First grammar, then logic. Tonight we begin the third art: rhetoric.
The Art of Rhetoric · Part 1 · The art · B2
What Rhetoric Is: Persuasion and Flattery
Part 1 of The Art of Rhetoric: a good speaker can make a crowd believe almost anything. Is rhetoric the art of speaking well, or the art of flattery? Gorgias, Plato and Aristotle give different answers. Describing purpose and effect (in order to, so as to, so that, lead to, result in), with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
The art of winning arguments! At last, something useful.
SOPHIA
The art of persuading, which is not quite the same thing.
DEMETRIA
What’s the difference?
SOPHIA
A liar can win an argument. Tonight we ask whether a liar can practise rhetoric.
Before you read
Gorgias, Plato and Aristotle
In 427 BCE, Gorgias of Leontini, in Sicily, came to Athens as an ambassador and astonished the Athenians with his speeches. He and other paid teachers, the sophists, offered to train young men to speak in the assembly and the law courts. In his Encomium of Helen, Gorgias called speech a powerful master: it can stop fear, take away grief and create joy, and it works on the soul as drugs work on the body.
Plato was suspicious. In his dialogue Gorgias, Socrates calls rhetoric not an art but a knack, a kind of flattery: it is to justice what pastry-cooking is to medicine, pleasant rather than good. In a later dialogue, the Phaedrus, Plato allows that a true rhetoric might exist, if the speaker knows the truth and understands the souls of the listeners.
Plato’s student Aristotle wrote the Rhetoric. He defined rhetoric as the ability to see, in each case, the available means of persuasion, and called it the counterpart of dialectic, the art of argument. Things to come: in 1937, Sister Miriam Joseph will describe rhetoric as the art of communicating a thought from one mind to another, fitting the language to the occasion. Our rhetoric lessons follow Aristotle and her book.
Rhetoric can serve the truth or hide it; that is why honest people must learn it.
PHILO
Read the story. What did the teacher from Athens promise? Why did Demetria call his art flattery?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
The story
A story for this lesson.
One spring a famous teacher of speaking arrived in Alexandria from Athens. He hired a hall near the Gymnasium and gave a free display in order to attract students. First he praised salt: its usefulness, its beauty, its place in every sacrifice and every meal, until the audience felt they had never truly appreciated salt before. Then he offered to speak on any subject they chose.
Someone shouted, “Should the city build a new theatre?” He spoke for it, so movingly that people began to clap. Then, with a smile, he spoke against it, just as movingly, and they clapped again. “For a hundred drachmas,” he announced, “I will teach your sons to do the same, so that they can win any case and any vote.” Marcos was already counting his savings.
Philo raised his hand. “But which side is right? Should the city build the theatre?” The teacher laughed. “Whichever side is paying me.” Demetria stood up. “Then you don’t teach rhetoric. You teach flattery: you make people feel pleased in order to make them agree.” Walking home, Sophia said, “Aristotle would agree with you, and with the teacher on one point. You should be able to argue both sides, not so as to argue both, but so that nobody can fool you with the false one.” Marcos quietly put his savings away.
In order to, so as to, so that
MARCOS
He gave a free display in order to attract students. He spoke carefully so as not to offend anyone. He teaches young men so that they can win any case.
SOPHIA
in order to / so as to + infinitive when the subject is the same; the negative is in order not to / so as not to. so that + subject + can / could / will / would when the subject changes or you need a modal. Never for to: “He came for to teach” is wrong; Spanish para is to or in order to here. Use for + noun or -ing for what a thing is used for: “a hall for speeches”.
Lead to, result in, cause, make
DEMETRIA
Flattery leads to bad decisions. His speech resulted in loud applause. Clever words can cause people to forget the facts. He made them clap. The effect of his speech was surprising.
SOPHIA
lead to / result in + noun or -ing, never an infinitive; cause + object + to-infinitive; make + object + verb without to (made them clap). Effect is usually the noun, affect the verb: his speech affected them; it had a strong effect.
Words of rhetoric
PHILO
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. A sophist was a paid teacher of speaking and argument. An encomium is a speech of praise. Flattery pleases instead of informing. Aristotle’s means of persuasion are what a speaker can use to convince.
SOPHIA
Words: persuade, convince, audience, speaker, eloquent, display, flattery, counterpart, the assembly, the law courts. Note: persuade someone to do something; convince someone that something is true.
Sophia’s check: what is rhetoric for?
| Who | What rhetoric is | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Gorgias | a powerful master that works on the soul like a drug | rhetoric as power |
| Plato’s Socrates, in the Gorgias | flattery that aims at pleasure, not the good | a knack, like pastry-cooking |
| Plato, in the Phaedrus | speech that knows the truth and the listener’s soul | a true rhetoric is possible |
| Aristotle | the ability to see the available means of persuasion | an art, the counterpart of dialectic |
| Sister Miriam Joseph | communicating a thought to another mind | the third art of the trivium |
Sophia’s comparison: Confucius and clever words
SOPHIA
Far to the east, a little before Gorgias, the Chinese teacher Kong Qiu, whom Europeans will later call Confucius, was also suspicious of fine speakers. His followers later collected his sayings in the Analects. One says that clever words and a flattering face are rarely found together with true goodness.
DEMETRIA
That sounds like Plato.
SOPHIA
Very like Plato. Another saying: a gentleman wants to be slow in speech and quick in action. Confucius was not against speaking well. He wanted words to match deeds, and names to match things.
PHILO
Names that match things: that is logic.
SOPHIA
And grammar, and rhetoric. In China, as in Greece, people asked the same question: can eloquence be trusted? Aristotle’s answer will be ours: learn it, and use it honestly.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| in order to / so as to + infinitive | purpose, same subject | He spoke in order to attract students. |
| in order not to / so as not to | negative purpose | He spoke softly so as not to offend. |
| so that + can / could / will / would | purpose with a modal or a new subject | He teaches so that they can win. |
| lead to / result in + noun or -ing | effect | Flattery leads to bad decisions. |
| cause + object + to / make + object + verb | effect on people | His speech made them clap. |
| rhetoric, sophist, encomium, flattery | the art and its counterfeits | Aristotle’s Rhetoric. |
Practice
Read the story for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · The story
Read the story and choose the best answer.
1. What did the teacher praise first?
2. Why did the teacher give a free display?
3. Which side did the teacher think was right?
4. Why did Demetria call his art flattery?
5. Why, according to Aristotle, should we be able to argue both sides?
6. What did Confucius say about clever words?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. He gave a display in order attract students.
8. He spoke softly so as offend anyone.
9. He teaches them so they can win any case.
10. Flattery leads bad decisions.
11. His speech resulted loud applause.
12. A speech of praise is called an .
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “He came to Alexandria for to teach rhetoric.”
14. “He spoke slowly so that everyone could hear.”
15. “Flattery can lead to make bad decisions.”
16. “His speech made the audience clap.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Purpose and effect. In pairs, find three advertisements or short speeches. For each, say what the speaker wants the audience to do, and how the words try to achieve that effect.
Discuss. 1. Is Plato right that most persuasion is flattery? 2. Should a lawyer be able to argue either side of a case? 3. Can a person be eloquent and honest at the same time?
Write (120–150 words). The teacher from Athens. Retell the story in your own words, using in order to, so that, lead to and result in.