The Classical Oration Devised by Greek and Roman

The Classical Oration Devised by Greek and Roman rhetoricians two thousand years ago for presenting cases in courts or making speeches to the senate Cicero: Considered the greatest of ancient Roman Orators Adapted from everything’s an argument by M. Gaines/2010

Still Relevant Today Elements of classical oration still influence our attitudes toward persuasion, especially political speeches and debates, because the oration taught speakers and writers to think of arguments as debates that have winners and losers.

Sequence of Six Parts • Exordium (from Latin “ to urge forward”): the speaker/writer tries to win the attention and goodwill of an audience while introducing a subject or problem • • Show importance of the issue. Show the issue affects the audience. Show the issue affects everyone. Show the issue affects the general good of the community.

Narratio: Statement of the Case • Narratio: The speaker/writer presents the facts of the case, explaining what happened when, who is involved, and so on. The narratio puts an argument in context

Partitio • Partitio: The speaker/writer divides up, or partitions, the subject, explaining what the claim is, what the key issues are, and in what order the subject will be treated

Confirmatio: Argumentsthat Make the Case • Confirmatio: The speaker/writer offers detailed support for the claim, using both logical reasoning and factual evidence

Refutatio: Arguments constructed to anticipate opposing arguments • Refutatio: The speaker/writer acknowledges and then refutes opposing claims or evidence

Peroratio: The Conclusion Peroratio: The speaker/writer summarizes the case and moves the audience to action

Declaration of Independence • Identify the structure of the Declaration of Independence using the Classic Oration elements • Use the following format: Exordium: Begins, “When in the course…” and explains why the document is necessary… The Narratio follows… (quote from this section and explanation) Do this for the entire document – identifying the classical oration element and a brief quote from the section and an explanation