English 5361: Week 10 Post – Enlightenment
One of the movements in the field of Rhetoric during the Enlightenment period was the ill-fated Elocutionism. This movement moved Rhetoric far afield from the views of Aristotle and other who included invention of arguments as part of Rhetoric. Elocutionism focused on presentation. According to Herrick, this was an ultimately practical movement, focusing on the "performance side of rhetoric" and on "rhetoric's use as a method for refining the public manners, poise, and expressiveness of men and women" (p 180).
Rhetoric seems to move in circles from an art of display to invention to display to invention, continuing endlessly. The Elocutionary movement was one of those movements of display. Perhaps not the proudest stage in Rhetorical History, but it was there. And, when people say of politicians "that is only empty rhetoric," it may be a reference to one of these periods of display.
For the scope of this movement, Rhetoric was more like acting than the Rhetoric of old. "Good delivery was intimately connected with convincing the audience of the urgency and truthfulness of one's message" (Herrick, p 181). This statement perhaps sums up the Elocutionary movement. Presentation is key to acceptance and may perhaps be more important than content. How do you think that this performance Rhetoric impacted today's Rhetors or at least the perception of today's Rhetors?
Rhetoric seems to move in circles from an art of display to invention to display to invention, continuing endlessly. The Elocutionary movement was one of those movements of display. Perhaps not the proudest stage in Rhetorical History, but it was there. And, when people say of politicians "that is only empty rhetoric," it may be a reference to one of these periods of display.
For the scope of this movement, Rhetoric was more like acting than the Rhetoric of old. "Good delivery was intimately connected with convincing the audience of the urgency and truthfulness of one's message" (Herrick, p 181). This statement perhaps sums up the Elocutionary movement. Presentation is key to acceptance and may perhaps be more important than content. How do you think that this performance Rhetoric impacted today's Rhetors or at least the perception of today's Rhetors?