MODULE2:

OVERVI
EW OFCLASSI
CALRHETORI
C

I
ntr
oduct
ion

Cl
assi
calwr
it
ersconsi
der
ed r
het
ori
cashav
ing been"
inv
ent
ed,
"ormor
epr
eci
sel
y,
"
discov
ered,
"int
hef
if
thcent
uryB.
C.i
nthedemocr
aci
esofSy
racuseandAt
hens.
At
tempt
swer
emadet
odescr
ibet
hechar
act
erofanef
fect
ivespeechandt
oteach
someonehow t
opl
ananddel
i
verone.Underdemocr
aci
esci
ti
zenswer
eexpect
edt
o
j
oini
npol
i
ticaldebat
e,andt
heywer
eexpect
edt
ospeakont
hei
rownbehal
fincour
tsof
l
aw.A t
heor
yofpubl
i
c speaki
ng dev
eloped an ext
ensi
vet
echni
calv
ocabul
aryt
o
descr
ibef
eat
uresofar
gument
,ar
rangement
,st
yle,anddel
i
ver
y.I
nrecenty
ear
s,t
he
t
erm"
met
arhet
ori
c"hasbeencoi
nedt
odescr
ibeat
heor
yorar
tofr
het
ori
cincont
rastt
o
t
hepr
act
iceorappl
i
cat
ionoft
hear
tinapar
ti
cul
arcommuni
cat
ion.Thef
ir
stt
eacher
sof
r
het
ori
c wer
ethe i
ti
ner
antl
ect
urer
s off
if
th cent
ur eece known as "
yGr sophi
sts"
.
Cl
assi
calr
het
ori
ci
ansr
ecogni
zedt
hatmanyf
eat
uresoft
hei
rsubj
ectcoul
dbef
oundi
n
Gr
eekl
i
ter
atur
ebef
oret
he"
discov
ery
"ofr
het
ori
casanacademi
cdi
sci
pli
ne,andt
hey
of
tenusedr
het
ori
calconcept
sinl
i
ter
aryanal
ysi
s.Al
lli
ter
atur
eis"
rhet
ori
cal
"int
he
senset
hati
tsf
unct
ioni
stoaf
fectr
eader"
tot
eachandt
opl
ease,
"ast
heRomanpoet
2
Hor
aceandmanyot
hercr
it
icsputi
t.

cs(
TheTopi Topoi
)

Cl
assi
calr
het
ori
ciansdev
elopedt
het
opi
csasanai
dtodi
scov
eri
ngdi
scour
se.Though
t
het
opi
csar
ehel
pful
,theycannotsubst
it
utef
orbr
oadknowl
edgeoft
hewor
ldacqui
red
t
hrough keen st
udyand exper
ience.Ther
e ar
e common t
opi
cs;Def
ini
ti
on (
genus,
di
vi
sion)
,Compar
ison (
simi
l
ari
ty,di
ff
erencesand degr
ee)
,Rel
ati
onshi
p(cause and
ef
fect
,cont
rar
ies,
ant
ecedent
sandconsequences)
,Ci
rcumst
ances(
possi
bil
i
ty,
pastand
f
utur
efact
s),Test
imony(
laws,aut
hor
it
y,pr
ecedent
s)andt
her
ear
eal
sospeci
alt
opi
cs
1
t
hatar
especi
fi
ctoeachf
orm;
del
i
ber
ati
ve,
for
ensi
candcer
emoni
al.
Thr
eeDi
vi
sionsofRhet
orc3
i

Pol
i
tical
/Del
i
ber
ati
ve
Pol
i
ticalspeaki
ngur
gesusei
thert
odoornott
odosomet
hing;oneoft
heset
wo
cour
sesi
sal
way
stakenbypr
ivat
ecounsel
l
ors,aswel
lasbymenwhoaddr
esspubl
i
c
assembl
i
es.Thepol
i
ticalor
atori
sconcer
nedwi
tht
hef
utur
e,i
tisaboutt
hingst
obe
donehencef
ort
hthatheadv
ises,
fororagai
nst
.Thepol
i
ticalor
atorai
msatest
abl
i
shi
ng
t
heconv
eni
enceort
hehar
mful
nessofapr
oposedcour
seofact
ion;i
fheur
gesi
ts
accept
ance,hedoessoont
hegr
oundt
hati
twi
l
ldogood;i
fheur
gesi
tsr
eject
ion,he
doessoont
hegr
oundt
hati
twi
l
ldohar
m;andal
lot
herpoi
nts,suchaswhet
hert
he
pr
oposali
sjustorunj
ust
,honour
abl
eordi
shonour
abl
e,hebr
ingsi
nasaddi
ti
onaland
r
elat
ivet
othi
smai
nconsi
der
ati
on.Pol
i
ticalor
ator
sof
tenmakeanycompr
omi
seshor
t
ofadmi
tt
ingt
hatt
heyar
erecommendi
ngt
hei
rli
stener
stot
akeani
nexpedi
entcour
seor
nott
otakeanpr
act
ical
one.

For
ensi
c
For
ensi
cspeaki
ngei
therat
tacksordef
endssomebody
;oneorot
heroft
heset
wot
hings
mustal
way
sbedonebyt
hepar
ti
esi
nacase.Thesi
dei
nacaseatl
aw i
sconcer
ned
wi
tht
hepast
;onemanbl
amest
heot
her
,andt
heot
herdef
endshi
msel
f,wi
thr
efer
ence
t
othi
ngsal
readydone.Par
ti
esi
nal
aw-
caseai
m atest
abl
i
shi
ngt
hej
ust
iceori
njust
ice
ofsomeact
ion,andt
heyt
oobr
ingi
nal
lot
herpoi
ntsasaddi
ti
onalandr
elat
ivet
othi
s
one.Thel
i
tigantwi
l
lsomet
imesnotdenyt
hatat
hinghashappenedort
hathehasdone
har
m.Butt
hathei
sgui
l
tyofi
njust
icehewi
l
lnev
eradmi
t;ot
her
wiset
her
ewoul
dbeno
needofat
ri
al.

Epi
dei
cti
c/Cer
emoni
al
Thecer
emoni
alor
ator
yofdi
spl
ayei
therpr
aisesorcr
it
ici
zessomebody
.Thecer
emoni
al
or
atori
s,appr
opr
iat
elyspeaki
ng,concer
nedwi
tht
hepr
esent
,si
nceal
lmenpr
aiseor
bl
amei
nvi
ewoft
hest
ateoft
hingsact
iveatt
het
ime,t
hought
heyof
tenf
indi
tusef
ul
al
sot
orecal
lthepastandt
omakepr
esumpt
ionsatt
hef
utur
e.Thosewhopr
aiseor
at
tackamanai
m atpr
ovi
nghi
m wor
thyofhonourort
her
ever
se.I
nli
kemannert
hose
whopr
aiseorcensur
eamandonotconsi
derwhet
herhi
sact
shav
ebeenpr
act
icalor
not
,butof
tenmakei
tagr
oundofact
ualpr
aiset
hathehasabandonedhi
sowni
nter
est
t
odowhatwasmor
al.

Tabl
e1:
TheRhet
ori
cSi
tuat
ion4

Ki
ndof
Audi
ence Ti
me Ends(
tel
oi) Means(
topoi
)
Di
scour
se

Thej
ustandt
he Accusat
ionand
For
ensi
c Deci
sion-
maker
s Past
unj
ust def
ense

Theexpedi
entand Per
suasi
onand
Del
i
ber
ati
ve Deci
sion-
maker
s Fut
ure
i
nexpedi
ent di
ssuasi
on

Thenobl
eand
Epi
dei
cti
c Spect
ator
s Pr
esent Pr
aiseandbl
ame
shamef
ul

Theabov
etabl
esummar
izest
hedi
ff
erenceamongt
het
hreedi
scour
sesofr
het
ori
c;
f
orensi
c,del
i
ber
ati
ve/
pol
i
ticalandepi
dei
cti
c/cer
emoni
al.Thedi
sti
nct
ionoft
her
oleof
audi
encesi
neachdi
scour
se,t
het
imei
ttakespl
ace,i
tsai
m andhow t
heai
m wi
l
lbe
at
tai
ned,
asdemonst
rat
ed.

Fi
veCanonsofCl
assi
cal
Rhet
orc2
i

I
.Inv
ent
ion(
inv
ent
io)
Thi
sisconcer
nedwi
tht
hinki
ngoutt
hesubj
ectmat
ter
;wi
thi
dent
if
yingt
hequest
ionat
i
ssue,whi
chi
scal
l hest
edt asi
soft
hespeech,andt
heav
ail
abl
emeansofconv
inci
ng
t
heaudi
encet
oacceptt
hespeaker
'spoi
nt.

I
I.Ar
rangement(
disposi
ti
o)
I
tmeanst
heor
gani
zat
ionofaspeechi
ntopar
ts,t
hought
heor
deri
nwhi
char
gument
s
ar
epr
esent
ed,whet
hert
hest
rongestf
ir
stort
owar
dacl
i
max,i
ssomet
imesdi
scussed.
Rhet
ori
ciansf
oundi
tdi
ff
icul
ttosepar
atedi
scussi
onofar
rangementf
rom di
scussi
onof
i
nvent
ionandof
tenmer
gedt
het
woi
ntoanaccountoft
hei
ntent
ionalf
eat
uresofeach
par
tofaspeech.

I
II
.St
yle(
elocut
io)
I
tischar
act
eri
sti
cofcl
assi
calr
het
ori
ctor
egar
dst
yleasapur
posef
ulpr
ocessof
di
rect
ingsubj
ecti
ntol
anguage;t
hesamei
deascanbeexpr
essedi
ndi
ff
erentwor
ds
wi
thdi
ff
erentef
fect
.

I y(
V.Memor memor
ia)
Onceaspeechwaspl
annedandwr
it
tenout
,thest
udentofr
het
ori
cwasexpect
edt
o
memor
izei
twor
dforwor
dforv
erbaldel
i
ver
y.Amnemoni
csy
stem ofbackgr
oundsand
i
mageshadbeendev
elopedf
ort
hispur
pose.

V.Del
i
v y(
er pr
onunt
iat
io)
Thi
sisdi
vi
dedi
ntocont
rol
oft
hev
oice(
vol
ume,
pit
ch,
andsoon)andgest
ure,
whi
ch
i
ncl
udesef
fect
ivecont
rol
oft
heey
esandpar
tsoft
hebody
.

Not
e:Thef
ivepar
tsofcl
assi
calr
het
ori
cwi
l
lbef
urt
herdi
scussedont
hesucceedi
ng
modul
es.

Sour
ces:
1
A Br
iefSummar
yofCl
assi
calRhet
ori
c.Dat
eRet
ri
evedSept
ember27,2019f
rom
ht
tp:
//www.
hcs.
har
var
d.edu/
~rhet
ori
c/summar
y.doc
2
Kennedy
,Geor
geA.A NEW HI
STORY OF CLASSI
CALRHETORI
C.Dat
eRet
ri
eved
Sept
ember 27, 2019 f
rom
ht
tp:
//www.
sjsu.
edu/
peopl
e/cy
nthi
a.r
ost
ankowski
/cour
ses/
HUM1AF14/
s3/
Lect
ure-
12-
Kennedy
-and-
Ari
stot
le-
Readi
ngs.
pdf
4
MI
T OpenCour
seWar
e.(
2009)
.Cl
assi
calRhet
ori
cand Pol
i
ticalDi
scour
se.Dat
e
Ret
ri
evedSept
ember27,2019f
rom ht
tps:
//ocw.
mit
.edu/
cour
ses/
compar
ati
ve-
medi
a-
st
udi
es-
wri
ti
ng/
21w-
747-
classi
cal
-r
het
ori
c-and-
moder
n-pol
i
tical
-di
scour
se-
fal
l
-
2009/
lect
ure-
not
es/
MIT21W_
747_
01F09_
lec03.
pdf
3
W.Rhy
sRober
ts.(
1994-
1998)
.Rhet
ori
c.Dat
eRet
ri
evedSept
ember27,2019f
rom
ht
tp:
//www.
bocc.
ubi
.pt
/pag/
Ari
stot
le-
rhet
ori
c.pdf