Section 2 - Identification and Explanation Flashcards
What is Quintilian’s definition of the orator?
The orator: “A good man speaking well.”
How Greek rhetoric changed when introduced in classical Rome?
The original form of Roman rhetoric: a legal instrument, in popular level litigation and great political trials
Plato & the Sophists: rhetoric beyond the law court, part of a liberal populist movement
Cicero and his followers: rhetoric was connected with literature and poetry, a specific “Latin style” Petrarch discovering his letters (800!)
Explain the “fragmentation” of rhetoric in the Middle Ages.
- Rise of Christianity Rhetoric at the service of Theology, discussing and preaching about the written Word of the Bible
- A prescriptive focus (education, following classical rules), not major theory of rhetoric was developed
- End of speaking An emphasis on beautiful writing, embellishing the discourse, amplifying rhetorical style
Rhetoricians: Augustine, Cassiodorus, Erasmus
Which discipline of the Trivium subordinated Rhetoric during the Middle Ages?
Elementary education in tropes & figures (= Grammar!) was a fundamental part of an educated person’s background
Grammar: first art to be taught, subordinated Rhetoric
For the needs of poets (ars versificatoria), letter writers (ars dictaminis) & preachers (ars predicandi)
Letter-writing: a medieval invention
What are the three genres of rhetoric/oratory according to Aristotle and the specific tense associated to each one?
Deliberative - Future
Ceremonial (epideictic) - Present
Forensic - Past
Name the three modes/strategies of persuasion according to Aristotle and explain each of them.
Logos - Appeal to Reason
Pathos - Appeals to Emotion
Ethos - Appeal to Character
Name the five canons of rhetoric and describe each of them.
- Invention: devising the matter true or plausible that would make the case convincing
- Arrangement: the ordering of the matter (from Introduction to Conclusion)
- Style: the use of suitable words, sentences, figures of speech
- Memory: remembering the prepared speech (or relevant facts, phrases) in order to deliver it orally
- Delivery: “the graceful regulation of voice and gesture” (Rhetorica Ad Herrenium)
What are the essential qualities of a persuasive Ethos?
VIRTUE = the audience believes you share their values (ARETE)
PRACTICAL WISDOM = you appear to know the right think to do (PHRONESIS)
SELFLESSNESS = the audience’s interest seem to be your sole concern (EUNOIA)
What are the three styles of oratory according to Cicero?
Rhetorica ad Herennium:
Simple, this style uses ordinary speech common to everyday conversation. It uses colloquialisms and informal language. This style is best suited for instruction and explanation
Middle, this style uses more relaxed language than the Grand style but not quite at the level of casual conversation. It avoids using colloquialisms but is not overly formal. The Middle style’s purpose is to please or entertain an audience
Grand, this style uses intricate arrangement of complex language. The diction used is formal and impressive. The purpose of this style is to move an audience, either emotionally or to perform some action
What are the four categories of points-at-issue that we may use in Invention, according to Aristotle?
- What am I talking about? (“What is X?” the Socratic question)
- Who am I?
- Who are they?
- Where am I trying to get them?
What would be the public usefulness of rhetoric according to Quintilian?
- “Let us give up eating, it often makes us ill”
- All necessities of life are occasionally capable of doing harm
- Rhetoric’s good influence: inspiring soldiers in battle, imposing good laws
- “How useful and how becoming a task it is for a good man to defend his friends, to guide the senate by counsels, and to lead people or armies to follow his bidding”
- To win honor and glory for the good deeds
Explain why Socrates called himself the “gadfly” of the state.
A gadfly is a person who interferes with the status quo of a society or community by posing novel, potently upsetting questions, usually directed at authorities.
Explain the main and greatest objective of the speaker/policy-maker within a deliberative situation, according to Aristotle.
We may define happiness as prosperity combined with virtue; or as independence of life; or as the secure enjoyment of the maximum of pleasure; or as a good condition of property and body, together with the power of guarding one’s property and body and making use of them. That happiness is one or more of these things, pretty well everybody agrees.
What are the three Christian discursive genres developed in the first centuries after Christ?
Apologetics = the defense of the Christian faith on intellectual grounds by theologians and philosophers.
Homily = a sermon, usually on a Biblical topic and usually of a non-doctrinal nature; or moralizing discourse.
Panegyric = a lofty oration or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy
What were the main features of Luther’s preaching style?
Careful preparation, above all through reading the Scriptures
The central message & return to Scripture
He refuted what he regarded as the oratorical tricks of the pre-Reformation church
Against the wild theatricality of delivery, a search for simplicity:
