Prior to reading the ninth chapter
from Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary
Students I assumed that I would generally be reading a simple chapter of
how to arrange an argument altogether, in other words, elementary and obvious
parts of writing. When kairos was included I started to understand the
importance of this chapter. I especially enjoyed how kairos was utilized to
simplify the argument of arrangement. It seems like kairos would be an obvious
rhetoric to plan for when creating an argument, however just like an aptitude
test, one cannot necessarily plan for it. Unless a rhetorician understands
every member of her or his entire audience they will always need to plan for
the worse and or unexpected. Prior to the reading I never appreciated how
important an introduction or insinuation was until reading Cicero’s claim of
honor being the only case in which no introduction is needed. Today, honor is
not specifically entailed with speakers. As a result, Cicero claims that a
rhetor must use “the introduction to convince his audience that his position on
the issue is important to them.” Since elementary school I was taught to follow
this strategy, to write an introduction that will grab the reader’s attention.
Furthermore,
the different types of cases a rhetor may face surprised me simply because I
never realized that different situations can be categorized. The kind of cases
that are possible helped me understand why today persuasive writing includes an
introduction, narration, partition, confirmation, refutation, and a conclusion
like Cicero’s discourse; because it prepares your argument for any unexpected
difficulties. If the six-part discourse is done correctly then there can be no
ambiguity. The issue cannot be obscure because it is detailed in the partition.
Perhaps the issue can still be mean or difficult depending on the audience, still
that is why argument is raised; to persuade an audience to follow your ideals.
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