Writing with clarity and style : a guide to rhetorical devices for contemporary writers

232 Pages·2018·3.463 MB·English

by  Robert Alan Harris

Writing with
Clarity and Style
Writing with Clarity and Style , second edition, will help you to improve your writing
dramatically. The book shows you how to use dozens of classical rhetorical devices to bring
power, clarity, and effectiveness to your writing. You will also learn about writing styles, authorial
personas, and sentence syntax as tools to make your writing interesting and persuasive. If you
want to improve the appeal and persuasion of your speeches, this is also the book for you.
From strategic techniques for keeping your readers engaged as you change focus, down
to the choice of just the right words and phrases for maximum impact, this book will help you
develop a fl exible, adaptable style for all the audiences you need to address.
Each Chapter Now Includes These Sections
♦ Style Check, discussing many elements of style, including some enhanced and
revised sections .
♦ Define Your Terms, asking students to use their own words and examples in their
definitions.
♦ It’s in the Cloud , directing students to the Web to locate and respond to various
rhetorically focused items, including biographies and speeches.
♦ Salt and Pepper, spicing up the study of rhetoric by stretching students’ thinking
about how their writing can be improved, sometimes by attending to details such
as punctuation, and sometimes by exploring the use of unusual techniques such as
stylistic fragments.
♦ Review Questions , providing an end-of-chapter quiz to help cement the chapter
ideas in long-term memory.
♦ Questions for Thought and Discussion, a set of questions designed for either
in-class discussion or personal response.
New to the Second Edition
♦ Additional examples of each device, including from world personalities and the
captains of industry.
♦ More and longer exercises, with a range of difficulty.
♦ Advice from classical rhetoricians including Aristotle, Horace, Longinus, Cicero,
and Quintilian.
Robert A. Harris (PhD, University of California, Riverside) taught English at college and
university level for more than 25 years. He has also worked in the area of instructional design.
Dr Harris’ other books include U sing Sources Effectively: Strengthening Your Writing and Avoiding
Plagiarism (now in its fi fth edition), and The Plagiarism Handbook: Strategies for Preventing, Detecting,
and Dealing with Plagiarism .

Writing with
Clarity and Style
A Guide to Rhetorical Devices
for Contemporary Writers
Second Edition
Robert A. Harris
Second edition published 2018
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Taylor & Francis
The right of Robert A. Harris to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Pyrczak Publishing 2001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Harris, Robert A. (Robert Alan), 1950– author.
Title: Writing with clarity and style : a guide to rhetorical devices for
contemporary writers / Robert A. Harris.Other titles: Guide to rhetorical
devices for contemporary writers
Description: Second edition. | New York, NY : Routledge, [2018] | Previous edition
published in 2003. | Includes index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2017036072| ISBN 9781138560109 (Hardback) | ISBN 9781138560093
(Paperback) | ISBN 9780203712047 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: English language—Style. | English language—Rhetoric.
Classifi cation: LCC PE1421 .H37 2017 | DDC 808/.042—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017036072
ISBN: 978-1-138-56010-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-56009-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-71204-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Book Antiqua
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Tables xi
Introduction 1
The Method 3
The Names and Terms 3
New to the Second Edition 3
Acknowledgments 4
Chapter 1 Balance 5
Parallelism 5
Chiasmus 8
Antithesis 10
Style Check 1: Rhythm 12
Defi ne Your Terms 1 12
It’s in the Cloud 1: Losing Distinction 12
Salt and Pepper 1: Titles 13
Review Questions 13
Questions for Thought and Discussion 14
Chapter 2 Emphasis I 15
Climax 15
Asyndeton 16
Polysyndeton 18
Sentential Adverb 19
Style Check 2: Demetrius on Beginning and Ending Stress 22
Defi ne Your Terms 2 23
It’s in the Cloud 2: Demetrius 23
Salt and Pepper 2: Coordinating Conjunctions 23
Review Questions 24
Questions for Thought and Discussion 25
Chapter 3 Emphasis II 27
Irony 27
Understatement 29
Litotes 30
Hyperbole 32
Style Check 3: Emphatic Positioning 33
Defi ne Your Terms 3 34
It’s in the Cloud 3: Email Etiquette 34
Salt and Pepper 3: Stylistic Fragments 35
Review Questions 35
Questions for Thought and Discussion 36
v
Chapter 4 Transition 37
Metabasis 37
Procatalepsis 39
Hypophora 42
Style Check 4: Transitions of Logic 45
Defi ne Your Terms 4 46
It’s in the Cloud 4: Writing Analysis Apps 46
Salt and Pepper 4: A Pari and A Fortiori 46
Review Questions 47
Questions for Thought and Discussion 48
Chapter 5 Clarity 49
Distinctio 49
Exemplum 51
Amplifi cation 53
Metanoia 54
Style Check 5: Clear Versus Opaque Writing 55
Defi ne Your Terms 5 56
It’s in the Cloud 5: Aristotle 56
Salt and Pepper 5: The Rhetoric of Punctuation 56
Review Questions 58
Questions for Thought and Discussion 58
Chapter 6 Syntax I 61
Zeugma 61
Diazeugma 62
Prozeugma 63
Mesozeugma 65
Hypozeugma 66
Syllepsis 68
Style Check 6: Cumulative and Periodic Sentences 69
Defi ne Your Terms 6 71
It’s in the Cloud 6: The Rhetoric of Advertising 71
Salt and Pepper 6: A Banquet of Rhetoric 71
Review Questions 71
Questions for Thought and Discussion 72
Chapter 7 Syntax II 73
Hyperbaton 73
Anastrophe 75
Appositive 77
Parenthesis 79
Style Check 7: Parataxis and Hypotaxis 80
Defi ne Your Terms 7 82
vi
It’s in the Cloud 7: Subordinating Conjunctions 82
Salt and Pepper 7: Cooking Rice 82
Review Questions 83
Questions for Thought and Discussion 84
Chapter 8 Figurative Language I 85
Simile 85
Analogy 89
Metaphor 91
Catachresis 95
Style Check 8: Demetrius on Metaphor 97
Defi ne Your Terms 8 98
It’s in the Cloud 8: Effective Blog Posts 98
Salt and Pepper 8: Pleonasm 98
Review Questions 99
Questions for Thought and Discussion 100
Chapter 9 Figurative Language II 101
Metonymy 101
Synecdoche 104
Personifi cation 106
Style Check 9: Freshness 109
Defi ne Your Terms 9 109
It’s in the Cloud 9: Quintilian 110
Salt and Pepper 9: Euphemism 110
Review Questions 111
Questions for Thought and Discussion 112
Chapter 10 Figurative Language III 113
Allusion 113
Eponym 115
Apostrophe 117
Transferred Epithet 118
Style Check 10: Persona 120
Defi ne Your Terms 10 121
It’s in the Cloud 10: Structured Writing 121
Salt and Pepper 10: Pompous Proverbs 121
Review Questions 122
Questions for Thought and Discussion 123
Chapter 11 Restatement I 125
Anaphora 125
Epistrophe 127
Simploce 129
vii
Style Check 11: Demetrius on Using Short Sentences 131
Defi ne Your Terms 11 132
It’s in the Cloud 11: Ethos 132
Salt and Pepper 11: Anaphora With Prefi xes and Suffi xes 133
Review Questions 133
Questions for Thought and Discussion 134
Chapter 12 Restatement II 135
Anadiplosis 135
Conduplicatio 136
Epanalepsis 138
Style Check 12: What Is Style? 140
Defi ne Your Terms 12 141
It’s in the Cloud 12: Longinus 141
Salt and Pepper 12: Using Semicolons and Commas 141
Review Questions 143
Questions for Thought and Discussion 144
Chapter 13 Restatement III 147
Diacope 147
Epizeuxis 148
Antimetabole 150
Scesis Onomaton 151
Style Check 13: Demetrius on Increasing Vividness 153
Defi ne Your Terms 13 154
It’s in the Cloud 13: Cicero 154
Salt and Pepper 13: Metaphor Challenge 154
Review Questions 154
Questions for Thought and Discussion 156
Chapter 14 Sound 157
Alliteration 157
Onomatopoeia 160
Assonance 162
Consonance 164
Style Check 14: Texture and Tone 165
Defi ne Your Terms 14 166
It’s in the Cloud 14: George Orwell 167
Salt and Pepper 14: The Marriage of Sound and Sense 167
Review Questions 168
Questions for Thought and Discussion 169
Chapter 15 Drama 171
Rhetorical Question 171
Aporia 173
viii
Apophasis 175
Anacoluthon 177
Style Check 15: The Levels of Style 178
Defi ne Your Terms 15 178
It’s in the Cloud 15: Writing Generators 179
Salt and Pepper 15: Who’s Who 179
Review Questions 179
Questions for Thought and Discussion 180
Chapter 16 Word Play 181
Oxymoron 181
Pun 183
Anthimeria 186
Style Check 16: The Future of Style 187
Defi ne Your Terms 16 189
It’s in the Cloud 16: Reading Grade Level 189
Salt and Pepper 16: Did You Say Rhetoric? 190
Review Questions 190
Questions for Thought and Discussion 190
Appendix A Rhetoric in Context I. Blog Posting 193
Appendix B Rhetoric in Context II. Business Email 197
Appendix C Rhetoric in Context III. Counselor’s Report About a Client 201
Appendix D Rhetoric in Context IV. Graduate School Application Essay 205
Appendix E Rhetoric in Context V. Short Story 209
Appendix F Winston Churchill—A Speaker’s Rhetoric 213
Index 217
ix