1、English Rhetoric and Stylistics (I)Instructed by Lian Jie Tel: 83962550Mobile:-mail: 1 Course IntroductionWhole Course：Rhetoric (14 h) + Stylistics (18 h)English rhetoric:第一講第一講 遣詞遣詞第二講第二講 句級修辭手段句級修辭手段 (I)第二講第二講 句級修辭手段句級修辭手段 (II)第二講第二講 句級修辭手段句級修辭手段 (III)第三講第三講 修辭格修辭格 (I)第三講第三講 修辭格修辭格 (I

2、I)第三講第三講 修辭格修辭格 (III) 單元測試單元測試2Recommended books:1.范家材范家材. 1992. 英語修辭賞析英語修辭賞析M. 上海上海:上海交通大上海交通大學出版社學出版社.2.黃任黃任. 1996. 英語修辭與寫作英語修辭與寫作M. 上海上海: 上海外語教上海外語教育出版社育出版社.3.呂熙呂熙. 2004. 實用英語修辭實用英語修辭M.北京北京:清華大學出版清華大學出版社社.4. 潘紹嶂潘紹嶂. 1998. 英語修辭與寫作英語修辭與寫作M. 上海上海:上海交通上海交通大學出版社大學出版社.5. 王德春王德春,陳晨陳晨. 現代修辭學現代修辭學M. 上海上海:

3、 上海外語教育上海外語教育出版社出版社.6.王希杰王希杰. 2005. 漢語修辭學漢語修辭學M. 北京北京:商務印書館商務印書館.3English Rhetoric Session 1 0. Introduction (1) Definition the art of speaking or writing effectively which focuses on the study of language techniques or devices for drawing the reader/listeners attention and impressing or convincing

4、him (2) Two aspects of rhetoric - Communicative/ Passive rhetoric - Aesthetic/ Active rhetoric 4 In the case of content, communicative rhetoric stresses the choice of words and sentence structures, clarity and fluency; in the c a s e o f f o r m , i t s t re s s e s b a l a n c e a n d rigorousness.

5、 Aesthetic rhetoric stresses appealing to emotion, imagination, association and the use of figures of speech so as to achieve artistic effect by making language more active, beautiful, powerful and convincing.5(3) Rhetoric and some other sciences - Semantics: rhetoric often goes hand in hand with di

6、ction, while diction cant depart from semantics. - Phonetics: rhetoric often deals with the choice of sounds, and this cant depart from phonetics. - Lexicology and grammar: rhetoric bases itself on vocabulary and grammar, through which we achieve rhetorical effect.6 - Semantics, phonetics, lexicolog

7、y and grammar deal with “CORRECTNESS”, while rhetoric “EFFECTIVENESS”. (4) Thought Questions - What is rhetoric and its function? - What is the relationship between rhetoric and grammar? - How do you understand correctness and effectiveness of communication?71. DICTION1.1 Definition the choice of wo

8、rds, and an indispensable first step in communication1.2 Three principles of diction (1) CORRECTION e.g. homonyms1) air, heir Man cannot live without air. He is an heir to property.82) cite, sight, site He cited quotations from Shakespeare.The sunrise is a beautiful sight.This is a suitable site for

9、 a cotton mill.3) words similar in pronunciation / spellingThe hot weather affected his health.The medicine effected nothing. He has a good conscience.They were conscious of being watched.9(2) APPROPRIATENESS - proper words in proper places (Swift) W h e t h e r t h e w o r d s u s e d a r e appropr

10、iate depends to a large extent onthe subject, audience and the purpose of the writer /speaker. 1) standard and non-standard English - Standard English: the English recognized and used by educated speakers of English 10- Non-standard English: the English not usually found in the speech of educated sp

11、eakers of English E.g. nowheres - nowhere irregardless - regardless aint - are/am/is not haint - have/has not I dont want nothing. - I dont want anything. 11 2) three layers of English vocabulary The core of English vocabulary is made up of three layers of words, with the learned at the top, the col

12、loquial at the bottom, and the common in the middle. e.g. formal common informal inform tell tell obtain obtain get however but but12 (3) EXACTNESS (or Accuracy) Exactness of diction depends much on connotation and denotation of words. A words denotation is what it literally means means, as defined

13、by the dictionary; its connotation is the feeling or idea suggested by the word. e.g. country, nation, state, land resolute, stubborn modest, humble13 - synonyms three sets of English synonyms early English French origin Latin origin small/little petite diminutive ask question interrogate time age e

14、poch - derogatory terms and euphemisms derogatory: Japs (for Japanese) Huns (for German soldiers) honky/honkie (for White man)14 artful, crafty, knave, lust euphemism: die: pass away, cease ones breath, fall asleep be pregnant: be expecting, be in the family way lavatory: rest room, lounge, john, co

15、nvenience the poor people: the disadvantaged, the underprivileged, the low income group15 - general versus specific words General/abstract words refer to character- istics that many things have in common and indicate general names, qualities or modes of actions. Specific/concrete words indicate part

16、icular things, qualities and actions. E.g.16 general words specific words house cottage, hut, shed, mansion, villa, office building, skyscraper, person king, queen, prince, worker, farmer, policeman, lawyer, doctor, teacher flower chrysanthemum, lotus, rose, daffodil do work, study, read, write, sin

17、g, dance move walk, jog, run, wander, stroll, hop, skip, darg, stumble, creep, climb 17 Classroom exercise I. Compare the following sentences: a (1) He loves literature. (2) He loves novels, poems and the like. b (1) From the primary school through the high school, later in his college course, he wa

18、s always a diligent and painstaking student. (2) Through the whole course of his education, he was a diligent and painstaking student.18 c (1) He fought like an animal. (2) He fought like a tiger. II. Please give some concrete words for good in the following two phrases: (1) a good man; (2) good foo

19、d c.f. (1) a good man: kind, honest, just, generous, sympathetic, honourable，warm-hearted, hardworking, helpful, selfless 19 (2) good food: delicious, tasty, nourishing, wholesome, rich, fresh, substantial III. A case study The following is part of a dialogue taken from the American film Man, Woman

20、and Child written by Erich Segal. Please analyze the diction the writer uses for the dialogue. 20Background introduction: Robert was a doctor. He and his wife, Sheila, had a son. A few years before the dialogue, Robert met a woman doctor at a conference and had an affair with her. The woman gave bir

21、th to a child without telling it to Robert. Later, unfortunately, she was seriously ill and was going to die. She had no choice but to tell Robert about the child and hoped Robert would take the child back home and bring him up after her death. Robert decided to talk with his wife, hoping she would forgive him and agre