Monday, October 6, 2014
Quintilian
Quintilian represents an integral piece in the ever evolving puzzle of rhetoric. Something that stuck out in Institutes of Oratory was his textual authority. As a teacher, his explanation of exercises fits right in with that of Domitus and Cicero, which makes sense considering they're connected academically. "I must say a few words on the art of declamation, which, though the most recently invented of all exercise , is indeed by far the most useful"(379) Quintilian places emphasis on this for a number of reasons. Primarily, I believe he thinks of declamation as the most useful because it demands face to face interaction between orator and audience. Building off that, it is important to employ rhetoric not just on paper, but in an oral and physical means also. Though just an exercise, actively giving declamations would prove beneficial to strengthening an orators ability to speak to an audience, in addition to strengthening an orators application of spoken rhetoric in the given context.
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How do you think this translates to a written piece? Is it possible to give declamation in written form? Or is it possibly just more effective in a face-to-face context? I have definitely seen and heard both, however, I would say that face-to-face is more effective. When you read a text, it is easy to separate your personal feeling from the author's as they are just shapes on a piece of paper, but when you are in a room, listening to an orator, you feel their passion. Their emotional attachment to the declaration is tangible, at least in an effective orator. So how do we cultivate such a tangible sense of emotion in our writing?
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