English 622: Classical Rhetoric

Rick commented in his blog that in Cicero, we see the first attempt at a comprehensive overview of rhetoric. This is true, and I think it's part of the reason I noticed so much intertextuality. I not only had the sense that Cicero was familiar with Aristotle and Plato (and therefore Socrates), but he goes at length to offer what I might call a lit review.

"... is really suggesting (1) that the world needs people who specialize in multidisciplinarity (if that makes any sense) because (2) these people make the knowledge in the disciplines usable. In other words, orators draw from specialized knowledge whenever they need to and to whatever extent they need to in order to do something in a public venue. I could be reading into Cicero here because I'm projecting my own hopes for liberal arts, but it seems like this goes a long way toward explaining and perhaps validating the "dappled discipline" we talk about so much." - Tom Sura, 2008

The first aspect of Cicero’s On Oratory and Orators that struck me, was the concept of the perfect orator, which is a person “who shall have abilities to deliver opinions on both sides of a question on all subjects, after the manner of Aristotle, and, from a knowledge of the precepts of that philosopher, to deliver two contradictory orations on every conceivable topic, or shall be able, after the manner of Arcesilas or Carneades, to dispute against every proposition that can be laid down, and shall unite with those powers rhetorical skill, and practice and exercise in speaking, he w

One thing that really impressed me about Book II of De Oratore was Caesar's thoroughness in his explanation of humor. We read Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric a couple of weeks ago and it seems like the idea of funny in oratory really took a hit between second century Rome and 18th century Scotland.

I found myself getting annoyed with Crassus and wanting to tell him to just get to the point. Sometimes I felt as if members of his audience were speaking to nudge him in the right direction.

One of the major parts of his monologue on eloquence dealt with three types of words that can be used for adornment: old words, new words, and metaphors. The first item of this list seemed a bit unusual to me. I'm trying to think of an instance where a somewhat antiquated word might be of use.