The Elements of Eloquence

The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase

Author	Mark Forsyth
Country	UK
Published	2013 Icon Books Ltd
Pages	224
ISBN	9781848316218

The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase is a non-fiction book by Mark Forsyth first published in 2013.^[1][2][3] The book explains selected figures of classical rhetoric, with each chapter dedicated to a particular rhetorical figure and including famous examples of its use from literature, particularly the works of William Shakespeare. Forsyth argues that Shakespeare's genius for language did not appear out of thin air, but was the result of the careful study and practice of formal rhetorical figures of speech. As well as providing many examples from varied literary and non-literary sources, he particularly highlights the occurrence of different figures throughout Shakespeare's development as a writer.

Chapters

1

Alliteration

Alliteration is the rhetorical device of repeating the sound of the first consonant in a series of multiple words. An example given by Forsyth is:

Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade,
He bravely broached his boiling bloody breast;

— William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

2

Polyptoton

The definition that Forsyth provides of polyptoton is that of "the use of one word as different parts of speech or in different grammatical forms". The term applies wherever words derived from the same root (such as wretched and wretchedness) are used, but other sources use the related term antanaclasis in examples when the same word is repeated but in a different sense.

Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle:
I am no traitor's uncle; and that word 'grace'
In an ungracious mouth is but profane.

— William Shakespeare, Richard II

3

Antithesis

The figure of antithesis describes the use of two opposites for contrasting effect. The classic example quoted by Forsyth is:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

— Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

4

Merism

Merism is where a single thing is referred to by an enumeration of several of its parts, or a list of several synonyms for the same thing. Forsyth's chapter focuses on the first of these definitions and provides the following amongst various examples:

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them

— Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade

5

Blazon

Forsyth defines Blazon as "extended merism, the dismemberment of the loved one". The term is applied to a tradition of poetry that praised a woman by singling out different parts of her body and finding appropriate metaphors to compare them with.

6

Synaesthesia

Synaesthesia is a device is where one sense is described in terms of another. An example given by Forsyth is that of Eduard Hanslick's quoted criticism of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto as "music that stinks to the ear".

7

Aposiopesis

Aposiopesis is a figure of speech wherein a sentence is deliberately broken off and left unfinished, the ending to be supplied by the imagination, giving an impression of unwillingness or inability to continue.^[4]

8

Hyperbaton

Hyperbaton is a figure of speech which describes an alteration of the logical order of the words in a sentence.

9

Anadiplosis

Anadiplosis describes the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. Forsyth provides a biblical example amongst others:

We glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience, experience, and experience, hope, and hope maketh man not ashamed

— Paul the Apostle, Epistle to the Romans

10

Periodic Sentences

A periodic sentence is one that is not complete grammatically before the final clause or phrase.

11

Hypotaxis and Parataxis

Forsyth contrasts hypotaxis as a complex style of writing involving the use of a large number of subordinate clauses, with parataxis which describes the style of writing with short simple sentences.

12

Diacope

Diacope describes the close repetition of a word or phrase, separated by a word or words. Forsyth points to the film quote "Bond, James Bond" which he asserts is memorable not because of the name, or the scene, but simply to the use of diacope.

13

Rhetorical Questions

The rhetorical question is a device where a question is stated to make a point, without requiring any answer because it is intended to be obvious.

14

Hendiadys

Hendiadys is a device used for emphasis, where an adjective-noun form is swapped for noun-and-noun.

15

Epistrophe

Epistrophe is a device using the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences for emphasis.

16

Tricolon

Tricolon is where a sentence is composed of three equal parts. Forsyth points to the national motto of France (Liberté, égalité, fraternité) as one of his many examples of the impact of this device.

17

Epizeuxis

Epizeuxis is the repetition of a word or phrase in immediate succession, for emphasis.

18

Syllepsis

Forsyth's definition is where a single word is used with two other parts of a sentence but must be understood differently in relation to each.

19

Isocolon

Forsyth's definition seems to state that a sentence is composed by two parts equivalent in structure, length and rhythm. Other sources suggest two or more parts, and relate tricolon which is mentioned in the earlier chapter.

20

Enallage

Enallage consists of a "deliberate grammatical mistake".

21

Versification

Forsyth in this chapter discusses the effect of a few different verse forms used, including examples of iambic pentameter.

22

Zeugma

Zeugma is a series of clauses which use the same verb.

23

Paradox

The paradox is a statement that is logically false or impossible for emphasis or contrast.

24

Chiasmus

Chiasmus is a symmetrical repetition of structure or wording.

25

Assonance

This device consists of the repetition of a vowel sound.

26

The Fourteenth Rule

This chapter discusses the rhetorical device of providing an unnecessarily specific number for something for emphasis.

27

Catachresis

This device describes a grammatically wrong use of words as a means of creative expression.

28

Litotes

This device emphasises a point by denying the opposite.

29

Metonymy and Synecdoche

These devices are where something connected to the thing described, or a part of it, is used in place of the thing itself.

30

Transferred Epithets

Where an adjective is applied to the wrong noun, for effect.

31

Pleonasm

The use of superfluous and unnecessary words in a sentence for emphasis.

32

Epanalepsis

This describes the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and end of a sentence or clause to emphasize circularity.

33

Personification

A description which imputes human actions or characteristics to an inanimate or non-human thing.

34

Hyperbole

The rhetorical device of exaggeration.

35

Adynaton

This device describes a hyperbole so extreme as to be a complete impossibility.

36

Prolepsis

This device describes the use of a pronoun at the start of a sentence, which reverses the normal order.

37

Congeries

This device, Forysth defines as a bewildering list of adjectives or nouns.

38

Scesis Onomaton

Sentences without a main verb.

39

Anaphora

Forsyth defines anaphora as starting each sentence with the same words.

Critical reception

David Evans, writing in The Independent, declares it an "enjoyable, accessible book" which "explores the uses of classical rhetoric".^[1] Christopher Howse in The Spectator criticises some wrongly attributed quotes and mistakes in the book but declares the author "well informed and amusing" and that the book deserves "many future printings".^[2] The Wall Street Journal review finds Forsyth is "adept at adding spice to received wisdom and popularizing the findings of academic linguists" and he "handsomely" drives home the point that "potent rhetorical devices are all around us".^[5]

References