The Rhetorical Education of William Jennings Bryan: Isocrates, Character, and Imitation
Autor: | Adam E. Enz, Christopher J. Oldenburg |
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Rok vydání: | 2017 |
Předmět: |
Linguistics and Language
Liberal arts education Literature and Literary Theory Communication 05 social sciences Paideia Antidosis 050801 communication & media studies Character (symbol) Language and Linguistics Ethos Politics 0508 media and communications Rhetorical question Sociology Classics Moral character |
Zdroj: | Advances in the History of Rhetoric. 20:302-319 |
ISSN: | 1936-0835 1536-2426 |
Popis: | In the late American nineteenth century, oratory was de rigueur. Institutionally, liberal arts colleges sought to distinguish themselves by teaching moral character. Such an ethotic education was sine qua non for any student of political oratory. This essay argues that such an emphasis on character and oratory, coupled with Illinois College’s rhetorical curriculum and extracurricular events, afforded a kairotic and didactic moment for William Jennings Bryan to learn and practice Isocrates’ brand of rhetorical paideia. Taught primarily through the use of paradigm cases and imitation, Isocrates emphasized the import of a speaker’s ethos over the art itself. Bryan shared this perspective. Drawing from both “Against the Sophists” and “Antidosis,” we conduct a comparative analysis by reading Isocrates’ ethotic-based rhetorical theory alongside of Bryan’s 1881 graduating oration entitled “Character.” |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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