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1、English Rhetoric,Lecture 7 Structural Rhetoric,Page 2,Rhetoric is power.,Whoever does not study rhetoric will become a victim of it.-Ancient Greek wall inscriptionHistories make men wise;poets,witty;the mathematics,subtle;natural philosophy,deep;moral,grave;logic and rhetoric,able to contend.-Franci
2、s Bacon,Page 3,Division of Rhetoric,1)Lexical rhetoric（词汇修辞）:the rhetorical law of choosing words and phrases 2)Sentence rhetoric（句子修辞）:the rhetorical law selecting sentence patterns 3)Paragraph rhetoric（段落修辞）:the rhetorical law of organizing paragraphs 4)textual rhetoric（语篇修辞）:the rhetorical law of
3、 organizing texts,English Rhetoric,Lecture 2 Lexical Rhetoric,Page 5,2.1.1 dialect2.1.2 slang2.1.3 colloquial language2.1.4 euphemism2.1.5 sexist language,Page 6,2.2 Using Exact Words,2.2.1 Denotation&connotationDefinitions:Denotation is the specific,direct,and literal meaning of a word,as described
4、 in a dictionary definition.It is also called denotative meaning or explicit meaning.E.g.A man was killed and his son was seriously injured in an automobile accident.The boy was rushed to a hospital.The surgeon took one look at him and said,“This is my son!I cant operate on him!”,Page 7,Connotation
5、is the associative or suggestive meaning of a word.It often implies attitudes,emotions,etc.of the speaker or writer,and is also called implicit meaning.E.g.“Proverb”would be the appropriate word to use in reference to saying from the Bible.“Saw”is often used in reference to the wisdom handed down to
6、 us anonymously.“Epigram”is often used in reference to a witty statement.,Syntactic Rhetoric,Lecture Three,Page 9,Unified,Coherent,Concise,Clear and correct arrangement of the parts of a sentence,One main idea complete in a sentence,Brief and clear,Identity,An effective sentence should be,Emphatic,C
7、oherent,Various,Unity,Key points,Change for variety,Page 10,Syntactic Rhetoric,1.Conciseness2.Unity3.Coherence4.Emphasis5.Variety,Page 11,3.1 Conciseness,1.Two basic requirements of“conciseness”A)According to Jacqueline Berke(杰克林.伯克),“The first quality of good writing is economy.”She quotes William
8、Strunk(威廉.斯特伦克)and E.B.White to illustrate the point:,Page 12,A sentence should contain no unnecessary words,a paragraph no unnecessary sentences,for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.This requires not that the writer make all his sent
9、ences short or that he avoid all detail but that every word tell(=produce a noticeable effect起作用,).(A New English Course,Level 6,p.161),Page 13,B)Francis L.Fennell,author of Collegiate English Handbook,says:Good writing does not belabor(啰嗦,赘述)the obvious,does not use six words where four words will
10、do.And no phoniness(伪造)either-we like a writer who is blunt(=frank坦率的),who comes right to the point(说话中肯)rather than talking like a witness at a Senate hearing(在参议院的听证会上).,Page 14,Conciseness means that effective sentence should not contain unnecessary words,that is,there should not be any word in t
11、he sentence that does not add something to the information.,Page 15,The flower is red in color.The war ended in the year of 1945.Professor Smith is a very learned and kind professor.In my opinion,I think the second plan is better.,Page 16,3.1.1 Two principles of conciseness,1.Use active voiceSentenc
12、es in active voice are usually easier to understand than those in passive voice because active-voice constructions indicate clearly the performer of the action expressed in the verb.clear(active):The committee decided to postpone the vote.not as clear(passive):A decision was reached to postpone the
13、vote.,Page 17,2.Avoid overusing noun forms of verbsUse verbs when possible rather than noun forms known as nominalizations.unclear(use of nominalization):The implementation of the plan was successful.clearer:The plan was implemented successfully.,Page 18,More:,Try to avoid using unnecessary modifier
14、s.Try to avoid unnecessary repetitions.,Page 19,3.2 Unity of sentence,Unity is the first essential of sentence structure.A unified sentence is the expression of a single complete thought in words,and consequently it produces a single-effect.,Page 20,Ideas not closely related:Born in a small town in
15、South China in 1937,he grew to be a musician.,He was born in a small town in South China in 1937,and he later became a musician.,Page 21,Idea incomplete:The girl is too young.*(to go to school/to get married),Page 22,3.3 Coherence,Coherence means there is a clear and reasonable connection between di
16、fferent parts of a sentence.,Page 23,A.Misused Parallel,Parallel Construction Phrases or clauses having the same function and importance must have the same grammatical form.Parallel constructions,which express parallel ideas,give emphasis,clarity,and coherence to sentences.,a)Use parallel constructi
17、ons for parallel ideas:,March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers.A man is judged not only by what he says but also by what he does.(by his words;by his deeds),Page 25,Let us be ruthless in our criticism,cruel to personal vanities,indifferent to age,rank or experience if these stand in o
18、ur way.Let all theories be subjected to the bright clear light of practice.(Norman Bethune),Faulty;,We thought she was charming,intelligent,and a very capable young woman.He spends a great deal of money and foolishly.She works diligently and at night.,Page 27,Tom Clark,who is wise and intelligent,an
19、d who is our union representative,has been promoted to foreman.Tom Clark,who is wise and intelligent and who is our union representative,has been promoted to foreman.,b)Use parallel constructions for comparison and contrast:,He is a poet rather than a philosopher.It is better to give than to take.,I
20、llogical;,The students attending our school are more intelligent than your school.(the students attending your school),c)Use parallel constructions for items in lists or outlines:,I.its founding in 1900II.its development from 1900 to 1949III.its expansion from 1949 to 1966IV.its state of affairs fro
21、m 1966 to 1976 V.its changes after 1976,Page 31,B.Vague Pronoun,The effect of pronouns is based on the readers unmistakable understanding of what they refer to.However,if readers find that they can explain one pronoun in more than one way,and different explanation leads to different ideas,then your
22、sentence is not clear in idea.We call this kind of sentence ambiguous/ambiguity.,Page 32,He told his father that hed better leave as soon as possible.Here“he”is not clear,because it may refer to the father or the son.In order to make this reference clear,we may use direct speech:He told his father:I
23、d better leave as soon as possible.or He told his father that Youd better leave as soon as possible.,Page 33,I bought a new computer,but it was not very helpful.Here“it”is not clear.It may refer to the new computer,or refer to the action of buying a computer.We can also adjust it to make this senten
24、ce clear:I bought a new computer,but the machine was not very helpful or I bought a new computer,but the buying was not very helpful.,Page 34,C.Misplaced Modifier,Modifiers help to make our writing more vivid or more exact.However,sometimes,modifiers,especially long modifiers present much difficulty
25、.,Page 35,The story he told at first sounded very terrifying.“At first”is misplaced.It may be regarded as a modifier for told,or a modifier for sounded.Maybe the following sentences are better:The first story he told sounded very terrifying.or The story he told sounded very terrifying at first.,Page
26、 36,3.4 Emphasis of sentence,When there is an important idea,it should be expressed with emphasis.1.Arrange the meaning effectively;,Page 37,The Periodic Sentence（掉尾句）A periodic sentence is usually a long and complex sentence in which some or all of the independent clause is held back(阻拦；抑制)until th
27、e very end of the sentence so that the reader cannot get the complete idea of the sentence until the whole sentence is read.In grammar,the periodic sentence is an indivisible language unit.(掉尾句是一种把句子的主要意思放在整个句子末尾，因而要读完全句才能了解该句完整含义的句子结构；从语法上看，掉尾句是一个不可分割的语言单位。),Page 38,a.A simple sentence is a periodi
28、c sentence.e.g.The English professor is popular among the students.b.A complex sentence may be a periodic sentence when the main clause follows the subordinate clause,i.e.subordinate clause+main clause.e.g.When I saw him,he was quite well.c.When the adverbial comes before the main clause,the whole s
29、entence is a periodic sentence.e.g.Yesterday I saw him in the street.,Page 39,The Loose Sentence（松散句）Just as its name implies,the loose sentence is loose in structure.e.g.I came,I saw,I conquered.(Julius Saesar)He lost his empire,his family and his fountain pen.,Page 40,The co-ordinate sentence is a
30、lso loose because each of the coordinate clauses can express a complete notion and even the order of coordinate clauses can sometimes be exchanged without affecting much of the meaning of the whole sentence.,Page 41,e.g.John likes sports and Jane likes music./Jane likes music and John likes sports.A
31、rsenal win;United slip up./United slip up;Arsenal win.有武器就会赢；团结就会出错。United we stand;divided we fall./Divided we fall;united we stand.团结则存；分裂则亡。,Page 42,A complex sentence can be a loose sentence when the main clause stands before the subordinate one(s),i.e.main clause+subordinate clause.e.g.He was q
32、uite well when I saw him.我见到他时，他身体很好。,Page 43,3.5 Variety of sentence,The purpose of seeking sentence variety is to avoid monotony in ones speech or writing so as to achieve the most satisfactory results in communication.Samuel Johnson,a noted English writer,critic and compiler,said:“The joy of life
33、 is variety.（生活的乐趣在于多样化）”So variety of writing is a joy.Without variety,any text can be dull and uninteresting.,Page 44,Seeking sentence variety mainly deals with the following aspects:1.For Repeated Subjects or TopicsOne of the cameras was not packed very well.It was damaged during the move,3.5.1 W
34、ays to achieve sentence variety,Page 45,A.Relative pronouns（关系代词）:Embed one sentence inside the other using a clause starting with one of the relative pronouns listed below.which,who,whoever,whom,that,whoseoriginal:One of the cameras was not packed very well.It was damaged during the move.revised:Th
35、e camera that was not packed very well was damaged during the move.,Page 46,B.Participles（分词形式）Eliminate a be verb(am,is,was,were,are)and substitute a participle(present or passive participle)去掉be动词，用现在分词或者是过去分词代替。Original:Wei Xia was surprised to get a phone call from his sister.He was happy to hea
36、r her voice again.Revised:Surprised to get a phone call from his sister,Wei Xia was happy to hear her voice again.,Page 47,2)Variety of sentence structure,Sentence typesAccording to the sentence structure:Simple sentence Compound sentenceComplex sentence,Page 48,A simple sentence consists of a singl
37、e clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentenceCompound Sentences(并列句):two or more independent clauses,joined by coordinating conjunctions or semicolons并列句包含两个或更多的独立的简单句，用并列连词（and,but,or等）连接，或用分号连接,Page 49,Complex Sentences（复合句）:an independent clause+one or mor
38、e subordinate clauses.复合句包含一个主句和一个或更多的从句，并用连词来表明它们之间的关系。从句可以当全句的主语、宾语、表语、定语或状语。一般来说，主句表述主要的意思，次要从句表述次要的意思。e.g.He failed the exam because he didnt follow the teachers advice.,Page 50,According to their use/function,sentences aredeclarative,interrogative,imperative exclamatory.,Page 51,From a rhetoric
39、al point of view,sentences are loose Periodic balanced,Page 52,1.For short and choppy sentences John likes football.His wife likes football.A.Conjunction(用并列的连词)Combine Sentences With Conjunctions Join complete sentences,clauses,and phrases with conjunctions:and,but,or,nor,yet,for,soOriginal:John li
40、kes football.His wife likes football.Revised:John likes football and his wife likes it too.,Page 53,B.Subordination（替换为从属关系）Combine short simple sentences with the same subject by turning the less important idea into a relative clause starting with one of the relative pronouns such as which,who,whoe
41、ver,whom,that and whose（用关系从句表达）or an adverbial clause starting with a subordinating conjunction such as after,although,as,as if,because,before,even if,even though,if,if only,rather than,since,that,though,unless,until,when,where,whereas,wherever,whether,which and while（用状语从句表达）,Page 54,Original:Dazh
42、ai used to be mainly an agricultural county.It has recently attracted more industry.Revised:Dazhai,which used to be mainly an agricultural county,has recently attracted more industry.Original:The rain was heavy.We could not go out of the room.Revised:Owing to the heavy rain,we could not go out of th
43、e room.,Page 55,Put subordinate clauses or phrases at the beginning of some sentences instead of starting each sentence with the same subject or/and using sentences of the same structure.(松散句与圆周句互换)Original:To be artist was her greatest wish and she often talked about this with her parents and frien
44、ds.revised:she often said to her parents and friends that her greatest wish was to be an artist.,Page 56,3)Variety of sentence length,Alternate short and long sentences to avoid monotony.（长短句交替使用）Original:I picked up a wallet from the ground.I looked at it.I couldnt see anybody nearby.I decided to g
45、ive it to the police.Revised:I picked up a wallet from the ground.After I looked at it and couldnt see anybody nearby,I decided to give it to the police.,Page 57,Short sentences are usually emphatic,whereas long sentences are capable of expressing complex ideas with precision,because it may contain
46、many modifiers.Short sentences are suitable for the presentation of important facts and ideas,and long sentences for the explanation of views and theories,or the description of things with many details.,Page 58,Look at the following passage which makes good use of short sentences:,Our city is on the
47、 threshold of a great era.Of this we can be sure.But in order to fulfill the promise of the future,we must be willing to work-and to spend.We need a larger police force for public protection.We need a modernized fire department.We need an enlarged library.We need to increase the pay scale of teacher
48、s in the public schools.We need to improve our water supply.For all these needs there is but one solution.We must see that the bond issue is approved by the voters in the November election.Here each short sentence puts forward an important suggestion.If the points were grouped into two or three long
49、er sentences,there would not be the force and clarity of these short sentences.,Page 59,The following passage describes how a man saved a drowning girl:,He crouched a little,spreading his hands under the water and moving them around,trying to feel for her.The dead cold pond swayed upon his chest.He
50、moved again,a little deeper,and again,with his hands underneath,he felt all around under the water.And he touched her clothing.But evaded his fingers.He made a desperate effort to grasp it.(to be continued),Page 60,He laid her down on the bank.She was quite unconscious and running with water.He made
