A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 168 pages
• Published by: University of California Press
• Edition: 2nd Edition December 23, 1991
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0520076699
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0520076693
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 10.4 ounces

Product Description
The first edition of this widely used work has been reprinted many times over two decades. With a unique combination of alphabetical and descriptive lists, it provides in one convenient, accessible volume all the rhetorical terms--mostly Greek and Latin--that students of Western literature and rhetoric are likely to come across in their reading or to find useful in their writing. Now the Second Edition offers new features that will make it still more useful:--A completely revised alphabetical listing that defines nearly 1,000 terms used by scholars of formal rhetoric from classical Greece to the present day.--A revised system of cross-references between terms.--Many new examples and new, extended entries for central terms.--A revised Terms-by-Type listing to identify unknown terms.--A new typographical design for easier access.

About The Author
Richard A. Lanham is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of California, Los Angeles, and President of Rhetorica, Inc., in Los Angeles.

Reader Reviews
Samuel Butler once wrote that "All a rhetorician's rules teach nothing but to name his tools." Classical and Medieval rhetoricians named, renamed, parsed, and cataloged all these tools with a bewildering sesquipedalian nomenclature. "Handlist" almost succeeds in its attempt to make sense of this thorny thicket of jargon. Chapter 1 of "Handlist" is a dictionary style listing of all the various names of the rhetorical devices. Each name is individually entered, but only the main name is defined. Each of the lesser names simply has cross references. The merely-cross-referenced names outnumber the actually-defined names by about 3 to 1. The actually-defined names should have been set in a bolder type than the merely-cross-referenced names. Chapter 2 consists of an excellent review of the divisions of rhetoric. Read Chapter 2 first. Chapter 3 takes the more common rhetorical devices and catalogs them by type, giving brief definitions. It catalogs only one name for each device, and is much more user friendly than Chapter 1. Read Chapter 3 second. My suggestion for the third edition: Reorder the chapters. Put Chapter 2 first and Chapter 1 last. Comment | | (Report this)