preece@uicsl.UUCP (09/27/83)
#N:uicsl:8600019:000:458 uicsl!preece Sep 26 20:47:00 1983 Safire's column in the Sunday Times Magazine gave three words for the act of emphasizing a point by saying that your not emphasizing it (e.g., "I will leave unmentioned your totally inept response to last Sunday's crisis"). Today's quiz: distinguish between the uses of "preterition," "paraleipsis," and "apophasis." No prizes for the correct answer, I won't bother to mention that I don't know the correct answer. scott preece pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece
dinitz@uicsl.UUCP (09/30/83)
#R:uicsl:8600019:uicsl:8600020:000:1058 uicsl!dinitz Sep 29 10:45:00 1983 The indistinguishability of these terms for rhetorical figures is matched only by their obscurity. Webster's 2nd International Dictionary makes almost no distinction between the three, while Webster's 7th Collegiate omits all of them. If one takes the definitions of the 2nd International as absolute truth (which would be a suspect move), then preterition is the act of passing over a topic, mentioning it only briefly; apophasis is the omission of a topic, while acknowledging it in the statement of omission; and paraleipsis is the only one that imputes intention -- it is the act of calling attention delberately to a topic, and particularly to the suggestive aspects of the topic, by voicing the fact that to mention it would be unecessary, too time consuming, etc. Big deal, eh? Since the definitions all refer to each other, we are probably safe safe to regard them all as synonyms anyway. As for me, outside of this interesting word game, I shall probably never use or see them again -- but that goes without saying. --Rick Dinitz uicsl!dinitz
paulson@hplabsc.UUCP@tekecs.UUCP (paulson@hplabsc.UUCP) (10/03/83)
I checked out "apophasis", "paraleipsis" and "preterition" in four dictionaries: Websters New International Dictionary (Webster's First), Webster's Second New International Dictionary (Webster's Second), the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), and the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. The American Heritage Dictionary was worthless, as it didn't include any of the words (what's the use of a dictionary that only has words you already know? how dull). The other three agreed that "paraleipsis" (also spelled "paralipsis" and "paralepsis") are synonyms, both meaning the rhetorical device of mentioning something while pretending not to mention it (e.g. "not to mention his vile debaucheries and flagrant misuse of taxpayer's money"). The OED and Webster's Second defined "apophasis" as synonymous with the other two; Webster's First suggests that while "paralipsis" and "preterition" are pretending not to mention a NEGATIVE point, "apophasis" can also refer to pretending not to mention a POSITIVE point (e.g. "I'll pass over Ms. Samaritan's great services to our community"). Hence, while paralipsis is always apophasis, apophasis may not be paralipsis. New quiz: Name five other rhetorical devices.
berry@zehntel.UUCP (10/05/83)
#R:uicsl:8600019:zinfandel:9300029:000:874 zinfandel!berry Oct 3 14:13:00 1983 hplabsc!paulson asks for 5 other rhetorical devices. Here are a few. I do not claim this list to be anywhere near complete; in fact. I would welcome additions. Apprehension of meaning is left as an exercise to the interested student (Trans: I'm too lazy to type 'em all in.) Berry Kercheval Zehntel Inc. (decvax!sytek!zehntel!zinfandel!berry) (415)932-6900 -- analogy anthypophora antimetabole antiphrasis antistrophe antithesis apagoge apodosis apophasis apostrophe enthymeme epagoge epanadiplosis epanalepsis epanastrophe epanodos epanorthosis epiloce epiphonema epiphora epiplexis epistrophe epitasis eponymy homeoteleuton hyperbaton hyperbole hypotyposis hysteron-proteron hysterosis litotes metabasis metalepsis metaphor metathesis metonymy onamatopoeia paraleipsis parenthesis preterition prosopopoeia protasis simile synchysis syncope synonymy
dinitz@uicsl.UUCP (10/07/83)
#R:uicsl:8600019:uicsl:8600021:000:177 uicsl!dinitz Oct 6 11:32:00 1983 Very good, Berry. Could you give me a reference to a book in which their details may be found? I'd like to learn some more about the various devices. -Rick Dinitz uicsl!dinitz
berry@zehntel.UUCP (10/11/83)
#R:uicsl:8600019:zinfandel:9300031:000:366 zinfandel!berry Oct 10 11:14:00 1983 My list of rhetoric devices was assembled from my "Oxford Universal DIctionary", a condensed version of the OED that sits on my desk at work. What I really wanted to do was "grep rhet /usr/dict/oed/definitions" but we don't have it on-line... Also, I think I left out synecdoche. Berry Kercheval Zehntel Inc. (decvax!sytek!zehntel!zinfandel!berry) (415)932-6900