Rhetorical question

риторический вопрос

peculiar interrogative construction which semantically remains a statement;

- does not demand any information but

- serves to express the emotions of the speaker and also

- serves to call the attention of listeners;

- makes an indispensable part of oratoric speech for they very successfully emphasise the orator’s ideas.

Source: <V.A.K.>

••

a) a special syntactical stylistic device the essence of which consists in reshaping the <grammatical meaning> of the interrogative sentence;

e.g. Are these the remedies for a starving and desperate populace?

b) a statement expressed in the form of an interrogative sentence;

c) an utterance in the form of a question which pronounces judgement and also expresses various kind of modal shades of meanings, as doubt, challenge, scorn, irony and so on;

e.g. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? (W.Shakespeare)

- is generally structurally embodied in complex sentences with the subordinate clause containing the pronouncement;

- may be looked upon as a <transference> of <grammatical meaning>;

Source: <I.R.G.>

••

вопрос, который не предполагает ответа, ставится не для того, чтобы побудить слушателя сообщить нечто неизвестное говорящему, а чтобы привлечь внимание, усилить впечатление, повысить эмоциональный тон, создать приподнятость

e.g. Being your slave, what should I do but tend // Upon the hours and times of your desire? (W.Shakespeare – Sonnet LVII) – Для верных слуг нет ничего другого // Как ожидать у двери госпожу. (пер. С.Я.Маршака)

Source: <I.V.A.>

••

- contains a statement disguised as a question;

- usually a positive question hiding a negative statement. No answer is expected.

e.g. Can any one say what truth is?

e.g. Do we always act as we ought to?

e.g. What else could I do?

e.g. Who would have thought to meet you here?

Source: Кобрина Н.А. и др. Грамм. англ. яз. СПб., 2001. C. 307

See: <order of words>, negative-interrogative sentences, <transposition>, <question-in-the-narrative>, <syntactical SDs>

{{==============================================}}

Repetition

types: <anaphora>, <epiphora>, <framing>, <catch repetition> or <anadiplosis>, <chain repetition>, <ordinary repetition>, <successive repetition>; <synonymical repetition>;

- is a powerful mean of emphasis;

- adds <rhythm> and balance to the utterance;

e.g. … there lived a little man named Nathaniel Pipkin, …, and lived in a little house in the little High Street, within ten minutes' walk of the little church; and who was to be found every day from nine till four, teaching a little learning to the little boys. (Dickens)

See: <syntactical SDs>, <stylistic device>; <reprise>

Anaphora

анафора

(a..., a..., a...,)

the beginning of two or more sentences (clauses) is repeated

The main stylistic function is not so much to emphasise the repeated unit as to create the background for the non-repeated unit, which, through its novelty, becomes foregrounded. (V.A.K.)

e.g. I might as well face facts: good-bye, Susan, good-bye a big car, good-bye a big house, good-bye power, good-bye the silly handsome dreams. (J.Braine)

e.g. And everywhere were people. People going into gates and coming out of gates. People staggering and falling. People fighting and cursing. (P.Abrahams)

e.g. So long as men can breathe or eyes can See

e.g. So long lives this and this gives life to thee. (W.Shakespeare – XVIII)

Ant.: <epiphora>

See: <repetition>

Epiphora

эпифора

(... a,... a,... a,)

the end of successive sentences (clauses) is repeated

The main stylistic function is to add stress to the final words of the sentence. (V.A.K.)

e.g. I wake up and I’m alone and I walk round Warley and I’m alone; and I talk with people and I’m alone and I look at his face when I’m home and it’s dead. (J.Braine)

Ant.: <anaphora>

See: <repetition>

Framing

рамка, кольцевой повтор

(a... a)

the beginning of the sentence is repeated in the end, thus forming the “frame” for the non-repeated part of the sentence (utterance)

The stylistic function is to elucidate the notion mentioned in the beginning of the sentence, to concretise and to specify its semantics. (V.A.K.)

e.g. Obviously – this is a streptococcal infection. Obviously. (W.Deeping)

e.g. Then there was something between them. There was. There was. (Dreiser)

See: <catch repetition> or <anadiplosis>, <repetition>, <syntactical SDs>

Anadiplosis

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14