Orient Blackswan

Imprint	Orient BlackSwan
Year of Publishing	2018
Number of pages	228
ISBN	9789352872770
Format	Paperback
Language	English
Dimensions	140 x 216 mm

the Book
the Author(s)
Table of Contents

How can language be used to entertain, to persuade, to emotionally affect us? What is it about a piece of writing that makes it stylish or appealing or well-written? Orient BlackSwan’s A Handbook of Rhetoric and Prosody aims to provide a clear understanding of the techniques used by writers, from the classical age to the present day, to make their words resonate with their audience. Written primarily for students and teachers of English literature—both at the undergraduate and the postgraduate level—this handy reference book examines every important rhetorical and prosodic device in a thorough and engaging manner.

The tropes and figures of speech in the ‘Rhetoric’ section of the book are categorised by type. This section not only defines each rhetorical term in lucid, accessible language, but also looks at its evolution, and analyses its use in detail through numerous examples culled from across centuries and genres. The ‘Prosody’ section introduces the reader to the varieties of regular and irregular metre found in English verse, along with various terms related to prosody. Most importantly, this section contains step-by-step guidance on the scansion of verse passages. In both sections, guided exercises and worked-out passages supplement and enhance the reader’s understanding of each topic.

A Handbook of Rhetoric and Prosody will help students develop the skill of close reading of verse and prose passages. Understanding the way language works is essential for better appreciation and criticism of not only literature across the ages, but also of current socio-political and media discourses.

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Jaydip Sarkar and Anindya Bhattacharya are associate professors of English at University B.T. & Evening College, a constituent college of North Bengal University. They are the co-editors of Writing Difference (Atlantic), Unmasking Power (Papyrus) and Understanding Satire (Books Way).

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Preface vii

Rhetoric

Introduction
Rhetoric: a brief history 2 | Figures of speech 13

One Figures based on analogy, agreement or similarity simile 15 | metaphor 23

Two Figures based on association metonymy 32 | synecdoche 37 | transferred epithet (hypallage) 41 | allusion 42

Six Figures based on emotion interrogation (erotesis) 104 | exclamation 106

Eight Figures based on sound alliteration, consonance and assonance 123 | pun (paronomasia) 127 | onomatopoeia 130

Ten Exercises 139

Prosody

Introduction
Kinds of poetry 148 | Terms used in prosody 151 | Poetic diction 157

One Metrical feet, and how they ‘walk’
How metres are named 158 | How to scan verse 159 | Metres in English verse 163

Two Special cases: differently formed feet 169

Three Rhyme schemes and stanza patterns 173

Four Guided exercise: scansion of verse passages 177

Five Exercises 207

References 217

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A Handbook of Rhetoric and Prosody

Jaydip Sarkar & Anindya Bhattacharya

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