Fundamentals of good writing
Subtitle: a handbook of modern rhetoric
By: [by] Cleanth Brooks [and] Robert Penn Warren.
Contributors: Warren, Robert Penn, 1905- joint author.
Edition: [1st ed.]
Publisher: Harcourt, Brace
Published: 1950
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 523
Subjects: English language -- Rhetoric -- Handbooks, manuals, etc
Genres: Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Notes: Text ed. published in 1949 under title: Modern rhetoric.
Table of contents: title: Introduction.  The main considerations -- The motivation of the writer -- The nature of the reader -- The relationship between reader and writer -- The fusion of medium, subject and occasion -- Your background for successful writing -- Some general problems. Finding a true subject -- Unity -- Coherence -- Emphasis -- The main divisions of a discourse -- Proportioning the main divisions -- The outline -- The kinds of discourse. The main intention -- The four kinds of discourse -- Mixture of the kinds of discourse -- Objective and subjective discourse -- Exposition. Interest -- The methods of exposition -- Identification -- Expository description : technical description -- The relation between the technical-suggestive distinction and the objective-subjective distinction -- Expository narration -- Illustration -- Comparison and contrast -- Classification and division -- Definition -- Extended definition -- Analysis : the two kinds -- Analysis and structure -- Analysis : relation among parts -- Analysis and expository description -- Expository methods and their uses -- Summary -- Argument. The appeal of argument -- Argument and conflict -- Argument and the understanding -- What argument is about -- The proposition : two kinds -- The statement of the proposition -- History of the question -- Issues -- Propositions of fact -- Evidence -- Kinds of evidence : fact and opinion -- Reasoning -- Induction : generalization -- Deduction -- Fallacies -- Fallacies and refutation -- The implied syllogism -- Extended argument : the brief -- Order of the brief and order of the argument -- Persuasion -- Summary -- Description. Relation of suggestive description to other kinds of discourse -- The dominant impression -- Pattern and texture in description -- Texture : selection in description -- Description of feelings and states of mind -- Choice of words in the texture of description -- Summary -- Narration. Movement -- Time -- Meaning -- Narrative and narration -- Narration and the other kinds of discourse -- Pattern in narration -- Examples of narrative pattern -- Proportion -- Texture and selection -- Point of view -- Scale -- Dialogue -- Characterization -- Summary -- The paragraph. The paragraph as a convenience to the reader -- The paragraph as a unit of thought -- The structure of the paragraph -- Some typical structural principles -- Linking paragraphs together -- Use of the paragraph to indicate dialogue -- Summary -- The sentence. Rhetoric and grammar -- The fixed word order of the normal sentence -- Position of the modifiers -- General principles of sentence structure -- Sentence length and sentence variation -- Summary -- Style. General definition of style -- Three aspects of literary style -- Style as an interplay of elements -- The plan of the following chapters on style -- Diction. Denotation and connotation -- Language growth by extension of meaning -- The company a word keeps : colloquial, informal, and formal -- How connotations control meanings -- Worn-out words and clichés -- Summary -- Metaphor. Metaphor defined -- Importance of metaphor in everyday language -- The function of metaphor -- Metaphor as essential statement -- What makes a "good" metaphor? -- Metaphor and symbol -- Metaphor and the creative imagination -- Summary -- Situation and tone. Tone as the expression of attitude -- The importance of tone -- What determines tone? -- Tone as a qualification of meaning -- Some practical don'ts -- Some practical applications -- Tone : familiar and formal -- Complexity of tone : when, and why, it is necessary -- Summary -- The final integration. Rhythm -- Rhythm as a device of expression -- Style as harmonious integration -- The inseparability of form and content -- Style as an expression of personality -- Style cultivated by reading -- Summary -- A more complete summary -- Reading : what does it mean to a writer? Appendix 1 : Causal analysis -- Appendix 2 : The syllogism -- Appendix 3 : The outline, summary, and précis; notes; research paper; and book report.