Exploratory 1: Tracing Aristotle and Quintilian

For your first exploratory assignment, I invite you to work in pairs to complete a “trace” of Aristotle’s and Quintilian’s text excerpts for a particular term or concept. I often employ this reading methodology for historical work, but I think it can serve us well for theoretical work by causing us to notice concurrent threads within each text and between both texts (Rhetoric and Institutio Oratoria).  

By “trace the concept,” I mean “look for both explicit and implicit uses of your term, what is being explicitly argued about it, and what is being implicitly demonstrated about it by the writer of your text.” “Tracing” may also involve your realizing some critical principles about writing rhetorical theory or your experiencing meta-awareness about the challenges of reading rhetorical theory.

Below are term/concept assignments (along with a set of corresponding questions that may help you to recognize the term/concept in your texts). One of the two texts may feature much more on your concept than others, although both texts will feature something on each concept:

Kyle and Erin

Contexts and the Initiation of Discourse (from classical principles of inventio and stasis)

• Where does discourse (or writing) begin? Is there an art for initiating it?
• What specific contexts are addressed in this text? How is rhetorical exigency handled?
• How is the “matter” of rhetoric characterized, i.e., is it restricted to its own domain or is it put in relationship with other types of disciplinary study or inquiry?
• Does the text present any disagreement over these aspects?
• Does the text differentiate between realization and incarnation?

Abraham and Jess

Topics and Commonplaces (from classical principles of kairos and topoi)

• What are the nature and relative importance of logos in relation to ethos and pathos or other aspects?
• What are the basic categories of relationships among ideas (i.e., the “places to find things”)?
• What are the purposes of topics (i.e., to arrive at judgment, to support judgments already in hand, to adapt discourse to the audience, etc.)?
• What is their relationship to the political, social, and economic conditions that surround the speaker or audience?
• Is there an art of developing topics? What kinds of topics are presented?
• Does the text present any disagreement over these aspects?

Kendall and Megan K.

Rhetorical Reasoning (from classical principle of logos)

• What are the appeals to (or figures of) formal reason?
• What kind of knowledge-making does rhetoric employ (e.g., definition, division, relationship, circumstance, cause/effect, testimony, etc.) and how is it exemplified (e.g., dialogic, enthymeme, syllogism, etc.)?
• What is the relationship of rhetoric to other disciplines (if one is implied)?
• What kinds of claims are made for rhetoric’s relation to “truth”, or what are some implied relationships between language and “thought”?
• Does the text present any disagreement over these aspects?

Jason and Sarah

Genres and Style (from classical principles of dispositio, elocutio, and pronuntiatio)

• What significance does the physical or material seem to have over forces of persuasion (if it does)?
• What are some implied relationships between message, method, and form?
• What are rhetoric’s genres or discourse classifications (if any)?
• What are unique features of these genres (large and small, structural and linguistic, abstract and concrete)?
• What types of styles are theorized or exemplified?
• Does the text present any disagreement over these aspects?
• Does the text differentiate between speaking and listening?

Ashley, Jennifer and Megan R.

Rhetor and Audience (from classical principles of ethos and pathos)

• What are the subject positions of the rhetor? Who can speak, who is marginalized?
• What is the relationship between ethos and ethics, if any?
• How can/does/should the speaker/writer act as a cultural lens?
• How can/does/should the text characterize emotion in discourse?
• Are there arts to ethos and pathos—strategies for achieving them?
• What are the nature and relative importance of each, in relation to one another or to logos or other aspects?
• Does the text present any disagreement over these aspects?

Dr. Graban will try to prepare this one ...

Education of Rhetor, Rhetoric as an Art (from classical principles of techne and phronesis)

• Is rhetoric characterized as: (1) a set of rules (craft), (2) a set of theoretical principles or transferable strategies capable of reflecting or guiding practice and being adapted to specific contexts (art), or (3) the product of genius and/or a mysterious function of language?
• What is the role and definition of an art per se?
• What relationships are suggested among art, talent (nature), practice, and imitation in the development of the rhetor? Are they equal in importance?
• What is the character of the relationship between the “teacher” and the “student”?
• Does the text differentiate between doing and knowing?
• Does the text present any disagreement over these aspects?

There is no prescribed length for your “trace,” and the format may vary. Ultimately your trace should bring a reader to a more generative understanding of what s/he reads. Aim for breadth and depth. This may involve an outline that show us how to read each text for that term or concept; or tables, charts or grids that help us to compare the results of your trace across both texts. Whatever you do, your “trace” will likely contain key passages from Aristotle and Quintilian, as well as your own summative statements of how the term/concept gets treated in their work. That said, please include the MLA citation and use in-text (parenthetical) citations throughout your trace where needed. 

Please upload your completed trace to our shared Google Drive space by the beginning of class time on Tuesday, September 3, and bring a hard copy to class for our discussion.

For your follow-up critical blog post (which you will do individually), please  reflect on the trace assignment and how your term, the concept, and some aspect of the task illumined/complicated/addressed/extended your reading of Aristotle's and Quintilian’s texts, or even Barthes’s.  Generally speaking, critical blog posts are somewhat formal and should be a minimum of 2-3 well developed paragraphs in length (a couple of screens). Feel free to compose your post as a response to someone else’s, if you see an interesting conversation starting on the blog.

To take the edge off of next week, let's make the critical blog post due by 2:00 p.m. Thursday, September 5 -- giving you an additional 48 hours to reflect.