RHETORIC
Representative Answers
(and/or directions as to where the answers can be found)
RHETORIC MIDTERM 2008: Part C (Short-Answer
Questions)
1. Identify the new technology that was coming into play in Greece
during the time of Socrates (a technology utilized by Plato and Aristotle though not by
Socrates), and list at least two reasons why Socrates (as expressed in Plato’s Phaedrus)
did not approve of this "elixir."
Answer
1. Once people came to rely on writing, Socrates believed, their memories would begin to
atrophy.
2. Also, because writing could not "speak back" or correct itself (as in
dialectic) writing could not serve as the vehicle for true wisdom.
See excerpts from Phaedrus [handout] and postscript at January 22 in
Notes Archive A and your notes from class discussion--and Midterm Review Questions #1 and
also Quick Review Quiz from week four, question #8.
2.* In Chapter Three of Orality and Literacy (1982),
Walter J. Ong lists several of the distinctive ways in which people in a "primary
oral culture" (such as Homer’s Greece) think and express themselves through
narrative. Clearly identify any three of these distinctive characteristics.
Answer
Communication in oral cultures tends to be (1) aggregative (relying on epithets
and parallel structures), (2) redundant or copious, (3) agonistically toned, (4) additive
or polysyndetic, (5) concrete rather
than abstract, and (6) characterized by maxims.
See postscript in NOTES ARCHIVE A for class on January 15. See also Midterm Review
Questions #20 and Quick Review Quiz from week four, question # 4.
3.* Identify two specific conventions of the Athenian
court system in ancient Greece that contributed to the rapid development of rhetoric as
both a field of study and a practical skill.
Answer
Because in Athens (1) there were no attorneys--that is no professionals assigned
to speak on behalf of the plaintiff or defendant--and (2) a voting jury consisted of
upwards of several hundred members, a citizen on trial had to speak for himself before a
sizeable audience. The rhetoric employed in his speech determined how persuasive his
case was and whether or not the jury would vote in the citizen's favor. (3) Because
property disputes were common in ancient Greece, many citizens spent time in court.
As a result, the brand of rhetoric favored by the Sophists (who often served as
speechwriters as well as teachers of oratory) was in great demand.
See your class notes for weeks one and two and pp. 490-91 in Classical
Rhetoric.
4.* Beginning with Aristotle, classical rhetoricians distinguished
three kinds of speeches, each of which is (at least broadly) concerned with a distinctive
period of time–past, present, or future. Using either the Latinate terms or
their more common English equivalents, identify these three types of
discourse and the time period (according to Aristotle) about which each is generally
concerned.
Answer
deliberative or political -- future
forensic or judicial -- past
epideictic or ceremonial or demonstrative-- present
See Chapter Four in Thank You for Arguing,
definition of rhetoric in Tool Kit, Midterm Review Questions #20 et al.
5. Name the primary rhetorical device illustrated in each of
these passages:
(a) "Mankind must put an end to war--or war will put an end to mankind."
(John F. Kennedy, speech at the United Nations, 1961)
(b) "If you think you can win, you can win." (William Hazlitt)
(c) "We are not amused." (Attributed to Queen Victoria)
Answer
(a) chiasmus
(b) epizeuxis
(c) litotes
See Tool Kit for Rhetorical Analysis--and the
handout Quick Review of Terms (Feb. 14, 2008), examples
#12, #8, #3.
6. Define the rhetorical concept of kairos,
and briefly explain how, in Act III of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Mark
Antony employs the concept both in his first appearance before the crowd (bearing the
corpse of Julius Caesar) and in his calculated hesitation to read aloud Caesar’s
will.
Answer
Kairos is the much-coveted art of doing or
saying the right thing in the right place and at the right time--or creating the
right place and time. In bringing out Caesar’s corpse, Antony draws attention
away from Brutus (who is declaiming about the "justice" that has been carried
out) and to himself and the assassinated emperor, thus earning him an extremely attentive
audience. Likewise, his calculated hesitation to read the will allows him to give
the contents away without seeming to do so, and provides a dramatic pause that allows the
greedy tensions of the crowd to rise.
See NOTES and your class notes for February 5 and 7,
2008.
7. Define the terms tenor
and vehicle, and point out clearly how and where each is embodied in Emily
Dickinson's poem "Wild Nights."
Answer
The "tenor" is the subject of the
metaphor (what the trope is "about"), in this case the imagined or conditional
"Wild nights" referred to in the first stanza. The "vehicle" is
the image that conveys or drives the metaphor (in other words, the trope itself), in this
case the next seven lines, an extended sailing metaphor that characterizes the experience
as returning to port after a sea voyage.
See your class notes on discussion of Love Poems,
Tool Kit for Rhetorical Analysis, and handout on METAPHORS. Also, see Midterm Review Questions #14.
8. Identify and briefly explain the multiple metaphors that lace
the third stanza of Emily Dickinson’s poem "Because I could not stop for
death":
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess--in the Ring--
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain--
We passed the Setting Sun–
Answer
Throughout "Because I could not stop for death," Dickinson builds on
the familiar metaphor of life as a journey--though in this case the journey takes the form
of courtship and the one speaking is long dead. In this stanza, Dickinson outlines
the stages of an individual's life by comparing those stages to common human and natural
activities ("recess" = youth; "gazing grain" = maturity; "the
setting sun" = old age) and to the passage of a day. The effect is to remove
the sense of terror from death and present it instead as just another stage on the
familiar journey.
See handout on Metaphors and postscript to class on January 31 at Notes
Archive B.
9. Like earlier rhetoricians, the author of the Institutio Oratoria
(translated as The Institutes of Oratory) regarded the broadly educated individual
as the fittest candidate for a course in rhetoric. Identify the author of the Institutio
Oratoria, and explain what additional qualification he thought the orator
should possess–a qualification that earlier rhetoricians, such as Aristotle, may have
hinted at but did not discuss explicitly.
Answer
Quintilian (born in Spain, taught in Rome) was the author of Institutio
Oratoria. He insisted that a speaker should be a person of high moral character in
addition to being well informed. This
added emphasis on moral character helped to make the Institutio Oratoria especially influential in the hands of
churchmen throughout the Middle Ages.
See pp. 495-96 in Classical Rhetoric, outline of classical rhetoric, and
handout on "Imperial Rome and the Rhetoric of Quintilian."
10. According to Corbett and Connors in Classical Rhetoric, ethos
(or the ethical appeal) is the "hidden persuader." In our world, "such
enterprises as public relations, motivational psychology, market research, and advertising
are engaged in searching for effective stimuli and in creating the proper
‘image.’" Explain how the ethical appeal of Mr. Collins’
marriage proposal to Elizabeth Bennet (in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice,
discussed by Corbett and Connors) serves to discredit the speaker and undermine his
persuasive intentions.
Answer
The self-absorbed Mr. Collins seems to think he is conveying an ethos of
good sense, high morals, and noble intentions. Instead, by focusing on finances, self image, and social rank, he sends
the message that he's a pompous and self-righteous ass, devoid of true affection and
indifferent to the needs and interests of Elizabeth--who's clearly too smart to ally
herself with this jerk.
See pp. 75-77 in Classical Rhetoric and Midterm Review Questions #2.
11. The rhetorical concept of identification, introduced by 20th-century
rhetorician Kenneth Burke, is related to the classical notion of ethopoeia. Briefly
yet specifically, explain how essayist E. B. White employs the strategy of identification
in his essay "The Ring of Time."
Answer
After establishing a
sense of connection or identification with the bored crowd in the opening paragraph of
"The Ring of Time," the narrator (the "writer") goes on to evoke a
sense of shared identity with the young circus performer (the "rider")--and
ultimately with the reader--as he meditates on our common mortality, an idea embodied in
the metaphor of the essay's title.
See rhetorical analysis of "The Ring of Time" (assigned for March 4),
Midterm Review Questions #19, and Jie's sample answer on the class bulletin board.
12.* In his "I Have a Dream" speech, Martin Luther King,
Jr. follows the conventions of a type of speech that has come to be known as the
African-American jeremiad. Briefly yet specifically, explain the biblical origin of jeremiad,
and then list the the three basic parts that make up the rhetorical structure of the
African-American jeremiad.
Answer
a. a consideration of the freedom promised in America's founding documents
b. a detailed criticism of America's failure to fulfill this promise
c. a prophecy that America will achieve its promised greatness and enjoy
unparalleled happiness
See handout (p. 85 et al.) "Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a
Dream’ in Context," authors Vander Lei and Miller. Also, see and Midterm
Review Questions #21.
13. According to the authors of the handout on
grammatical person, "The choice of grammatical person is the most influential element
in establishing voice and distance." Briefly yet specifically, explain how the use of
the first-person pronoun (both singular and plural) may in some cases increase the sense
of intimacy (between rhetor and audience) and in other cases heighten the sense of
distance, depending on a variety of factors.
Answer
First person (I or we) may invite (or impose) a sense of
identification with the speaker (i.e., we're all in this together), thus increasing the
sense of rhetorical intimacy. However, if the first-person narrator consistently
expresses views contrary to those held by the audience or if that narrator in any way
ridicules or expresses disdain for the audience, the sense of distance is increased as the
audience resists identification.
See pp. 121-126 in the handout on grammatical person (distributed
on March 6).
14. Offer brief yet specific examples of how Gary Hart employed appeals
to ethos, pathos, and logos (i.e., the Aristotelian artistic proofs)
in his 1987 speech announcing his withdrawal from the campaign for the race for the
Democratic Presidential nomination.
Answer
Ethos: self-characterizations as "no ordinary politician" and
"not a broken man."
Pathos: references to his family's support (for him) and anger (at media).
Logos: his explanation that he was leaving the race because the focus had shifted from
issues to personality.
See definitions of terms at Tool Kit and see your notes on our class discussion of
Hart speech.
15. Briefly summarize how, according to Aristotle in his Rhetoric,
enthymemes, examples, and maxims each contribute in their own way to
the art of logical persuasion (logos).
Answer
Because the enthymeme (an incomplete syllogism) depends on the
audience supplying a missing premise (and thus encouraging people to think that
they are thinking for themselves), the device may give an impression of logical
thought even when it's based on a logical fallacy or unproven point. By definition, an
example may clarify a concept but illustration is not the same as proof.
Likewise, a maxim (or proverb) conveys a presumption of truth through its appeal to
commonplace wisdom--though the large number of contradictory maxims shows that by
themselves maxims prove nothing.
See the outline of Aristotle's Rhetoric (handed out in class) and your
class notes when we discussed the nature of enthymemes, the limitations of examples (which
may illustrate but rarely prove), and the often contradictory nature of maxims.
Also, see Midterm Review Question #11.
16. Cicero’s works played a significant part in
mediating the controversy between the "Asiatics" and the "Atticists."
What contrasting stylistic habits and conventions were espoused by the Asiatics
and the Atticists in Cicero’s day, and in what ways did Cicero’s
concept of decorum suggest a compromise (of sorts) between the two groups?
Answer
Asiatics wrote with a florid, highly elaborate style. Atticists wrote more
plainly in an epigrammatic style. Cicero insinuated that both groups could benefit
by adopting characteristics of the other's style and that the best rhetors followed the
principle of decorum, i.e., adapting the style of a speech (high, middle, or
low) to the needs of the audience and the nature of the rhetorical occasion.
See p. 495 in Classical Rhetorics and handout on
"The Rise of Rome & the Rhetoric of Cicero" and terms in Tool Kit for
Rhetorical Analysis. Also, see and Midterm Review Questions #17.
17. Briefly yet specifically, discuss the effects created by antithesis
and climax in the final paragraph of the Gettysburg Address.
Answer
By contrasting metaphors of birth with references to the literal
deaths at Gettysburg and balancing references to past and present conflicts with the
promise of "a new birth of freedom," Lincoln's carefully balanced sentence
structures reflect the struggles of the war itself. Embedded in the powerful climax--in
fact, a tetracolon climax (series of four)--of the final line is the tricolon "of the people, by the people, for the people," which compactly
defines the fundamental democratic principles for which, Lincoln says, the war has been
fought.
See handouts: "The Gettysburg
Address," by Gilbert Highet; Richard Lanham's "squeeze" of the Gettysburg
Address, and the excerpt from Lincoln at Gettysburg, by Garry Wills.
18.* Clearly identify (by quoting the
opening and closing words of the appropriate phrase or clause) a simile and two appositives
from the opening of George Orwell’s "A Hanging":
Answer
simile: "like yellow tinfoil" (characterizing the dull depressing light
and establishing the desolate mood of the narrative)
appositive: "a
row of sheds fronted with double bars, like small animal cages" (renaming the cells of the prisoners--and
dehumanizing them in the process)
appositive: "a puny wisp of a man" (renaming the Hindu
prisoner--and emphasizing how insubstantial he appears, in contrast to the vigorous
physical description that follows several paragraphs later)
See terms in Tool Kit and your notes
on class discussion on March 6 and handout on four sample analyses of the essay.
19. In the excerpts that we've read from Plato's Gorgias, explain
how the character of Socrates fixes the rules of this dialectical game so that they favor
Socrates over Gorgias and his fellow Sophists.
Answer
Knowing that the rhetorical strength
of the Sophists resides in their ability to deliver long eloquent speeches, Socrates
compels Gorgias and his associates to speak more conversationally--in the dialectic form
that he himself excels in. Once
he has fixed the rules (by flattering Gorgias and appealing to his pride) to suit his own
strengths, Socrates breaks the agreement: his own speeches grow longer and longer.
See your notes on class
discussion of Plato's dialogues (on January 22 and 24) along with Quick Review Quiz from week four, question # 13.
_____________________________
(Representative
Student Answers to Section A)
RHETORIC