Composition and Rhetoric, by John Franklin Genung (HC, book is in wonderful shape, $4, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
OK, I said to myself, what the heck is rhetoric? Turning in the book to page 1 I found an explanation in Part 1, Chapter 1. "A sentence may be perfectly correct, perfectly conformable to usage, and yet for its particular place and work be a poor sentence. In criticizing it we do not ask what is right and what is wrong; we ask rather what is better and what not so good for our purpose. That is the art of rhetoric: to find the best means and employ them- to replace what is feeble or vague or heavy with what is strong and definite and full of life." Meanwhile my own dictionary defines rhetoric as, among other things, "exaggeration in prose", and says it is the Greek word for "art".
What ever rhetoric actually means, I find this book a reminder that I want to improve my writing skills. There I was, a year ago, only a simple book store volunteer, when Sue insisted we all learn to blog. I insisted I would never, ever blog. Burn me at the stake, I screamed, and I would still not blog. But here I am, hundreds of blogs later, and wondering if my sentence structures are right. I am "fine" (ha!) with spelling- either spell check catches my idiosyncrasies, or I have no hope. If anyone questions me, I just shrug my shoulders and mutter "dyslexia". But somehow composition seems manageable for me to learn.... maybe? At any rate, I am pondering how to improve my writing, which since I started blogging, has got much better. Course that isn't saying much, since I was just plain awful before.
So check out this book, and you and I can practice our "rhetoric", hopefully not the "exaggerated kind", but the "good for our purpose" kind. Look for this book in the writing section, avail. 12/28.
