Toye, Richard, 1973-
Rhetoric : a very short introduction / Richard Toye. - Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2013. - 122 p. : ill. ; 18 cm. - Very short introductions ; 346 . - Very short introductions ; 346. .
Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-116) and index.
From the Greeks to Gladstone -- The scaffolding of rhetoric -- Approaches to rhetoric -- Rhetoric in the modern world.
Rhetoric was once an essential part of western education. Aristotle wrote an important treatise on it and Demosthenes remains famous to this day for his skills as a rhetorician. But skill with rhetoric today is no longer admired. Rhetoric is often seen as a synonym for shallow, deceptive language-empty words, empty rhetoric--and therefore as something quite negative. But if we view rhetoric in more neutral terms, as the "art of persuasion," it is clear that we are all forced to engage with it at some level, if only because we are constantly exposed to the rhetoric of others. In this Very Short Introduction, Richard Toye explores the purpose of rhetoric. Rather than presenting a defense of it, he considers it as the foundation-stone of civil society, and an essential part of any democratic process. Using wide-ranging examples from ancient Greece, medieval Islamic preaching, the wartime speeches of Winston Churchill, and modern cinema, Toye considers why we should all have an appreciation of the art of rhetoric.
9780199651368 (pbk.) 0199651361 (pbk.)
2012286389
Rhetoric.
Rhetoric--History.
P301 / T67 2013
808
Rhetoric : a very short introduction / Richard Toye. - Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2013. - 122 p. : ill. ; 18 cm. - Very short introductions ; 346 . - Very short introductions ; 346. .
Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-116) and index.
From the Greeks to Gladstone -- The scaffolding of rhetoric -- Approaches to rhetoric -- Rhetoric in the modern world.
Rhetoric was once an essential part of western education. Aristotle wrote an important treatise on it and Demosthenes remains famous to this day for his skills as a rhetorician. But skill with rhetoric today is no longer admired. Rhetoric is often seen as a synonym for shallow, deceptive language-empty words, empty rhetoric--and therefore as something quite negative. But if we view rhetoric in more neutral terms, as the "art of persuasion," it is clear that we are all forced to engage with it at some level, if only because we are constantly exposed to the rhetoric of others. In this Very Short Introduction, Richard Toye explores the purpose of rhetoric. Rather than presenting a defense of it, he considers it as the foundation-stone of civil society, and an essential part of any democratic process. Using wide-ranging examples from ancient Greece, medieval Islamic preaching, the wartime speeches of Winston Churchill, and modern cinema, Toye considers why we should all have an appreciation of the art of rhetoric.
9780199651368 (pbk.) 0199651361 (pbk.)
2012286389
Rhetoric.
Rhetoric--History.
P301 / T67 2013
808
Hong Kong Nang Yan College of Higher Education
Lee Yan Fong Library
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Lee Yan Fong Library
325-329 Lai Chi Kok Road, Shamshuipo, Kowloon, HONG KONG