1.-What-is-rhetoric

11.Whatisrhetoric?Thewordrhetorichasafishysmellaboutitnowadays.It’scommonlyusedtomeanemptyorinflatedlanguageortorefertoamisleadingargumentasopposedtoagoodone.AndPresidentNixon,quotedbyoneofhisstaff,offeredthewordtosuggestthatlanguagebeusedtodeceive:YoucansaythisAdministrationwillhavethefirstfar-reachingattackontheproblemofhungerinhistory.Usealltherhetoric,solongasitdoesn’tcostanymoney.Thewordrhetoricwasonceprimarilythenameofanimportantbranchofphilosophyandanartdeservingofseriousstudy.Inrecentyearsthewordhascometobeusedchieflyinapejorativesensetorefertoinflatedlanguageandpomposity.DeprecationofthetermmayresultfromamodernlinguisticPuritanism,whichholdsthatlanguageusedinlegitimatepersuasionshouldbeplainandfreeofartificeitselfatendentiousrhetoricaldoctrine,thoughnotoftenrecognizedassuch.Butmanywritersstillprefertobearinmindthetraditionalmeaningsoftheword.Thus,accordingtotheneweruseoftheterm,thephraseemptyrhetoric,asinthepoliticianstalkaboutsolutions,buttheyusuallyofferonlyemptyrhetoric,mightbeconstruedasredundant.Butinfactonly35percentoftheUsagePaneljudgedthisexampletoberedundant.Presumably,itcanbemaintainedthatrhetoriccanbeotherthanempty.单词rhetoric曾主要是哲学的一个重要分支的和一种值得严肃研究的艺术的名称。近年来，这个词已开始主要用于贬义，指夸大的语言和虚夸。这个词的改变可能源于一种现代语言的刻板做法，认为用于正当劝说中的语言应是朴素，没有人工雕饰的——它自身便是一种宣传性的修辞教条，虽然未常常被如此认为。但许多作家仍愿意记住这个词的传统含义。这样，根据这个词较新的含义，在Thepoliticiantalkaboutsolutions,buttheyusuallyofferonlyemptyrhetoric中，短语emptyrhetoric可能被分析为多余的。但事实上，用法委员会成员中只有百分之三十五的人认为在这个例子中是多余的。大概该词除了空的以外还有其他的意思吧Wethinkofthissenseofthewordas“mererhetoric.”Butthereshouldbesomeotherdefinitionofrhetoric.Theartorstudyofusinglanguageeffectivelyandpersuasively.Thescienceoforatoryortheartofspeakingwithpropriety,eleganceandforce.Allthisexplainswhytheword“rhetoric”means“speaking”insuchEuropeanlanguagesasGreek,Latin,French,SpanishandItalian.Inthe4thcenturyBC,firstdefinedrhetoricastheartofpersuasion,equivalenttoargumentationaspeopleunderstandtoday.BecauseAristotle’sRhetoricwassoappropriatelyrelatedtotherelativelysimpleGreeksocietyofhisday,itpredictablyislesssuitedasatheorytoexplainthemorecomplexandverydifferentrhetoricalpracticesoftoday,…AlthoughinpartitsinadequacyforthepresentdaymaybeduetotherelativelyunsophisticatedinvestigativeproceduresAristotlehadtouse,theprimaryreasonisthatitisbaseduponphenomena,descriptions,andvalueswhichdonotcorrespondtopresent2practices.Threereasonsaregivenbelow1.whilerhetoricaleventsinGreeceduringthefourthcenturyB.C.werelimitedalmostexclusivelytothepublicaddresssettingofonemantalkingtooneaudience,todayrhetoricalactsdonotevenprimarilyoccurinsuchasituation.Hence,theclassicalpreceptswhichpresupposesuchasettingarenotalwaysrelevanttopresentpractice.Moreover,theartofrhetorictodayisrevealedinwrittenrhetoricmustaccommodatewhathappensinthemassmedia,inwrittendiscourse,andindiscussion.2.Greekculturefocusedconsiderableattentiononthediscourse.Classicalrhetoricwithitsorientationondiscoursewasjustifiedinstressingthepartsofaspeech,inclassifyingthefiguresofspeech,andindiscoursingonnicetiesofanelegancenolongerrequisite.Today,theemphasisappearstocentermoreupontheinteractionbetweenspeakerandaudience.Sothetheorist,accordingly,mightappropriatelybeconcernedalongapersonaldimensionwiththeimagesthatspeakersandaudienceshaveforthemselvesandofoneanother,alonganideationaldimensionwiththestrategiesformaterialandformalidentification,andwiththeconditionsunderwhichthereciprocalimagesanattitudesofspeakersanaudiencesmaychange.3.Therelationshipbetweenrhetorandrespondentismorecomplexthanitwas2300yearsago.Publicaddressthenoccurredpredominantlyamongmenwhowereapproximatelyequalinsocialclass,inpoliticalanlegalopportunities,andineducation.Buttoday,therelationshipofspeakersandaudiencesisnotsosimple.Classicalrhetoricprovidesnopreceptstoaccountforthesecomplexitiesinstatusrelationship.Thevaluesofacontemporarytheoryofrhetoricare:1.anempirically-driventheorymightguideexperimentalresearch,howevertentativeandunsatisfactoryaninitialformulationmightbe.Experimentsimpelledbyatheoreticalframeworkaremorelikelytobeproductivethanthosethatarenotsoimpelled,andthatexperiments,inturn,containpowerfulmethodswhichcanrefinethetheory.Eachneedtheinteractionoftheother.2.acontemporarytheoryofrhetoricwouldalsointeractadvantageouslywiththecriticismofcontemporaryrhetoric.Agoodanalysisofhowspeakersadaptideastoaudiencesshouldprovidedescriptivedataforthesystembuilder.Butcontemporarytheoryalsoaidscontemporarycriticism.3.asingle,contemporarytheoryofrhetoricisvaluableforteachersandstudents.Thewordrhetoricwasonceprimarilythenameofanimportantbranchofphilosophyandanartdeservingofseriousstudy.Inrecentyearsthewordhascometobeusedchieflyinapejorativesensetorefertoinflatedlanguageandpomposity.DeprecationofthetermmayresultfromamodernlinguisticPuritanism,whichholdsthatlanguageusedinlegitimatepersuasionshouldbeplainandfreeofartificeitselfatendentiousrhetoricaldoctrine,thoughnotoftenrecognizedassuch.Butmanywritersstillprefertobearinmindthetraditionalmeaningsoftheword.Thus,accordingtotheneweruseoftheterm,thephraseemptyrhetoric,asinThepolitic