Rhetoric during the Renaissance served as an, “aid to contemplation and refinement” (Herrick, p. 142). Renaissance Rhetoric is, “Greco-Roman in conception and grounded in a renewed appreciation for the place of public speech in civic life” (Herrick, p. 142). Fascination with speech during the Renaissance began a serious dedication to the study of classical rhetoric and its role is persuasive speeches. Rhetoricians referred to the early works of Cicero and Plato from Rome and Athens. At the time, only a small portion of Cicero’s work was studied during the Renaissance, like De Inventione and De Oratore. While the study of Plato led to the term, “Neo-Platonism” (Herrick, p. 144). The rhetoric of the Renaissance brought wisdom and eloquence to things like “law, theology, and even medicine” (Herrick, p. 145).  However, humanism was popular during the Renaissance period. Humanists believed it was important to possess a, “free and active mind– rhetoric, poetics, ethics and politics” (Herrick, p. 149).  An example of a humanist during the Renaissance is Petrarch. He was an Italian Humanist, “interested in rhetoric’s ‘persuasive power’ than its possibilities for ‘harmony and beauty of language'” (Herrick, p. 151).

Rhetorical Traditions Paper 2-z1q1ob

Rhetorical Traditions Paper 2-z1dqi1

-Still need at least two more paragraphs

-Proper References page needed

At the beginning of the semester, I believed rhetoric to be persuasion used in speech and writing. After further reading, I believe it to be more than just persuading other people. Rhetoric can be used for good or evil. It is used to argue two sides of an argument, however, it does not mean that the side you are arguing for is 100% correct. Which is why rhetoric is tricky in its usage. It is not necessarily used for good. My definition since the beginning of the year has essentially expanded in that rhetoric if used properly can achieve great things. If it is not used properly, it can be used in a malicious form that could potentially attack other people through speech, social media, etc.

Montana White

November 15, 2017

Hypothesis: Rhetoric is deceptive in nature and misleads those who are caught by its eloquent words, persuasive speakers, and the setting in which it may be delivered.

I referred to the first essay option when trying to come up with a hypothesis.

Augustine speaks of rhetoric as being taught in public schools, by him as well as other teachers. I viewed his initial description of rhetoric to be the same as Ancient Greece. He states, ” truth and falsehood are pleaded” (456). This is similar to the ancient greeks because they did the same exact thing in the court room. A difference between Greece and Rome was that Rome focused more on eloquence than anything else. Romans believed that eloquence was learned by, “reading and hearing the eloquent” (457). This makes sense because you need to be able to practice something in order to fully grasp its meaning and be able to use it. You can not just list its rules and expect people to be eloquent. The church had, “supreme authority” (457) which is a complete change from the ancient greeks. The final difference is that Rome is a democracy while ancient Greece was a republic. There was definitely more opportunities for those in Ancient Greece to partake in the usage of rhetoric, however in Rome, it was believed that only those of a higher class could participate in taking classes and learning eloquence.

Montana White                                               Help Received: Herrick chapter 6

November 7, 2017                                              M. White

In Christian Europe, rhetoric was used within the church by preaching. Rhetoric was used to help them teach others, as well as evangelism. They looked to Cicero because his ideals were easily accessible to them and his work, along with Quintilian was the only work left after the barbarian conquests in the roman empire. Rhetoric expanded from oratory, to actually being written down in the form of letters and poetry. Also, women were able to partake in the usage of rhetoric by writing letters. Women were often put in charge of family businesses and therefore were required to write letters to manage its affairs. Rhetoric during the time of Ancient Greece did not involve churches because their main focus was on the gods. Rhetoric was practiced in courts and was mainly spoken. Context seems to affect rhetoric’s direction because it has expanded from being spoken to being written down in the form of letters and poetry, this occurs because public debate is no longer a part of civic life in Christian Europe. Rhetoric was focused on speaking about God and his truths. For example, Thomas Aquinas used the thoughts of Aristotle along with teachings of the church about God.

Annotations:

Montana White                                                           Help Received: classical roman empire

November 6, 2017

Cicero and Quintilian are concerned with “vir bonus” or “good man” because this theory allows rhetoric and ethics to coincide with the orator. They both believed that it was important for orators to speak well and know the science of speaking well, as well as knowing how to speak correctly. This theory closely relates to that of Aristotle and Isocrates because they believed rhetoric to be important based on civic virtue. The theory relates because it is  based on civic ethics and morality. This theory is a concern to the Roman rhetoricians because if speaking well and speaking correctly are requirements of vir bonus, how do you know that they are using this knowledge and science for good? It is possible that being able to speak well and correctly would allow you to argue for a case in which the person is guilty. It presents an issue because it shows that rhetoric is still capable of being deceptive, even though their intent is for it to be used for good.