Rhetoric: The Wit of Persuasion (Language Library) - Hardcover

Nash, Walter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0631167544 ISBN 13: 9780631167549

Publisher: Wiley–Blackwell, 1989

Synopsis

To some people "rhetoric" suggests empty verbiage; to some, a clever way of telling lies; and to some, a baffling struggle with Graeco-Roman names for complecated verbal devices. This book sets out to dispel these unfavourable notions, and to replace them with a view of rhetoric as a form of wit, a psychological instrument, an aesthetic pleasure, a framework for argument, and above all as a technique informing not only the complex patterns of literary art but also the conduct of everyday transactions. It has something to say about figures of speech, but mostly it is concerned with how speech figures in the design of texts and utterances that variously move, divert, and persuade us. Its terms of reference cover topics as diverse as sales-patter and poetry; its illustrations range from Aristotle to Auden; and its conclusion is that rhetoric may be a bad or a good thing, but, like religion and rainfall, is not likely to go away. Written with clarity and elegance, Professor Nash makes his subject accessible to the widest audience. This book is aimed at general readers with an interest in language; students and speci alists in rhetoric and stylistics in departments of literature and linguistics.

About this title

Review

Ambitious and enjoyable, Nash s work is a companion to rhetoric as applied to any aspect of literary study: a history, a handbook and a wholly continuing argument for the persistent significance of ars rhetorica . The Year s Work in English Studies

Being a man for whom wit and wisdom are as inseparable as are historically these words themselves, Professor Nash makes the subject of rhetoric both entertaining and of practical utility . Sir Randolph Quirk

From the Back Cover

To some people rhetoric suggests empty verbiage; to some, a clever way of telling lies; and to some, a baffling struggle with Graeco–Roman names for complicated verbal devices. This book sets out to dispel these unfavourable notions, and to replace them with a view of rhetoric as a form of wit, a notions, and to replace them with a view of rhetoric as a form of wit, a psychological instrument, an aesthetic pleasure, a framework for argument, and above all as a technique informing not only the complex patterns of literary art but also the conduct of everyday transactions.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley–Blackwell
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0631167544
• ISBN 13: 9780631167549
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256