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Chapters 1-6
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Introduction;
nature and source of the sublime;
Is there an art of the sublime?; [Lacuna];
swollen bombast;
Parenthyrsus, unseasonable or empty passion;
Frigidity;
Strengths and defects usually share common sources;
Avoiding defects.
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Chapters 7-9
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The sublime requires high thoughts;
Five sources of sublime language;
Passion is not the same as the sublime;
witness the orators' eulogies.
But fervent passion contributes much to the sublime;
Greatness of soul is the foremost condition of the sublime; [Lacuna];
Sublime and worthy images;
An example from the lawmaker of the Jews;
The sublime appeal of Ajax;
The Odyssey compared to the Iliad.
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Chapter 10
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Harmonizing elements, Sappho;
Sappho's 'Peer of Gods' fragment;
Examples and misses from the realm of terror.
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Chapters 11-14
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Amplification and the sublime;
Writers on rhetoric misdefine amplification;
Amplification defined; [lacuna]
Elevation in Plato, Cicero and Demosthenes;
Elevation, emulation and the sublime, Plato;
Emulation versus plagiarism;
Emulation as inspiration;
Imagine audiences from succeeding ages;
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Chapter 15
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The power of images;
Poetic vs rhetorical images, poetic images from Euripides,
Aeschylus,
and Sophocles.
Rhetorical imagery and force of argument, Demosthenes,
and Hyperides;
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Chapter 16-17
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Figures;
Apostrophe;
Passion and the sublime conceal rhetorical artifice;
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Chapters 18-22
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Questions and interrogations; [Lacuna];
asyndeton --omitting conjunctions;
Combining asyndeton with other figures;
Smooth connecting particles sap passion;
Hyperbata, or inversions and vehemence;
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Chapters 23-27
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Polyptota, accumulations, variations, and climaxes;
Making one into many;
many into one;
Making the past present;
Interchanging people; putting the audience in the action;
becoming part of the action.
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Chapters 28-29
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Periphrasis, powerful,
but hazardous.
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Chapters 30-32
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Choosing proper and striking words that fit the thought; [Lacuna].
Metaphors.
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Chapters 30-32
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Is sublimity or stylistic purity to be preferred.
Demosthenes versus Hyperides.
Plato versus Lysias.
Literature: sublime versus faultless writers.;
Posterity has judged.
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Chapters 37-41
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Comparisons and similes ... [Lacuna].
... Hyperbole.
Arrangement of words and rhythm.
Faults in arrangement and rhythm.
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Chapters 42-44
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Overly concise expression lowers the sublime.
As does triviality of expression.
Freedom, Democracy and Eloquence: two views.
Transition to the passions (lost).
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