The5CanonsofCl assi

calRhet
or i
c
By Ri
chardNordquist
UpdatedFebruary05,2020
(t
akenfrom htt
ps:/
/ www.t
houghtco.com/
the-
5-canons-
of-
classi
cal
-r
het
ori
c-1691771
[
accessedApr i
l2021])

Thefi
vecanonsofcl
assical
rhetor
icar
eper hapssummedupbesti nthisquotefr
om
thel
ateGer
aldM.Phil
li
ps,prof
essorofspeechfrom Pennsy
lvani
aStateUniver
sit
y:

"Thecl assical 
CanonsofRhet or i
c speci
fythecomponent softhe communi cat
ion 
act
:
i
nv ent
ingandar rangi
ngideas, choosinganddel i
veringclustersof wor
ds,and
mai nt
ai ninginmemor yast or ehouseofi deasandr epert
oi r
eofbehav i
ors... 
Thisbr eakdowni snotasf aci l
easi tl
ooks.TheCanonshav estoodthetestoftime.
Theyr epr esentalegi
ti
mat et axonomyofpr ocesses.Inst
r uctor
s[inourownt ime]can
sit
uatet hei
rpedagogicalstrat egi
esi neachoftheCanons. "

Thewor dsoft heRomanphil

osopherCi
cer
oandtheunknownauthorof"Rhet
ori
caad
Herenni
um"  br
eakdownt hecanonsofr
het
ori
cint
ofi
veoverl
appi
ngdivisi
onsof
the 
rhet
orical 
process:

1.I
nvent
ion 
(Lat
i i
n,
 nv
ent
io;
Gr heur
eek,
  esi
s)

Inventionisthear toffindingtheappr opri

ate 
argument s i
nany  
rhetoricalsi
tuati
on.In
hisear lytr
eati
se" DeInv entone"
i  (
c.84BCE) ,Cicerodefinedinventionast he"discovery
ofv ali
dorseemi ngl
yv alidargumentst orenderone'scausepr obabl e."I
ncont empor ar
y
rhetoric,i
nventi
ongener all
yreferstoawi devariet
yof  
research 
met hodsand discovery
strategies.Buttobeef fective,asAristot
ledemonst r
ated2, 500y earsago, i
nvention
mustal sotakeintoconsi derati
ontheneeds, i
nterests,andbackgr oundoft he audience.

2.Ar
rangement
 (
Lat
i di
n,
  sposi
ti
o;Gr t
eek,
 axi
s)

Arrangementr efer
stothe 
part
sofaspeech 
or,morebroadl
y,t
hestr
uctur
eofa text
.
In 
classi
calrhetori
c,st
udentsweret
aughtt
hedist
inct
ivepar
tsofan 
orati
on.Alt
hough
scholarsdi
dn'talwaysagreeonthenumberofpar
ts,Ci
ceroandtheRomanr het
ori
cian
Quinti
li
anidentif
iedthesesi
x:

 Exordium (orintr
oducti
on)
 Narrativ
e
 Parti
tion(or di
vi
sion)
 Confirmation
 Refutati
on
 Perorati
on (orconclusi
on)

In 
cur
rent
-t
radit
ionalr
hetori
c,arr
angementhasof
tenbeenr
educedtothet
hree-
par
t
str
uct
ure(i
ntroducti
on,body,concl
usi
on)embodi
edbythe 
fi
ve-
paragr
apht
heme.
3.St
yle 
(Lat
i el
n,
  ocut
io;
Gr l
eek,
 exi
s)

Styl
eist hewayi nwhi chsomethi
ngi
sspoken, wri
tten,orperformed.Nar r
owly
i
nterpreted,styl
erefersto 
wordchoi
ce, 
sentencestruct
ures,and f
iguresofspeech.
Mor ebroadly,sty
leisconsider
edamani fest
ati
onoft hepersonspeaki ngorwri
ti
ng.
Quinti
li
ani denti
fi
edt hreel
evel
sofst
yle,eachsuit
edt ooneoft hethreeprimary
functi
onsofr hetori
c:

 Pl
ainst
yle forinstr
ucti
nganaudience.
 Mi
ddlestyle formov i
nganaudi
ence.
 Gr
andstyle forpleasi
nganaudience.

4.Memor
y (
Lat
i memor
n,
  ia;
Gr mneme)
eek,
 

Thiscanoni ncludesallthemet hodsanddev i

ces( includi ngfi
guresofspeech)t hatcan
beusedt oai dandi mprov et hememor y.Romanr hetoriciansmadeadi stinct
ion
between naturalmemor y 
(ani nnateabil
it
y)and arti
fi
cialmemor y (
par ti
culart
echni
ques
thatenhancednat ur
alabili
ties) .Thoughoftendisregar dedbycomposi ti
onspecial
ist
s
today,memor ywasacr ucial aspectofclassi
cal systemsofr hetori
c, asEngli
sh
hist
ori
anFr ancesA.Yat espoi ntsout,"
Memor yisnota' sect
ion'of[Plato'
s]tr
eati
se,as
onepartoft hear tofrhetoric; memor yintheplatonicsensei sthegr oundwor koft
he
whole."

5.Del
iv
ery
 (Lat
i pr
n,
  onunt
iat
o  act
and  io;
Gr hy
eek,
  pocr
isi
s)

Del i
veryref erst othemanagementofv oi
ceandgest ur esinoral
discour se.Del i
very,
Cicer osaidi n" DeOr atore,
""hast hesol eandsupr emepoweri n 
oratory;wi t
houti t,a
speakeroft hehi ghestment al capacit
ycanbehel dinnoest eem; whileoneofmoder ate
abili
ties,witht hisqual i
fi
cation, maysur passev ent hoseoft hehighestt alent.
"Inwr i
tten
discour set oday ,del i
very"meansonl yonet hing:thef or matandconv entionsoft hefinal
wr i
ttenpr oductasi treachest hehandsoft her eader,"saysthelateEngl ishpr ofessor
andschol ar, Rober tJ.Connor s,fr
om t heUniversityofNewHampshi re.
Keepi nmi ndt hatt hef ivetraditi
onalcanonsar ei nterrelat
edactivi
ti
es, notr i
gid
formul as,rul es,orcat egories.Thoughor i
ginall
yi ntendedasai dstot hecomposi ti
on
anddel i
veryoff ormal speeches, thecanonsar eadapt abletomanycommuni cat iv
e
situations,bot hinspeechandi nwrit
ing. 

Sour
ces

Connor s,RobertJ."
Acti
o:ARehetor i
cofWr i
tt
enDel i
very.
"Rhet
  ori
calMemor yand
Del
ivery :Cl
assi
calConceptsforContemporaryComposi ti
onandCommuni cati
on,
"
edi
tedbyJohnFr ederi
ckRenolds,LawrenceErlbaum Associat
es,1993.
Phi
ll
ips, Geral
dM. Communi
  cat
ionIncompetencies:ATheoryofTr ai
ningOral
Perf
or manceBehav ior
.Souther
nIll
inoisUni
versit
yPress,1991.
Yat es, Fr
ancesA.TheAr
  tofMemor y.Uni
versit
yofChicagoPr ess,1966.