Rhetoric Style third cannon presentation.pptx

Rhetoric Style third cannon

1. MODULE 11: Third Canon of Rhetoric: Style Once the speaker has planned " what " to say (invention) and the order in which to say it (arrangement), the third task is to decide " how " to say it – that is how to embody it in words and sentences. Style is a deliberate process of casting subject into language; the same ideas can be expressed in different words with different effect. Styles were often classified into types or " characters ," of which the best-known categorization is the threefold division into " grand ," " middle ," and " plain .“ Classical rhetoricians believed that style was not merely ornamental; rather, an appropriate use of language was as important to persuasion as was the quality of the thought that the language expressed.

2. Two Parts of Style Dictio – the choice of words Composition – the putting of words together into sentences, which includes periodic structure, prose rhythm, and figures of speech.

3. Discussion of Style a. Virtues ( aretai ) – correctness of grammar and usage, clarity, ornamentation, and propriety. b. Ornamentation – includes "tropes," literally "turnings" or substitutions of one term for another; as in metaphor. c. Figures of speech – changes in the sound or arrangement of a sequence of words, such as anaphora or asyndeton. d. Figures of thought – a statement which is recast to stress it or achieve audience contact, as in the rhetorical question.