跨文化交际视域下的修辞学 第一章.doc

Chapter Five Active Rhetorical Techniques Chapter One Introduction I. Definitions of rhetoric People have various ideas of rhetoric and give diverse definitions, just as a flower has different photos from different perspectives. A. Denotation of rhetoric Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (OALD for short) (Wehmeier, 2004: 1097) declares that rhetoric is the skill of using language in speech or writing in a special way that influences or entertains people. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (Gove, 2002:1946) describes it as the skill in the effective use of speech. B. Connotation of rhetoric Rhetoric, derived from the Greek word “rhetorike,” which was first created by Plato (427—347 B.C.) in his The Dialogues, refers to the art (-ike) of speech (rhe-). Yet the rhetorical practice and study came into being before the 5th century B.C. in ancient Greek, where democracies were established and the art of speaking in the law courts was a great necessity. Gorgias(480?—380? B.C.), for example, had put forward the concept of artifice of persuasion, although he did not use the term “rhetoric.” In the 4th century B.C., Aristotle (384—322 B.C.) defined rhetoric as “the faculty of discovering in the particular case what are the available means of persuasion” and first systematized rhetoric into a unified body of thought. His Rhetoric is often considered the foundation of the discipline of speech communication (Foss et al, 1991: 4). From then on, five canons—invention, disposition, elocution, memorization and delivery were continually discussed and perfected. They respectively refer to “the art of discovery, the art of organizing one’s material, the art of clothing ideas with words, the art of recalling ideas and images and the art of oral presentation.” (Golden et al, 2000: 3) Later, the art of expressing oneself well came to be understood as the ability to write or speak well in ornate, showy language. Nowadays, more and more people have come to regard rhet