Fundamentals of Good Writing A HANDBOOK OF MODERN RHETORIC Cleanth Brooks Robert Perm Warren Harcourt, Brace and Company New York COPYRIGHT, 1949, I95O, BY HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. TO DAVID M. CLAY CONTENTS Introduction THE MAIN CONSIDERATIONS 1 THE MOTIVATION OF THE WRITER 3 THE NATURE OF THE READER 5 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN READER AND WRITER 5 THE FUSION OF MEDIUM, SUBJECT AND OCCASION 6 YOUR BACKGROUND FOR SUCCESSFUL WRITING 7 1. SOME GENERAL PROBLEMS FINDING A TRUE SUBJECT 11 UNITY 13 COHERENCE 15 EMPHASIS 19 THE MAIN DIVISIONS OF A DISCOURSE 23 PROPORTIONING THE MAIN DIVISIONS 25 1HE OUTLINE 26 2. THE KINDS OF DISCOURSE THE MAIN INTENTION 29 THE FOUR KINDS OF DISCOURSE 30 MIXTURE OF THE KINDS OF DISCOURSE 30 OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE DISCOURSE 31 x CONTENTS 3. EXPOSITION INTEREST 38 THE METHODS OF EXPOSITION 41 IDENTIFICATION 41 EXPOSITORY DESCRIPTION TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION 42 THE RELATION BETWEEN THE TECHNICAL-SUGGESTIVE DISTINCTION AND THE OBJECTIVE-SUBJECTIVE DISTINCTION 53 THE USES OF TECHNICAL AND SUGGESTIVE DESCRIPTION 55 EXPOSITORY NARRATION 57 ILLUSTRATION 57 COMPARISON AND CONTRAST 61 CLASSIFICATION AND DIVISION 67 DEFINITION 83 EXTENDED DEFINITION 91 ANALYSIS THE TWO KINDS 98 ANALYSIS AND STRUCTURE 99 ANALYSIS RELATION AMONG PARTS 100 ANALYSIS AND EXPOSITORY DESCRIPTION 101 EXPOSITORY METHODS AND THEIR USES 119 SUMMARY 120 4. ARGUMENT THE APPEAL OF ARGUMENT 125 ARGUMENT AND CONFLICT 125 ARGUMENT AND THE UNDERSTANDING 127 WHAT ARGUMENT IS ABOUT 128 THE PROPOSITION TWO KINDS 131 THE STATEMENT OF THE PROPOSITION 131 HISTORY OF THE QUESTION 134 ISSUES 135 PROPOSITIONS OF FACT 146 EVIDENCE 148 CONTENTS xi KINDS OF EVIDENCE FACT AND OPINION 148 REASONING 154 INDUCTION GENERALIZATION 155 DEDUCTION 159 FALLACIES 167 FALLACIES AND REFUTATION 170 THE IMPLIED SYLLOGISM 170 EXTENDED ARGUMENT THE BRIEF 172 ORDER OF THE BRIEF AND ORDER OF THE ARGUMENT 183 PERSUASION 183 SUMMARY 189 5. DESCRIPTION RELATION OF SUGGESTIVE DESCRIPTION TO OTHER KINDS OF DISCOURSE 195 THE DOMINANT IMPRESSION 200 PATTERN AND TEXTURE IN DESCRIPTION 200 TEXTURE SELECTION IN DESCRIPTION 211 DESCRIPTION OF FEELINGS AND STATES OF MIND 220 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN THE DESCRIPTION OF FEELINGS AND STATES OF MIND 223 CHOICE OF WORDS IN THE TEXTURE OF DESCRIPTION 226 SUMMARY 229 6. NARRATION MOVEMENT 237 TIME 238 MEANING 239 NARRATIVE AND NARRATION 240 NARRATION AND THE OTHER KINDS OF DISCOURSE 242 PATTERN IN NARRATION 250 EXAMPLES OF NARRATIVE PATTERN 255 PROPORTION 262 xii CONTENTS TEXTURE AND SELECTION 264 POINT OF VIEW 267 SCALE 273 DIALOGUE 275 CHARACTERIZATION 281 SUMMARY 285 7. THE PARAGRAPH THE PARAGRAPH AS A CONVENIENCE TO THE READER 290 THE PARAGRAPH AS A UNIT OF THOUGHT 291 THE STRUCTURE OF THE PARAGRAPH 292 SOME TYPICAL STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLES 294 LINKING PARAGRAPHS TOGETHER 299 USE OF THE PARAGRAPH TO INDICATE DIALOGUE 302 SUMMARY 302 8. THE SENTENCE RHETORIC AND GRAMMAR 304 THE FIXED WORD ORDER OF THE NORMAL SENTENCE 307 POSITION OF THE MODIFIERS 311 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE 318 SENTENCE LENGTH AND SENTENCE VARIATION 323 SUMMARY 327 9. STYLE GENERAL DEFINITION OF STYLE 329 THREE ASPECTS OF LITERARY STYLE 330 STYLE AS AN INTERPLAY OF ELEMENTS 331 THE PLAN OF THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS ON STYLE 332 10. DICTION DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION 335 LANGUAGE GROWTH BY EXTENSION OF MEANING 342 CONTENTS xiii THE COMPANY A WORD KEEPS COLLOQUIAL, INFORMAL, AND FORMAL 348 HOW CONNOTATIONS CONTROL MEANINGS 349 WORN-OUT WORDS AND CLICHES 353 SUMMARY 359 11. METAPHOR METAPHOR DEFINED 361 IMPORTANCE OF METAPHOR IN EVERYDAY LANGUAGE 362 THE FUNCTION OF METAPHOR 371 METAPHOR AS ESSENTIAL STATEMENT 374 WHAT MAKES A GOOD METAPHOR 378 METAPHOR AND SYMBOL 385 METAPHOR AND THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION 386 SUMMARY 388 12…

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