Chapter 1

Sophists

- itinerant teachers --traveled from city-state to city-state training people in public speaking. -entrepreneurs -not very ethical -didn't care about the truth

Isocrates believed

--only a well-educated man could determine the best course of action through well informed, but incomplete opinion -good speakers were well-learned on a variety of subjects -good speakers were morally sound and could discern right from wrong -ornate language and lofty sentence construction within a speech about a worthy topic showed an ethical and moral speaker. -emphasis on style and content shows a sort of fusion of the approaches taken by Gorgias and Protagoras.

Aristotle

--saw rhetoric as a means rather than an end. --believed it fulfilled 4 functions in an open society. 1.Uphold truth and justice 2.Teaching to an audience 3.Analyze both sides of an argument 4.Defend oneself

Protagoras

-481-414 B.C. -believed anything and everything could be argued -taught students to know both sides of the argument—the only way to know which side they should believe. -critics said this approach only showed people how to make the worst case look better to win the debate

Transactional Model of Communication-

-Recognizes that we simultaneously send and receive messages. --adds an eighth component: Feedback-responses and reactions to the messages transmitted. A new message sent back to the original sender. Both parties serve as sender and receiver

School of Isocrates (438-335 B. C.)

-an Athenian citizen -taught his students that a person's capacity to know things was limited. -could not expect to know right course of action in every situation and on every issue.

Gorgias

-notable Sophist (480-376 B.C.) -said relationship between speaker and audience is linear -believed speaker fills audience with knowledge, moves them to action -believed audiences were passive, could be moved by elaborate and "magical" language -believed power of persuasion lay in the style and construction of creative and linguistic phrases.

Aristotle's Lyceum

-tutored Alexander the Great -regarded teachings of Isocrates and Sophists as inadequate -opened his own school: the Lyceum (educational institution) -believed that rhetoric served several beneficial purposes in society -he was a pragmatist

Five principle duties for any speakers

1. Defend truth 2. Protect the innocent 3. Prevent criminal behavior 4. Inspire the military 5. Inspire the public

Two significant differences between education today and in the days of ancient Greece

1. Nature of education. -today, much government intervention, control over education (public schools, state-sponsored universities). - During the Classical Period (ancient Greece and the Roman Empire), state had very little influence on education. -very few children received an education -home schooled with tutor -sent to one of very few schools 2. The curriculum very different -one fundamental piece of education was rhetoric--the ability to speak well and to persuade audiences. Today many students not introduced to formal training in speech until college.

Aristotle outlined three ways in which someone could know something

1. Techne - experiential knowledge. Comes from a person's own encounters. The least reliable way of knowing. 2. Episteme - universal knowledge. Understanding about the common characteristics of like materials. Public speaking allowed people to learn and search for universal characteristics by sharing knowledge of particulars with each other. 3. Intermediate knowledge - what is intuitively correct to the person. This type of knowledge is concerned with ethics Aristotle departed from Plato here as he believed in these three ways of knowing the world around us. Plato advocated a truth only a philosopher could know.

Aristotle laid out three virtues of style:

1. clarity-ability of speaker to clearly articulate 2. correctness-accuracy of information presented 3. propriety-good behavior and faithfulness to what one considers moral and just. **you should be both ethical and clear in your content and in your delivery.

7 components to the process:

1. sender-person who desires to deliver a message to another person or group -uses a symbol system—normally language—to encode the message. 2. Encoding-process of attaching symbols to ideas and feelings so that others may understand them 3. Message-actual content-can be intentional or unintentional 4. Channel-mode through which the message is conveyed to another party 5. Noise-anything that interferes with the transmission of the message 6. Receiver-the person/persons who receive the message sent by the sender -- not always the intended target --anyone who understands the encoded message can become a receiver. 7. decoding-taking a message and using your own experiences and knowledge to give it meaning

Cicero

106-43 B.C. -one of the most influential figures in the history of rhetoric -rose to the position of Consul in the Roman Republic -developed reputation as well spoken champion of the people. -lived and wrote during Roman Republic -wrote De re Publico and De Oratore -broke speech down into its component parts—called them the 5 canons of rhetoric -Cicero was a gifted orator -during Roman Civil War between Octavian and Marc Anthony (after death of Julius Caesar), Cicero used his speech to persuade against a dictatorship. Marc Anthony had him killed and nailed his tongue and hands to the door of the Senate.

Aristotle vs Plato

Aristotle saw rhetoric as a creative process of determining what should be said while Plato equated rhetoric with persuasion.

Linear Model

Designed by a research mathematician named Claude E. Shannon. He was training people to communicate via telephone. Concentrated on one-way or linear communication. -linear model is very speaker-entered. -onus for success placed on speaker. --receiver is at the very end of the process

3 components of persuasion

Ethos-character /credibility of speaker Logos-logical dimension of appeal Pathos-emotional dimension of the appeal These three are referred to as artistic proofs—something created by the speaker for the presentation.

Quintilian

Focused less on political speech and more on epideictic address (to praise and/or blame). Under Emperor Vespasian, rhetoric and public speaking rose in emphasis. Vespasian provided grants to artists and teachers to encourage education and civic engagement. Quintilian received a grant, used it to fund school and wrote manual for becoming the perfect speaker. He said rhetoric was the "art of speaking well." Also said that rhetoric was only useful insofar as people applied it to practical and public affairs.

5 canons of rhetoric

Invention: choose the best possible argument for your case. Arrangement: determine the most effective way to organize your case for the topic and the audience. Style: involves word choice, phrasing, and the level of formality in the language you use. Delivery: the manner in which you physically and vocally present the speech Memory: refers to the ability to recall names and important information in the middle of a speech as well as to deliver a cogent speech without notes.

Kairos

Isocrates did NOT offer a set of rules and characteristics of a well put together speech like many of his contemporaries. He did recognize one constraint to good speeches: Kairos—Greek term meaning timing and recognition of the needs of the occasion. Isocrates believed that you could not teach Kairos through a handbook -- only through extensive repetition and exposure to civic life. --this is where the speaking of his time took place.

How not to speak in public

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Inartistic proofs

evidence, data, and documents that exist outside of the speaker and the audience but aid in persuasion.

Civic engagement

knowing that one has responsibility to the community

Plato

student of Socrates (not Isocrates) --thought rhetoric was a "knack" because he felt that living a "good life" where understanding justice and living a just life was ultimate goal. --felt the Sophists trained people to achieve personal goals through persuasion ( didnt approve in them) --believed that education should focus on philosophy or the search for truth and NOT persuasion. Wanted people to determine true knowledge. the only people who could seek and know the truth and tell the difference between good and bad were philosophers. -wrote The Republic ---decried the Sophists and Isocrates for elevating rhetoric and devaluing philosophy

Aristotle

the father of modern rhetoric - tutored Alexander the Great of Macedon -wrote books that are still considered foundational texts for public speaking.