Marcus Quintilianus Rhetorical Analysis

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A.P. English 3 Rhetorical Style Terms Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (c. AD 35- c. 99) was a rhetorician and teacher of oratory in Rome (from AD 68). His most important work is his On the Training of an Orator in which he proposes to give an educational schedule for the training of the ideal orator (public speaker). Throughout he emphasizes the importance of personal integrity and honest conviction in the art of public persuasion. It is a valuable resource for us today because it specifically identifies many of the figures of speech which make writing interesting and effective. Quintilianus divided figures of speech into two kinds: Tropes—in which MEANING is altered from the usual or expected Schemes—in which WORD ORDER is altered…show more content…
White PERSONIFICATION: attributing human qualities to an inanimate object The grass is green and neatly cut, and the buildings cast a watchful eye over the clean, quiet campus. High blood pressure is very real and dangerous, snatching the lives of many…show more content…
Quintilianus tells us that if the character of the speaker or the nature of the subject is out of keeping with the words, it becomes clear that the speaker means something other than what is said. Thus something which is ironical in one context may be quite true in another. (For types of irony, consult Satire handout.) The new swimming pool and six more tennis courts were important additions to the Wilson University campus, even though the library funds had to be cut back. After all, students, accustomed as they are to the country-club life, would have been at a loss without her little luxuries. HYPERBOLE: exaggeration; deliberate exaggeration for emphasis “You might have to go back to the Children’s Crusade in AD 1212 to find as unfortunate and fatuous an attempt at manipulated hysteria as the Women’s Liberation movement.” -- Helen Lawrenson, “The Feminist Mistake” LITOTES: opposite of hyperbole, litotes (lit-o-tees) intensifies an idea by understatement It wasn’t my best

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