WriteRead said:
I'm looking for a good and broad such dictionary.
I looked in Amazon once upon a time and thought I found one, but stupidly, I omitted to add it to my wishlist or to favs, so as to find it when I'll be willing to buy.
Any recommendations?
Thanks,
Dan
I'll give you a few.
For rhetorical terms Lanham, Richard. A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
I'm biased since he's my mentor, and I worked on the book.
For a scholarly handbook, the kind used by a professional poet of scholar, Preminger, Alex and T. V. F. Brogan. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. 3rd edition. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993. This is not cheap.
Abrams, M. H. Glossary of Literary Terms. Boston: Heinle, 1998. This is a good book to have if you’re an English major; it’s expensive, about 45.00 for a paperback. More specialized than Harmon’s Handbook, Abrams concentrates a bit more on literary theory.
Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature. Ninth edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2002. I’m still using the fifth edition, though it’s a little outdated. This is broader in scope, and thicker in size than Abrams’ Glossary. Earlier editions are by Harmon and Holman. This probably the best one for most purposes; and an older version is fine, unless you're into current critical theory.