Topping - The elements of rhetoric: how to write and speak clearly and persuasively: a guide for students, teachers, politicians & preachers

This charming book is a simple, effective reminder of how to present truth, and it carries with it a fair amount of wisdom about finding truth in the first place. Professor Topping has produced a guide accessible and useful to those of all ages and experience levels, in the classroom, the political setting, and the pulpit. It will prove doubly edifying, first for those who read it, then for those who listen to those who read it. May both groups be large in number!

JOSEPH R. WOOD, Institute of World Politics

This is a splendid introduction to what you need to know to communicate wisely and well. It is clearly written with engaging examples that demonstrate the practical relevance of age-old principles to todays communication. Read, learn, and enjoy this book. Then recommend it to friends.

QUENTIN SCHULTZE, Arthur H. DeKruyter Chair in Faith and Communication, Calvin College, author of An Essential Guide to Public Speaking and Habits of the High-Tech Heart

The Elements of Rhetoric is that rarest of rhetorical treats: a playfully serious and seriously playful summa of the art of communicationclassical education at its very best!

RAYMOND F. HAIN, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Providence College

Leading by example, Ryan Topping delivers a handy guide for all of us who rely on the art of persuasion. The Elements of Rhetoric is a gem.

DANIEL B. COUPLAND, Associate Professor of Education, Hillsdale College, co-author of Well-Ordered Language: The Curious Childs Guide to Grammar

This is the book I have sought for 35 years. As a trial lawyer, partner, elected official, board member, editor, fund-raiser, author, and lecturer, I am called on every few days to give closing arguments, formal remarks, speeches, sales pitches, and presentations. For those like me, for whom public speaking and writing is their stock-in-trade, this book is a must-have daily companion.

MICHAEL C. GILLERAN, Business & IP Trial Lawyer & Partner, Burns & Levinson, LLP, Boston, MA; author of Massachusetts Practice: The Law of Chapter 93A

Witty, vivid, and clear, The Elements of Rhetoric is bound to capture the minds and hearts of students in high school and across college campuses. Ryan Topping presents the classical Greek terms of logic and persuasion in a memorable way, illustrating them with passages and advice from authors who span the spectrum of time and place: from Homer and Caesar to Koestler and Rowling. Elements will empower students to engage audiences of diverse backgrounds by enhancing the appeal and approach of their debates, public speaking, and written arguments. This versatile guide can supplement course material from any discipline in order to help students polish presentations and essays.

ANN MARIE KLEIN, Department of Catholic Studies, University of St. Thomas, MN

The Elements of Rhetoric

THE

ELEMENTS

OF

Rhetoric

How to Write and Speak

Clearly and Persuasively

A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS,

TEACHERS, POLITICIANS & PREACHERS

by

Ryan N.S. Topping

First published
in the USA by Angelico Press
Ryan N.S. Topping 2016

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, without permission

For information, address:
Angelico Press
4 709 Briar Knoll Dr.
Kettering, OH 45429

978-1-62138-196-9 pb
978-1-62138-197-6 ebook

Cover Design: Michael Schrauzer
Cover image: Frontispiece of Quintilians Instituto oratoria,
ed. by Pieter Burman(n) the Elder, Leiden 1720

CONTENTS

Introduction

IMAGINE this scenario. You have a baby. You pinch for a down payment. You spot your dream homeor what you thought would be. The kitchen looks great, but the property is on the corner of Brown and Kings Crescent. Huh? If the gals at City Hall cant spell, are you going to trust them with your taxes? As was recently reported, Birminghams (not Birminghams) City Council has now banned apostrophes, and the township of Mid-Devon in the southwest corner of England nearly did the same. The townships proposed legislation declared that streets should not be given names that may be considered or construed as obscene or racist, and further: In order to avoid causing offence either by inclusion or exclusion, no street shall be named after any living person. And then: All punctuation, including apostrophes, shall be avoided. After banning local heroes, I suppose English punctuation comes next on the list.

It takes a certain kind of panache to legislate that your town cannot publicly honor the great men and women who live there, especially when your town has produced the likes of the sea-explorer and vanquisher of the Spanish Armada, Sir Francis Drake; the poet Samuel Coleridge; and murder mystery empress Agatha Christie. But who needs murder mysteries when the local kids cant [sic] read them anyway?

Dont let anyone tell you news is always bad. Here was one instance where common sense prevailed. Sadly, Birminghams ban remained; but only days after the council made its bid to rid confusion, the locals in Devon came out for a fight. The Telegraph reported the decision was to be reversed. Officials said punctuation could stay. Thanks, Big Brother!

Language is always on the move. What passed for good grammar, for elegant speech, for a persuasive style in the days of Will Shakespeare might not directly move readers in the era of Dan Brown. Still, most rules abide. We ignore them to our peril. As with a change in the Constitution, inflict a move too quickly and a lot of innocent heads will be lost.

G.K. Chesterton once remarked that while the aim of the sculptor is to convince us that he is a sculptor, the aim of the orator is to convince us that he is not an orator. In this case what is true of the preacher is true for the politician, the professor, and his students. In fact, it holds for anyone who needs to make his case convincing.

As classically conceived, the chief aim of rhetoric is to arm the good against the assaults of the bad. Truth, of course, retains a native appeal. Yet truth unadorned is usually truth ignored. Follow these 26 rules and youll learn how to show Lady Philosophy at her best.

R.N.S. TOPPING

Thomas More College, NH

Apostrophe Ban Takes U-Turn, The Telegraph, March 19, 2013.

I

Logos : Rational Speech

Master grammarobserve three preceptsLearn a little logicAvoid fallacies

1. Master grammar

Logos , pathos , and ethos are the three means open to you to influence your listener. As teaching is your primary aim, clarity is your first obligation. Logos means, quite simply, articulate speech. Clarity is your first duty because without it the listener cannot even offer you that most elementary of courtesies, the honor of disagreement.

Who did you pass on the road? the King went on, holding his hand out to the messenger for some hay.

Nobody, said the messenger.

Quite right, said the King; this young lady saw him too. So of course Nobody walks slower than you.

I do my best, the Messenger said in a sulky tone. Im sure nobody walks much faster than I do!

He cant do that, said the King, or else hed have been here first

The messenger intended nobody to mean no person, while the King took nobody to refer to a proper name . Alices conversations delight because the characters take everything literally. You only catch the joke, though, if you see the difference between the univocal and equivocal use of words. Even nonsense depends upon good sense.