Rhetoric’s domain expanded to spreading the Christian faith through preaching. Since only the elite classes benefited from education, the majority of people, who in the lower class, were not literate and could not read the bible. Therefore, it was up to a certain few to preach the word of God.

St. Augustine was influential during the years just before the collapse of the Roman Empire. During this cultural context he was able to exert his influence at the monastery in Hippo. Rhetoric in the form of the Christian faith helped produce a world in which Christianity became one of the most practiced religions to this day.

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Augustine Reading

Charlie Palandati

What are some major changes in rhetoric from ancient Greece to Christian Europe?

Rhetoric in Christian Europe mainly took the form of Church preaching and sermons. St. Augustine was one figure in particular who was responsible for giving rhetoric a new domain. These sermons were highly persuasive and meant to explain specific texts in the bible that the lower class illiterate people could not read. Therefore, because of there ability to influence, clergy members became highly regarded figures. In addition to preaching the word of god, christian Europe also utilized letters as medium of rhetoric. However, these letters followed a specific format consisting of five different parts. Furthermore, Women were responsible for running small family business, thus had to engage in letter writing. Nonetheless, these letters were still of masculine style because male secretaries would actually write the letters. The context of Europe becoming predominantly Christian was due to the efforts of people like St. Augustine. These missionaries made it their goal to convert as many people as possible to see the absolute truth in god. They did so by using rhetoric, in fact, St. Augustine was trained in rhetoric prior to converting himself.

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Charles Palandati

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Charles Palandati

Why is vir bonus (Good man) such a concern to roman rhetoricians?

Vir bonus consists of mutiple points regarding rhetoric. Cicero and Quintilian emphasize how epidiectic rhetoric is present in all forms of rhetoric. Furthermore, epidiectic and deliberative deal with the same topics. The way the those topics are argued changes the type of rhetoric being used. They also emphasize how a rhetor is more successful when he or she appeals to the audience and considers public interest first. Essentially, the orator must follow society’s norms. Cicero believes that a good man must be able to learn and adapt, and unlike Plato, does not have arete from birth. Crassus points out how an educated man without virtue is a danger to society. Roman rhetoricians dealt with virtuous topic, either praising or blaming, they considered their audience, believed rhetoric was a skill to be learned, and most importantly, thought it was necessary to possess the vary traits they praised or blamed.

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Charles Palandati

• I learned that rhetoric does not have a concrete definition. There are many different theories and perspectives available depending on which sophist or philosopher being examined. The history of rhetoric, i.e. key figures and terms were available in Herrick’s readings. Also we spent time in class lecturing about these things. I found it quite interesting to learn about the History of rhetoric, although I have not yet committed everything to memory. Completing the exam helped ingrain some of the historical and cultural aspects of this class. Completing the paper helped e refine my skills as a writer, but also make an argument about Greek culture. In fact. it was necessary to combine the historical aspects of the class with the writing aspects. Completing the readings and annotations helped me acquire the historical knowledge needed for the class, while lectures on how to write helped me refine my skills as a writer.
• Spending the time to analyze specific readings as a class really helps me to understand the document. Group work usually isn’t that much beneficial because of the time constraint in class. There should be readings for homework; however, the sheer volume per night is a little much. I think 20 pages before class is reasonable.

Cultural Research Essay_Palandati-2ewdf2b

Help Received: Writing center analyzed thesis and supporting body paragraphs, Mike Morrison completed my peer review in class, see works cited for specific documents.

Charles Palandati

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Readings

Charles Palandati

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assigned readings

Charles Palandati

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Charles Palandati

To what extent does P. Soc. reconcile himself with rhetoric? Why is this surprising? Or isn’t?

P. Soc concludes that rhetoric is used for determining the truth in things. The issue at hand becomes how to define truth. According to Plato, truth is only found in reason, rather than being observed; which means that rationale is objective, contrary to popular thought. In Plato’s mind people cannot be trusted to accurately decipher what they observe. Additionally, their perception is subject to disillusion.

These stances are not surprising based on the history of Plato’s dislike for the sophists. Even though Gorgias identified as a rhetorician, he would say truth cannot be known due to the limitations of language. Protagoras would respond to Plato by saying “man is the measure of all things”. In other words arguing that perception is reality, completely opposing Plato’s point of view.

The big question concerning sophists versus philosophers is whether or not there are absolutes or contingent truths. Furthermore, this debate is continued today in regards to religion versus science. Who is correct? Only rhetoric can determine that.