The Elements of Eloquence-Cedar Herald Index

The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase is a non-fiction book by Mark Forsyth published in 2013. The book explains classical rhetoric, dedicating each chapter to a rhetorical figure with examples of its use, particularly in the works of William Shakespeare. Forsyth argues the power of Shakespeare's language was a result of studying formal rhetoric, and highlights their use through Shakespeare's development.

Chapters

1: Alliteration

Repeating the sound of the first consonant in a series of words. An example of its deliberate overuse given by Forsyth is:

The Elements of Eloquence

2: Polyptoton

Forsyth defines this as 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 (e.g. wretched and wretchedness) are used. Other sources use the related term antanaclasis when the same word is repeated in a different sense.

The Elements of Eloquence

3: Antithesis

The use of opposites for contrasting effect. The example quoted by Forsyth is:

The Elements of Eloquence

4: Merism

Reference to one thing by an enumeration of its parts, or by a list of synonyms. The chapter focuses on the first definition and provides the following example:

5: Blazon

The tradition in poetry of praising a woman by using metaphors to describe distinct parts of her body. Calling this "extended merism, the dismemberment of the loved one", Forsyth quotes:

6: Synaesthesia

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

7: Aposiopesis

When a sentence is deliberately left unfinished, with the ending to be supplied by the audience's imagination. This makes an impression of unwillingness or inability to continue. Forsyth gives as an example:

8: Hyperbaton

Changing the logical order of words in a sentence. As an example, Forsyth cites Richard Lovelace's line, "Stone walls do not a prison make" when the more natural wording would be "Stone walls do not make a prison", adding that in any case the statement is "factually incorrect".

9: Anadiplosis

Repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. Forsyth give this example:

10: Periodic Sentences

A sentence that is not complete grammatically before the final clause or phrase, such as Rudyard Kipling's poem If—

11: Hypotaxis and Parataxis

Forsyth contrasts hypotaxis, as a complex style of writing using many subordinate clauses, with parataxis, a style of writing in short, simple sentences.

12: Diacope

The close repetition of a word or phrase, separated by a word or words. Forsyth says the line "Bond, James Bond" is memorable only because of diacope, writing,: "So just to recap, one of the greatest lines in the history of cinema is a man saying a name deliberately designed to be dull. The only possible explanation for the line's popularity is the way it is phrased. ... Wording, pure wording".

13: Rhetorical Questions

As described by Forsyth, who admits "how complicated this all is", rhetorical questions can be mainly divided into: Questions that asked but for which no answer is expected, such as:

and

Questions that have a purpose but no real answer, such as "What's the point? Why go on?" Questions that are asked which a particular audience will answer in a particular way, such as "Which party cares about what is best for Britain?" when asked by the leader of a political party at a rally of their own supporters. However, Forsyth notes the overwhelming exception when this device is used in Monty Python's Life of Brian. Questions that are asked aloud and then immediately answered by the questioner: "You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory!" (Winston Churchill, We shall fight on the beaches) Questions that are asked to which both the questioner and the person asked know the answer, such as a traffic policeman asking a speeding motorist, "Did you think the speed limit didn’t apply to you?"

14: Hendiadys

For emphasis an adjective-noun form is replaced by a noun-and-noun form. As an example, Forsyth writes, "So instead of saying 'I'm going to the noisy city' you say 'I'm going to the noise and the city'".