be defined in various ways. On the positive side, it can refer to the art of expressive speech or discourse, including the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by ancient critics (as Aristotle and Quintilian) and interpreted by classical scholars for application, or the art and practice of writing or speaking as means of communication with persuasive or moving power; On the negative side, however, rhetoric may also mean artificial elegance of language—discourse without conviction or earnest feeling.
    Historically, rhetoric used to be applied only to oral expression, constituting mainly the speech craft in court argumentations. This oral nature of rhetoric could be traced back to the 4th century B.C., during the time of Aristotle in Greece, and it remained so all of the Middle Ages.
  The shift of emphasis from the oral side to the written in rhetoric was brought about by the great development of printing in the 19th century and so the old rhetorical principles and te
chniques in speech were naturally adapted to written literature as well.
  “Rhetoric”是一个普通用法的词，也是一个专门的术语。
•    作为一个普通用法的词，该词往往有一种很不光彩的名字，通常与表示“巧辩”、“虚夸的话”等意义联系在一起。这些意义很可能与修辞传统上的诡辩派有关，他们鼓励使用文体风格和演讲技巧中各种华而不实的东西。如：the exaggerated rhetoric of presidential campaigns； the loquacity of long-winded rhetoric； a rhetoric masking vicious exploitation。不过， 它也可以指所使用的“辞令”、“言语”，这种用法并不会让人产生任何有利或不利的联想，比如：employing stirring rhetoric； glowing rhetoric； soothing rhetoric。“Rhetoric”有时还可以指“艺术语言”，比如：the rhetoric of fiction、 the rhetoric of film、body rhetoric。
•    作为专门术语，“rhetoric”有以下主要意义：1）在美国有一段时期中，大学一年级与写作有关的课程和教科书都冠有 “rhetoric”这个词。现在， “rhetoric”在美国仍可指“写作课程”和“写作教材”。2）从修辞学的角度来看， “rhetoric”主要包括以下几个重要意义：演讲修辞，即对演讲艺术的研究；作文修辞，即作文研究；文体修辞，即对语体文体风格的研究。
"Rhetoric" - An Etymology of the Greek Word from Homer to Plato
      It is well known among historians of rhetoric that the English word rhetoric derives from the adjective in the elliptical Greek phrase rhêtorikê (tekhnê), which first appeared in Plato's Gorgias (449a; see Edward Schiappa's "Did Plato Coin Rhêtorikê?") It is known, as well, that rhêtorikê derives from the more ancient eirô, one of several verbs meaning "say" or "speak“. It can be traced back to the early times of Homer.
1.1  Some definitions of rhetoric
•Definitions of Rhetoric from Scholars, Thinkers, and Practitioners
 
“Rhetoric is one great art comprised of five lesser arts: inventio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, and pronunciatio."  Rhe-toric is "speech designed to persuade.”
      -- Cicero
– inventio – invention 觅材取材
–dispositio – disposition 布局谋篇
–elocutio – elocution 文体风格
–memoria – memory 记忆
–pronunciatio – pronunciation 讲演技巧
[Rhetoric,] that powerful instrument of error and deceit. 
                                      -- John Locke
Francis Bacon:
The duty and office of rhetoric is to apply reason to imagination for the better moving of the will.
[Rhetoric] is that art or talent by which discourse is adapted to its end.  The four ends of dis
course are to enlighten the understanding, please the imagination, move the passion, and influence the will.
              -- Campbell
Rhetoric is the study of mis-understandings and their remedies.
earnest                                -- I.A. Richards
Rhetoric is that “which creates an informed appetition for the good.”
        --Richard Weaver

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