ELEMENTS OF RHETORIC AND ENGLISH COMPOSITION CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. DEFINITION OF RHETORIC. 2. THE DEFINITION EXPLAINED: AN ART OF COMMUNICATION.-3. THE DEFINITION EXPLAINED: AN ART OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION. -4. THE DEFINITION EXPLAINED: RHETORIC IS AN ART.-5. RHETORIC AND ENGLISH COMPOSITION.-6. THE TWO SIDES OF OUR WORK.-7. THOUGHT THE BASIS OF EXPRESSION.-8. THE HABIT OF GOOD WRITING AND GOOD SPEAKING. - EXERCISE I. 1. Definition of Rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art of effective communication by means of language; or, more simply, it is the art of expressing, by words, precisely what we mean. 2. The Definition Explained: an Art of Communication. First, notice that the art we are to study involves communication, the telling of something to persons other than ourselves. Simple as is this conception of rhetoric, it is one hard to keep in mind. A speaker or writer is often tempted to feel that his duty is done when his thoughts are so expressed that he himself understands them, forgetting that what is of real importance is that the reader or the hearer shall understand them. 3. The Definition Explained: an Art of Effective Communication. Second, notice that rhetoric is the art of effective communication by language, the art of expressing precisely what we mean. The art of expressing ourselves fairly well we have all acquired already. Even a young child can make his thoughts and feelings known roughly. What we are to study is the art by means of which we shall be helped in conveying to the mind of a reader or a hearer as nearly as possible our exact thoughts and feelings, in order that he may understand completely what we think and realize fully what we feel. 4. The Definition Explained: Rhetoric is an Art. — Third, notice that we call rhetoric an art, not a science. The meanings of these two words often come very close together, but the main distinction between them is that science implies knowledge and art implies skill. Chemistry, for instance, is an important science, the aim of which is an understanding of the composition of material things. One may understand the laws or principles of chemistry without acquiring any skill in their application. The various branches of engineering, however, as well as music, dancing, painting, swimming, and many similar kinds of activity, are arts. The engineer, — to a very great extent, and even the swimmer, to a very small extent, must understand the principles In on which their arts rest, and these principles may be considered as constituting the science of engineering and the science of swimming; but the success of the practising engineer and the practical swimmer depends upon the skill with which they apply these principles. Now, rhetoric is essentially an art. order to write well we must, of course, follow sciously or unconsciously — certain principles; but the knowledge of these principles is not the main thing. The essential part of rhetoric is that we shall act, that we shall acquire skill in the application of the principles we study, in the practice of the art we are learning.1 con Though 5. Rhetoric and English Composition. rhetoric is essentially an art, it is, to some extent, a science. In general, we use the term rhetoric to include both the principles upon which the art is based and practice in the art itself. Sometimes, particularly when speaking of rhetoric and composition as parts of an educational system, we use the term rhetoric to cover the principles of the art, and the term composition, or English composition, to cover the practical exercises by which we acquire skill in applying these principles. In this sense 1 Sculpture, music, painting, and architecture are frequently called fine arts, because they aim not only to express thought or emotion, but to give pleasure to the ear or to the eye. Rhetoric may be called a fine art in so far as beauty is its object, though that is obviously not always the case. Rhetoric differs from the technical or practical arts, e.g. engineering, in that it is an art of communication. It differs from the fine arts in that it communicates ideas and emotions by means of language, not by means of lines, colors, or musical sounds. |