Rhetorical exercises
Encyclopedia
In late classical, medieval, and Renaissance rhetoric
al teaching, rhetorical exercises were used to prepare the student for the real work of persuasion. These fell into two categories:
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
al teaching, rhetorical exercises were used to prepare the student for the real work of persuasion. These fell into two categories:
- progymnasmataProgymnasmataProgymnasmata are rhetorical exercises gradually leading the student to familiarity with the elements of rhetoric, in preparation for their own practice speeches and ultimately their own orations.Both Hermogenes of Tarsus and Aelius Festus Aphthonius wrote treatises containing progymnasmata...
, short exercises often focused on creating a portion of a declamation - gymnasmata, practice speeches