Product Description

Now in a new edition, this standard work in its field discusses the three vital parts of classical rhetoric--argument, arrangement, and style--bringing these elements to life and demonstrating through numerous examples their effective application in yesterday's and today's writing. This new edition features a new chapter on progymnasta (classical composition exercises), an updated survey of the history of rhetoric, and an updated section on "External Aids to Invention".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18688 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 562 pages

Review
"A definitive, highly usable, rigorous text--I have used it with great success for many years. The new material in the 4th edition is marvelous. Exactly the kind of work needed to prepare teachers."--Mitzi Brunsdale, Mayville State University

"An indispensable and lucid guide to rhetoric that will make students proficient writers and acute interpreters of texts ranging from contemporary advertisements to Homer."--Corinne E. Blackmen, Southern Connecticut State University

"Interesting and well written. I particularly like the selected readings by Homer, Socrates, Madison, Thoreau, and the others. A very comprehensive study."--Wendy Stackable, Covenant Christian Academy

Praise for the previous edition (1st 3 quotes): "Remains the single best, most comprehensive, most readable, most useful, most usable text for both introductory and advanced classes in rhetoric/composition."--Vivian Thomlinson, Cameron University

"A classic in the field of composition studies, a work that has shaped the disciplone. Sorts out the often confusing writings of classical rhetoric and shows how the ancient art can help contemporary students negotiate the realm of persuasive discourse."--Gary Layne Hatch, Brigham Young University

"The definitive rhetorical handbook for contemporary students."--William Sewell, Southwest Missouri State University

"My students appreciate the clear and complete explanations of rhetorical principles in this text."--Jody D. Brown, Ferrum College

"An excellent text for Advanced Composition and Rhetoric because it allows you to pace the course according to the level of your classes."--Mark Craver, George Mason University

About the Author
Edward P.J. Corbett is at Ohio State University (Emeritus). Robert J. Connors is at University of New Hampshire.

Customer Reviews

Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student
For 35 years I have guarded with my life, my copy of Edward Corbett's book, Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, thinking it was out of print. To my delight, when I was about to recommend it for a writing class I was going to teach, I found it on Amazon.com. Since the Back to Basics education movement of the 1970's the fundimentals of logic and expository writing are seldom taught in the public schools, resulting in a generation of adults with marginal communication skills. Edward Corbett's book fills a void, offering serious writers a set of guidelines for reasoned discourse. Corbett reviews rules of logic begining with Aristotle's syllogism, that device which permits the writer to examine the premises of his or her arguments and thus test their logical validity. He further examines the common fallacies of deductive and inductive reasoning, and gives the writer practical exercises to improve his logical skills. Corbett outlines the various approaches a writer might make to win an audience over, explains how to most effectively arrange the material, and suggests methods for selecting the most appropriate style and tone. Readings of classical and modern writers illustrate the principles Corbett presents. In short, this is a serious book for serious writers. It is a book to be treasured, a reference book for a lifetime. Thank heavens it is not out of print!

An Excellent Tome
Make no mistake. This is a textbook, not a leisurely "how to" book on how to write more creatively. The author is clearly oriented towards the classical rhetorical styles of ancient Greece and Rome, resurrected in the Renaissance, and largely a lost art after the Victorians. Despite the textbook orientation, it is a book the unschooled student of rhetoric can pick up and "study." I emphasize "study." One cannot breeze through this book. And, while many of the issues addressed apply to both writing and speaking, clearly this is a rhetorician's skillbook, not a grammarian's. The book is divided into three parts: Part I develops a strategy for speaking/writing as a cohesive whole; Part II develops the modes of argumentation, particularly the syllogism; and Part III, perhaps the least important in today's universe of knowledge, develops the tropes particular to rhetoric. There are better books on each of these three parts, but no book that incorporates all three any better. Take notes. Study. And you'll be richly rewarded.

Principles of Powerful Persuasion
Rhetoric has come to be seen as a discipline for frauds and charlatans. It has the connotation of artful trickery and deception. No matter what you may think of rhetoric, you engage in it each and every time you try to prevail upon someone to see things your way. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Any artform practiced by mortals can be (and is) misused by unscrupulous villains. Those who decry rhetoric for its susceptibility to misuse overlook this point: Rhetoric, properly understood and applied, is the best defense against misused rhetoric.

For a good grounding in the basics of rhetoric, the student need look no farther than this textbook. It is not easy reading, but diligent study will equip the reader well for the tasks of analyzing, defending, and making arguments. The book aims at the written word, but the principles apply as well to the spoken.

The book divides itself into six chapters:
1. Introduction
2. Discovery of Arguments (Deciding what to say).
3. Arrangement of Material (Marshalling your arguments for greatest effect).
4. Style (How best to speak/write your arguments).
5. The Progymnasmata (Exercises in rhetoric).
6. A Survey of Rhetoric (History of rhetoric from Ancient Greece to modern times).