Reading Response 2/13

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).