Week Two Part I

COMM 401Interpreting Strategic DiscourseWeek Two

Rhetor/Intent

The Rhetor in Aristotle’s Rhetoric

3 means of persuasion Ethos Pathos Logos

Ethos = speaker credibility as demonstrated by the speaker during the speech. Rooted in demonstrations of goodwill, character,

trust, expertise.

The Rhetor in Isocratean Rhetoric

Remember that Isocrates was dedicated to educating the ideal citizen through rhetoric.

Focus on epideictic and style all spoke to the importance placed on the speaker.

Early Roman Rhetoric

The role of the rhetor in rhetorical understanding increases with the rise of the Roman civilization.

Differences with Greece: Development of lawyers and legal

patrons. Popular democracy was replaced by

Republican democracy. Forensic and deliberative oratory

rose in importance.

Early Roman Rhetoric

Early Roman rhetoric established the importance of virtue and character.

Cato was an early Roman rhetorician who gave many different speeches in a range of roles within Roman society.

Cicero says that all oratorical virtues are found in his speeches.

Quintilian calls him the first Roman rhetorician.

Early Roman Rhetoric—Cicero

Born in Arpinum on January 3, 106 BCE. Moved to Rome in early teens to study and learn. Wrote extensively on rhetoric—including an incomplete early

work On Invention. May also have been the author of Rhetorica ad Herennium. Written about the same time as De Inventione—from the 2nd

decade of the 1st century, BCE. Oldest Latin rhetorical treatise preserved in entirety.

Cicero and Roman Rhetoric

Cicero sought to preserve the Roman Republic.

He feared several threats: demogogues administrative corruption foreign and civil war economic chaos

Became the leading spokesman of the optimates, upholding what was best for the Republic.

He advocated concordia ordinum, or responsible cooperation among different groups.

3 means of acquiring rhetorical competence: Theory Imitation Practice▪ Rhetorica ad Herennium

Cicero’s On the Orator

In 55 BCE, Cicero wrote On the Orator, a dialogue discussing the nature of a perfect speaker.

Less a handbook than a philosophy of rhetoric.

Major issues in On the Orator: Is rhetoric an “art”? The relative importance of

natural ability, theory, and training.

The kinds of knowledge required for successful oratory.

On the Orator blends: Isocratean rhetoric Aristotlian rhetoric Functions of the traditional

Roman orator

Quintilian

The greatest teacher of rhetoric in Rome. Born late 30s AD in Spain. A life-long educator, who wrote his account of rhetoric and

rhetorical education in Institutio Oratoria. His rhetorical theories weren’t very original, but he

contributed to the rescue of Ciceronian standards of style, in opposition to the declaimers.

The concept of nature is important to Quintilian’s system—he seeks a natural style of rhetoric, where speeches grow naturally and organically.

The Second Sophistic

Rhetoric undergoes many transitions between the fall of the Roman Empire and the British/Continental period 12+ centuries Two main forces▪ Erosion of democratic spirit▪ Rise of Christianity

Second Sophistic Lasted from 50 A.D. to

400 A.D. Term was coined by the

orator Aeschines “a period of oratorical

excess in which the subject matter became less important than the interest in safer matters like the externals of speech, especially style and delivery.”

The Second Sophistic

Declamation Oratory based on innocuous,

apolitical topics that would not cause public harm to the speaker.

Forms of entertainment speaking:▪ Declamation▪ Panegyric (festival)▪ Gamelion (marriage)▪ Genethliac (birthday)▪ Prosphonetic (to a ruler)▪ Epitaphios (funeral)

Leading figures: Hermogenes—On Types of

Style▪ Seven qualities of style:

clarity; grandeur; beauty; rapidity; character; sincerity; force

▪ The Encomium as rhetorical form/exercise

Longinus—On the Sublime

Rhetoric & Christianity

Christian suspicion of classical rhetoric: Rooted in pagan

culture/mythology Reliance on probability Tension between

persuasion and discovery/instruction

St. Augustine Most formidable opponent of

the Second Sophistic De Doctrina Christiana

“begins rhetoric anew”…adapts classical understanding (Cicero) to preaching.

Ignores the sophistic excesses and argues for a blending of eloquence and wisdom—reconnected rhetoric to its classical roots.

Focus on Rhetor in Belles Lettres

Neoclassicism in British rhetorical thought From 1700-1740, British thought

experienced a neoclassical revival Called the “Augustan Age” Study of English language must be

patterned after the ancients—imitatio is again important.

Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, John Lawson, John Ward

The Belletristic Movement Taste = the human capacity to

both critically appreciate and receive pleasure from everything that was beautiful

Sublime = feeling of awe and inspiration in the presense of natural or artistic greatness

Genius = ability to see relationships and perform or create worthy objects

Focus on Rhetor in Kenneth Burke’s Theory

Identification: A supplement to persuasion; a

replacement for persuasion “You persuade a man only

insofar as you can talk his language by speech, gesture, tonality, order, image, attitude, idea, IDENTIFYING your ways with his.“

Related to consubstantiality: creating substantial connections between individuals

A key part of any rhetorical activity is the agent—the rhetor or speaker.

3 ways to use identification: As a means to an end To create antithesis

against a common foe Unconscious awareness of

the sender and/or receiver

Rhetors & Rhetorical Ethics

Morality of Rhetoric Plato Cicero/Quintilian Meaning-Centered

approach to morality:▪ Responsibility▪ Accountability▪ Toleration▪ Freedom▪ Honesty

A Rhetoric of Ethics Language is sermonic Rhetoric exists to communicate

values End of rhetoric is the

realization of justice and order Justice = synthesis of

democratic ideals▪ Liberty▪ Equality▪ fraternity

COMM 401Interpreting Strategic DiscourseWeek Two

Audience/Effect

Early Senses of Audience Aristotle conceptualized the enthymeme—a form of argument reliant upon

audience analysis and participation. Christian oratory became more audience centered; Four types of Christian

oratory— Apologies—oratory aimed at non-believers that sought to defend the

legitimacy of the faith.▪ Justin

Polemics—oratory aimed at splinter groups designed to bring them back to the faith.▪ St. Irenaeus; Hippolytus; Augustine

Sermons—oratory to reinforce belief.▪ John (Chrysostom)

Panegyrical sermons—sermons that were excessive and stylistically ornamental.▪ Gregory of Nazianzus

Focus on Audience—Epistemologists

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) articulated a theory of the faculties of the mind: Memory Imagination Reason Will Appetite

Rhetoric’s duty is “to apply Reason to Imagination for the better moving of the will.”

Other Epistemologists

John Locke (1632-1704)—two faculties of the mind (understanding & will); worried about rhetoric as a tool of deceit and error; theorized about the role of emotion.

David Hume (1711-1776)—audiences have two levels of perception (ideas & impressions); four faculties of the mind (understanding, imagination, passions, & the will)

Hume on Audiences

Moral reasoning: principal source of human knowledge; moving force of behavior and action; consists of factual data related to existence Experience Testimony Analogy Calculation of probability

Hume on Audience Discourse need be adapted to an audience Particular vs. philosophical audiences

George Campbell & Audiences Campbell is the author of the Philosophy of Rhetoric, published

in 1776 This book, more than any other from the period, synthesized all

rhetorical knowledge and teaching Persuasion is the end of a four-step process: instruction

imagination passions motivates the will. Campbell says speakers should know as much as they can about

an audience: education, moral culture, occupation, politics Audience analysis means that the speaker must use a lively

style, provide organizational clarity, articulate arguments that can be understood, and use appeals to emotion.

George Campbell & Audiences

Campbell’s understanding of audience and adaptation is his longest range influence on rhetorical theory.

For Campbell, audiences are motivated by passions: Probability Plausibility Importance Proximity of time Connection of place Related to persons addressed Interest in consequences

George Campbell & Audiences

Campbell’s understanding of audiences and the necessity of appealing to audiences leads him to argue for a theory of language—perspicuity.

Perspicuity supports the faculty of understanding Three criteria for language use:

Reputable use: language that avoids vulgarisms and undesirable words/sentence constructions

National use: avoid provincial and foreign terms Present use: language should be regulated by present use, not ancient

practice A stylistic standard is necessary to produce stability, accuracy,

and propriety.

Perelman & Audiences

Universal Audience: A construct defined by its divinity and perfection. Has the capacity for clear and absolute rationality. Exists in the mind of the rhetor. Useful as a tool that allows the rhetor to persuade a particular audience.

Particular Audience: is the actual group addressed. Very Aristotelian in that all argument must emanate from the particular audience.

Studying Audiences & Effects

Instrumental

• Rooted in behavior; does the audience do what the rhetor seeks from them as a result of the rhetoric?

Constitutive

• Rooted in identity; does the audience see and define themselves as the rhetor seeks?

Ethical

• Rooted in values; does the audience assess right/wrong, good/bad as the rhetor seeks?

Attitudinal

• Rooted in preferences; do audiences hold the same preferences as the rhetor