rhetoric

1.Whatisrhetoric?Doyouthinkitimportanttostudyrhetoric?AccordingtoWebster’sThirdNewInternationalDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,theword“rhetoric”canbedefinedinvariousways.Onthepositiveside,itcanrefertotheartofexpressivespeechordiscourse,includingthestudyofprinciplesandrulesofcompositionformulatedbyancientcritics(asAristotleandQuintilian)andinterpretedbyclassicalscholarsforapplication,ortheartandpracticeofwritingorspeakingasmeansofcommunicationwithpersuasiveormovingpower;Onthenegativeside,however,rhetoricmayalsomeanartificialeleganceoflanguage—discoursewithoutconvictionorearnestfeeling.Yes.Itcanimproveourabilitiestoexpressthelanguageandpolishthespeechandwriting.Therefore,thereareseveralkindsoffunctions.Besides,itisalsoanimportantskillthatweshouldachieve.2.GiveabriefaccountofthehistoryofWesternrhetoric.ItisgenerallyheldthatthehistoryofWesternrhetoricisdividedintosixphases:a.(500B.C.-400A.D.)classicalrhetoricb.(476A.D.-1416)rhetoricinthemiddleagec.(15-16th,c.)rhetoricinRenaissanced.(17-18th,c.)newclassicalrhetorice.rhetoricinthe19th,c.f.Contemporaryrhetoric3.Whatisthedifferencebetweengrammarandrhetoric?a.Grammarwilltellyousuchthingsaswherewordscangoandwheretheycannot;Itwilldistinguishanacceptablesentencefromanunacceptableone.Itdealswithmattersofrightorwrong,whereasrhetoricspeaksintermsofbetterorworse.b.Inthevastmajorityofcases,itiseasytojudgewhetherasentenceisgrammaticalornot.Itisfarhardertosaywhetheroneversionofatextisrhetoricallysuperiortoanother.c.Writinggrammaticallyisofcourseaprerequisite,butitisonlythefirststep.Asanexpertuserofalanguageyoumustprogressfrommeregrammaticalcompetencetorhetoricalcompetence.4.Whatistherelationshipbetweenrhetoricandstylistics?Rhetoricistheartorscienceofcommunicationinwords.a.Extensivevs.intensivestudy:Rhetoriccanbedefinedeitherasanextensivestudyofdiscourses,ascience,whichcoversallthedevicesoftheverbalandnon-verbalelementstomakehumancommunicationseffectively,inwhichstylistics,thestudyofdevicesinlanguagesthatareconsideredtoproduceexpressiveorliterarystyle,isoneofthemajordomains;orasanintensivestudy.b.Decomposingvs.composingprocess:Stylisticianslaystressesontheanalysesofthestyleofeventually-composedtextsordiscourses.Rhetoriciansemphasizethecomposingprocessesofthetextsordiscourses.5.Howdoyouunderstand“Rhetoricstudiestheeffactivenessoflanguagecomprehensively”?Rhetoricstudiestheeffectivenessoflanguagecomprehensively,includingitsemotionalimpact(pathos),asmuchasitspropositionalcontent(logos).Toseehowlanguageandthoughtworkedtogether,however,ithasfirstbeennecessarytoartificiallydividecontentandform.