English Rhetoric 英语修辞学I. Connotation of Rhetoric：rhetoric的含义1. Rhetoric may be used as an ordinary（普通用词）word and a technical term（专业术语）.1) As an ordinary word, rhetoric in a derogatory sense means “skilful argumentation”（巧辩）and “empty or exaggerated eloquence”（虚夸的话）.e.g. the exaggerated rhetoric of presidential campaigns（总统竞选期间唱的高调）；the empty rhetoric of the politicians（政客们的花言巧语）;flowery rhetoric（华丽的辞藻）Rhetoric also means (1) “language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience”（言语，辞令）, e.g. employ stirring rhetoric; soothing rhetoric; glowing rhetoric (2) “a rtistic language”（艺术语言）, e.g. the rhetoric of fiction（小说的艺术语言）; the rhetoric of film(电影语言); body rhetoric(肢体语言)2) As a technical term, rhetoric has several senses. In America, the writing course or the writing textbook is entitled “rhetoric”. Apart from the above senses, rhetoric also has the following important senses:(1) Speaking rhetoric（演讲修辞）: the art of speaking(2) Compositional rhetoric（写作修辞）: the art of writing(3) Stylistic rhetoric（风格修辞，文体修辞）: the style of writing2. Rhetoric may also be subdivided into the following:1) Lexical rhetoric（词汇修辞）:the rhetorical law of choosing words and phrases2) Sentence rhetoric（句子修辞）:the rhetorical law selecting sentence patterns3) Paragraph rhetoric（段落修辞）:the rhetorical law of organizing paragraphs4) textual rhetoric（语篇修辞）:the rhetorical law of organizing textsII. Definition of Rhetoric修辞学的定义What is rhetoric ?1.Origin of modern rhetoric: 现代修辞学的起源Rhetoric originated in “speaking”（说话）. Aristotle（亚里士多得）, in the 4th century BC, first defined rhetoric as the art of persuasion, equivalent to argumentation as people understand today. John Locke（约翰.洛克）, English philosopher of the late 17th century, described rhetoric as “the science of oratory(演说术)” or “the art of speaking with propriety, elegance and force(修辞学是说话得体、优美和有力的艺术)”. All this explains why the word “rhetoric” means “speaking”in such European languages as Greek, Latin, French, Spanish and Italian. In the book Modern Rhetoric by American linguists Brooks（布鲁克斯）and Warren（沃伦）rhetoric is defined as “the art of using language effectively（修辞学是有效地使用语言的艺术）”.In the New Oxford Dictionary of English rhetoric is described as “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech or other compositional techniques（修辞学是有效或有说服力的演说或写作的艺术，特别是运用英语修辞格或其它写作的艺术）”.2.Rhetoric and Figures of Speech:Figures of speech are quite different from rhetoric, but they are important components in English rhetoric. In the New Oxford Dictionary of English, “figure of speech” is defined as “ a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense too add rhetorical force or interest to a spoken or written passage”(修辞格是用一个非字面意义的单词或短语使一段口头或笔头的文字增加修辞效果或兴趣). They refer to rhetorical devices（修辞手段）, each of which has a fixed pattern, e.g. Simile is introduced by comparative words as, like, as if, as though, etc.; Like Simile, Metaphor refers to the comparison of two essentially unlike things which have one point of resemblance;Irony refers to the intended implication of which is the opposite of the literal sense of words; Oxymoron refers to the conjunction of two words or phrases which are incongruous or contradictory in sense so as to describe a person or thing; Pun; a play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes onthe similar sense or sound of different words; etc. These figures are employed in the following.He is as stupid as a goose. (=He is very stupid.)He has a heart of stone./ He has a heart like flint.(=He is unfeeling and stubborn.)He slept like a log / top. (=He slept very soundly.)They are birds of a feather. (=They are people of the same sort.) (Simile and metaphor are used of the comparison of two essentially unlike things which have one point of resemblance.) This hard-working boy seldom reads more than an hour per week. (If a boy seldom reads more than an hour per week, he must be very lazy, not hard-working.)(Irony refers to the intended implication being the opposite of the literal sense of words)He seems to be a clever fool. (=He seems to be a fool, but in fact he is very clever.)(Oxymoron refers to the conjunction of two words or phrases which are incongruous or contradictory in sense)Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.(grave: adj. serious; n. tomb The speaker stresses the latter.) (Pun refers to a play on words，sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound ofdifferent words)3.The difference between rhetoric and grammar, phonetics,lexicolog y1)The difference between rhetoric and grammarRhetoric is different from grammar, but it is closely related to grammar and also based on grammar. To be grammatically correct is foundation to writing, but it is not enough. Basic rhetorical requirements must also be met. Francis Christensenn, an American French rhetorician, once said:Grammar maps out the possible(计划可能发生的事情);rhetoric narrows the possible down to the desirable and effective （使可能发生的事情变成很理想的事情或有效地事情）.In the preface to the book A handbook of English Rhetoric Warren quoted a passage by a scholar:Grammar is the law of language, considered as language;rhetoric is the art of language, considered as thought.Grammar tells what is correct; rhetoric tells what is effective and pleasing.2)Rhetoric and phonetics, lexicologyRhetoric is quite different from phonetics and lexicology. Phonetics is about the study of speech sounds and their pronunciation;lexicology is about the study of the vocabulary of a language;grammar concerns the study or science of rules for forming words and combining them into sentences; whereas rhetoric is the art of speaking or writing so as to persuade people effectively.I II. The Object of the Study of Rhetoric（修辞学研究的内容）Rhetoric aims at studying all forms of culture, which may be forms of mass media or any cultural phenomenon, concrete or abstract. Modern rhetoric seems to include all forms of discourse ---- written or colloquial, even all forms of communication in symbols.（修辞学研究的对象是一切文化形式，它们可以是任何这样或那样、具体或抽象的文化现象。