1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910788936503321

Autore

Halpern Faye

Titolo

Sentimental readers : the rise, fall, and revival of a disparaged rhetoric / / Faye Halpern

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Iowa City : , : University of Iowa Press, , [2013]

©2013

ISBN

1-60938-210-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (240 p.)

Disciplina

809

809.93353

809/.93353

Soggetti

Literature

Sentimentalism in literature

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction: The how of sentimentality -- Edward Tyrrel channing and the matter of disingenuous eloquence -- Why we should trust Harriet Beecher Stowe -- The art of appearances in Louisa May Alcott -- Henry Ward Beecher and the fall of the sentimental orator -- In defense of reading badly -- A critical problem with being a good reader of sentimental rhetoric.

Sommario/riassunto

How could novels like Uncle Tom's Cabin change the hearts and minds of thousands of mid-nineteenth-century readers, yet make so many modern readers cringe at their over-the-top, tear-filled scenes? Sentimental Readers explains why sentimental rhetoric was so compelling to readers of that earlier era, why its popularity waned in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and why today it is generally characterized as overly emotional and artificial. But author Faye Halpern also does more: she demonstrates that this now despised rhetoric remains relevant to contemporary writing teachers and lite