Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory: Delivered to the Classes of Senior and Junior Sophisters in Harvard University, Volume 1Before becoming President of the United States, John Quincy Adams was a Harvard professor of language, rhetoric and oratory, with this book comprising his lectures. Published in 1810 when Quincy Adams was in his forties, this work is a collection which demonstrates the breadth of knowledge which he passed to students eager to learn about the arts of speaking. The early lectures cover the basic principles of oratory and eloquence in the context of public speaking, and the origins of rhetoric as a celebrated art form in ancient Greece and Rome. It is clear that the author possesses an intense knowledge of the subject and its professional application. Later on in the text are more specific lectures, such as the importance of perfecting oratory for the courtroom, and the personal qualities a good speaker should cultivate. Keeping tight control of one's emotions when speaking or debating with others, and delivering compelling lectures from the church pulpit, are also discussed at length. Although this material is well over 200 years old with much of the language archaic by modern standards, the ideas and principles espoused by Quincy Adams remain both relevant and important to students and those working in fields where speech is vital. |
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... qualities of an orator 343 · LECT . XVI . Excitation and management of the passions • 367 LECT . XVII . Disposition . Exordium 391 LECT . XVIII . Narration . 411 AN INAUGURAL ORATION , DELIVERED AT THE AUTHOR'S INSTALLATION , X CONTENTS .
... narration , proof , refutation , and conclusion . But the distribution of Cicero is still further extended , and recognises six parts under the names of in- troduction , narration , proposition , proof , refuta- tion , and conclusion ...
... narration . Quinctilian changes the name , and under the head of narration includes the proposition . Cicero separates them entirely , and treats each of them as a distinct general division . Other rhetoricians have multiplied them ...
... reducible . But the exordium and peroration are ornamental , rather than vital parts . Narration and refutation are incidental , and not al- ways necessary or proper . In elucidating howev- er the 398 [ LECT . XVII . DISPOSITION .
... , that ex- temporaneous speeches seldom can require , and written orations as seldom can forbear the formali- ties of a rhetorical exordium . LECTURE XVIII . NARRATION . In the composition of a 410 [ LECT . XVII . DISPOSITION .