Figures of Speech: 60 Ways To Turn A Phrase | 
 enlarge | Authors: Arthur Quinn, Barney R. Quinn
Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 202747
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 112
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.4
ISBN: 1880393026
Dewey Decimal Number: 401
EAN: 9781880393024
ASIN: 1880393026
Publication Date: November 1, 1995
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Product Description
Writing is not like chemical engineering. The figures of speech should not be learned the same way as the periodic table of elements. This is because figures of speech are not about hypothetical structures in things, but about real potentialities within language and within ourselves. The "figurings" of speech reveal the apparently limitless plasticity of language itself. We are inescapably confronted with the intoxicating possibility that we can make language do for us almost anything we want. Or at least a Shakespeare can. The figures of speech help to see how he does it, and how we might.
Therefore, in the chapters presented in this volume, the quotations from Shakespeare, the Bible, and other sources are not presented to exemplify the definitions. Rather, the definitions are presented to lead to the quotations. And the quotations are there to show us how to do with language what we have not done before. They are there for imitation.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
Speech September 1, 2008
This book has great content for use with a home school speech and rhetoric program. Not to lengthy, it is an interesting and easy read.
 Add some spice to your style August 25, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"Fair is foul and foul is fair."
"Circumstances rule men; men do not rule circumstances."
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you."
By now, you may have noticed the similarity among these three phrases: an inverse repetition of words. But you may not know this style has its own technical term (epanados). Figures of Speech: 60 Ways to Turn a Phrase, a tiny tome, lists and explains the technical terms of 60 such style devices.
Rooted in Latin, these terms are not important in that each and every one should be memorized. In fact, the author himself notes the foolishness of such a pursuit. But writers (and editors!) should know how to recognize them, and, ideally, experiment with them in their own writing.
Arthur Quinn does a solid job of explaining how to use these figures of speech. He provides brief definitions and illustrates them by listing examples from eminent writers and the Bible. However, I do have a few complaints. Sometimes Quinn glosses too quickly over a term, not giving it a full definition. He also often does not explain how his examples show a particular style device (it would be nice if he bolded them, when possible). Sure, sometimes the examples are self-explanatory but for the confusing concepts it would aid comprehension. His glossary is also a little erratic, sufficiently explaining one term while insufficiently explaining another.
Overall, however, Quinn has created a valuable resource for creative writers. It's a gem of a book in its brevity, and I wish another edition would come out to renew people's interest.
A Toolbox for Talking February 8, 2005
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Short, easy to read. Full of great examples. Will make you a better speaker and heighten your appreciation of great literature, as well as showing you the techniques used by playwrights, poets, politicians, lawyers, clergy, and all others who earn their bread with their tongues. An eye-opener.
Concise and useful January 21, 2005
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
Professor Quinn's slim volume is perhaps the best treatment of the subject of rhetorical devices that I have ever read. I say "best," not because it is the most extensive, nor because it is the most detailed coverage of the subject. I say "best" because I feel it is the most *useful* coverage I have ever encountered.
In concise fashion, Professor Quinn takes the reader through many of the most common figures of speech, tells us the formal names, and provides numerous illustrative examples.
It is true that simply knowing the name given to a particular turn of phrase will not guarantee that one can effectively employ it in one's writing. Nevertheless knowing the
forms and having names to identify them makes it easier to see them in use in the writing of others. By thus making them memorable, they also become a more ready part of one's writing toolkit.
The engaging and entertaining style which Quinn uses throughout the book makes even the most daunting technical terms readily accessible. His well-chosen examples are also entertaining and informative, and most are quite memorable. I can't be certain that merely reading this book will improve every reader's writing, but I believe that most folks will benefit from reading it.
Helpful and Refreshing October 23, 2004
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
I recommend this book for anyone who would like a few more clues on the many ways masterful sentences are put together. If you have the soul for good writing, but need a little more concrete guidance on how powerful phrases from the Bible to Virgil to Shakespeare to Churchill are constructed--this book will be a delightful little teacher.
I was impressed by the lighthearted and humble approach of the author. Although he gives the formal (and quite forgettable) names for the figures of speech, he says he doesn't expect readers to remember the names, but rather to "taste" the examples he cites, and to get a feel for how to apply these patterns in their own writing. He repeatedly stresses that knowing how to use words and rhetorical patterns is far more important than memorizing their names or even agreeing upon their proper classifications.
The author also cites classics ancient and modern in making the unconventional and refreshing point that we need not slavishly follow the dictates of the now-popular rules of usage as promulgated by Strunk and White and other like-minded authorities. For example, while contemporary authorities repeatedly (yes, ironically) stress the importance of avoiding any unnecessary words, the author of Figures of Speech cites many passages from the Bible, Shakespeare, and other sources of distinction, that clearly do not follow such strictures--and choose elaboration and repitition over spare economy.
Overall, the book is informative, accessible, generous-spirited, and, in places, even humorous and playful.
When I got to the end of the slim volume I found myself wishing there was more.
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