Week 1: A Certain Style
Overview of the role of style within the discipline of rhetoric; style versus voice; the (mis)conceptions of style; the need to develop multiple styles; diction defined; connotation versus denotation.
Week 2: A Sense of Composition ~ Structure and Form
Introducing structure and form; structure as a conveyor of meaning; how writers build ideas and images; four basic grammatical structures; the four rhetorical sentence structures.
Week 3: A Matter of Music
The dividing line between sound and the page; the written word subvocalized; patterns of sound, i.e., repetition like a riff; parallel bars; emphasis, coherence, and pacing;
Week 4: Figures of Speech
What is a figure of speech; effective versus intrusive usage; overview of schemes of words (poetic diction); detailed discussion of schemes of construction; patterns, inversions, and breakage.
Week 5: Figures of Speech ~ Enrichment
Continued discussion of figures of speech, including additional schemes of construction, i.e., schemes of omission and schemes of repetition; the effect of repetition as a mnemonic device; the hook of omission; combining techniques to manage music and cadence.
Week 6: The Tropes
Change in significance; nuance and connotation in images; transference of meaning through comparison (implied or explicit); word play.
Week 7: The Tropes ~ Enrichment
Change in significance through nuance and connotation; transference of meaning through contrast; change in meaning through inversions and substitutions; change in meaning through overstatement and understatement.
Week 8: Imitation of the Masters ~ Fiction
Past the study of style to practice; imitation, not plagiarism; focus on literature, classical, contemporary, and translations into English of foreign works.
Week 9: Imitation of the Masters ~ Non-Fiction
Past the study of style to practice, cont'd., focus on contemporary non-fiction.
Week 10: A Certain Style, Redux
Exploration of primary style; extension to complementary styles; evolution versus revolution; Where do I go from here?
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*This syllabus is updated regularly to reflect the expansion or revision of material covered in the course.