Chapter-1----Syntactic-Devices

Chapter1SyntacticDevices1.1Introduction:WhatisRhetoric?Isitmerelyconcernedwithwordchoice,figuresofspeech,topicsentences,andtranslationsfromparagraphtoparagraph?Doesitmerelyhavetodowithoutliningadiscussionandstudyingtheprinciplesofunity,coherence,andemphasis?Certainlyitisconcernedwiththesethings,buttheyarenotstudiedfortheirownsake.Theyarestudiedbecauseitisthroughlanguagethatwediscovertheworldandourselves.Theyarestudied,too,becausetheycontributetotheeffectiveuseoflanguage——andthustoeffectiveliving.Rhetoric,morespecifically,istheartofusinglanguageeffectively.Inthisandthesubsequentchapterswearetodiscusstheeffectiveuseoflanguageinthreelevels:syntacticlevel,lexicallevelandphoneticlevel.Syntacticdeviceshererefertovariationintheuseofsentencestructureforstylisticorrhetoricaleffect,andaredifferentfromtheprocessoftransformationofbasicsentencepatternsaccordingtogrammarrules.Thustheordinarydeclarative,interrogative,negative,andexclamatorystructures,andtheconstructionofsimple,compound,andcomplexsentencesassuchdonotcomeinfortechnicaldiscussion.Itisthewaysentencestructuresareusedinastylisticwaythatconcernsus,as,forexample,whenaninterrogativesentenceisusedasarhetoricalquestion,orwhendeclarativesentencesaremadelooseorperiodic,andsoon.Rhetoricistheartofwritingeffectively.Andtherhetoricofsentencesistheartofwritingeffectivesentences.Astheeffectivenessofapieceofwritingdependslargelyontheeffectivenessofindividualsentences,thestudyoftherhetoricofsentencesbecomesvitallyimportanttostudentwriterswhowishtoachieveeffectivewriting.Thischapterisdevotedtothestudyoftherhetoricofsentencesinitsvariousaspects.1.2LongandshortsentencesTherhetoricaleffectoflongorshortsentencesdependsonpurposeandcontext.Withoutanappropriatepurposeorcontext,shortsentencesusedabundantlyinapassageonlymakeforchoppinessandmonotony.Likewise,toomanylongsentencescanmakeapassageheavyandlaborious.Skillfulwriters,however,canexploitvariationinsentencelengthtogreateffecttoexpressdifferentmoodsorattitudes,todescribeactionoreventsortoemphasizeapoint.Letusseesomeexamples:(1)Whenthedykesweptout,Alturnedandran.Hisfeetmovedheavily.Thewaterwasabouthiscalves(小腿)whenhereachedthetruck.Heflungthetarpaulin(雨布)offthenoseandjumpedintothecar.Hesteppedonthestarter.Theengineturnedoverandover,andtherewasnobarkofthemotor.Hechokedtheenginedeeply.Thebatteryturnedthesodden(dull)motormoreandmoreslowly,andtherewasnocough.Overandover,slowerandslower.Alsetthesparkhigh.Hefeltundertheseatforthecrank(转动曲)andjumpedout.Thewaterwashigherthantherunning-board(踏脚板).Herantothefrontend.Crank-casewasunderwaternow.Franticallyhefittedthecrankandtwistedaroundandaround,andhisclenchedhandonthecranksplashedintheslowlyflowingwaterateachturn.Atlasthisfrenzygaveout.(JohnSteinbech:TheGrapesofWrath)InthisdescriptionofAl’sattempttostarthistruckinfloodwaters,SteinbecheffectivelyusesveryshortsentencestodescribeAl’sactions,andlongeronestodescribetheengine’sslowreactions.ThelongestsentenceisusedwhenAlfranticallytriestocranktheenginealive.(2)Shesatatthewindowwatchingtheeveninginvadetheavenue.Herheadwasleanedagainstthewindowcurtainandinhernostrilswastheodorofdustycretonne(printedclothusedforcurtains).Shewastired.(JamesJoyce:“Eveline”)Anyonewhohasreadthisstorywillfeelhoweffectivelytheshort3-wordsentencecomingaftertwolongonesemphasizesEveline’sextremetiredness.Theaboveexamplesillustratehowshortsentencescanbeusedeffectivelytoachieverhetoricaleffect,especiallyincombinationwithlongersentences.Shortsentences,onthewhole,arecharacterizedbytheirbrevity,quicktempoandforce.Longsentences,however,haveratherspecialpurposesandcontexts.Legaldocuments,officialdocumentsandscientificpaperscontainamuchlargerproportionoflongsentencesthanothercategoriesofwriting.ThePreamble(introduction)toTheCharteroftheUnitedNations,forexample,containsasinglesentenceofover170words.Sentencesinsuchdocumentsaremadeveryclearandexplicit,withnoroomformisunderstandingormisinterpretation.Inliteraryprosewriting,however,longsentencesserveadifferentpurpose.Theyareusedtodescribeactionsorfeelingthatcomeinquicksuccession,todescribesimultaneousorcontinuousaction,ortoindicateaclosecause-and-effectrelationship.1.3TheSimpleSentence1.3.1CharacteristicsoftheSimpleSentenceIncontemporarylinguistics,asentenceissimplenotonlybecauseitcontainsasingleindependentclause,butalsobecauseitsconstituents(subject,verb,object,adverbial,complement)arephrases,notclauses.Thisfeatureofthesimplesentence,thatitcancarryalotofinformationatthephraselevel,makesitaconvenientvehicleforwriterswhowishtopackanumberofrelevantorrelateddetailsintoastatement,forclarity,brevityoremphasis.NowtryputtingthefollowingsimplesentenceintoChinese:Caughtinashower,onhiswaytohishouseinLloydRoad,atallEnglishgentleman,ateacherinoneofthemostflourishingprivateschoolsinSingapore,beganrunning,withsomebooksunderhisarm,inordertocatchabusgoingatfullspeed20yardaheadofhim.Theaboveexamplesufficestojustifytheclarity,brevityandexpressivenessofthesimplesentence.Itisthereforenecessaryforustohavesomeknowledgeofhowasimplesentencecabbemaderhetoricallyef