Rhetoric: Origins, Purpose, and Significance

What is Speech and its Purpose?

Speech is the art of speaking to an audience to please and persuade in some way. Its purpose is to understand the speeches that have been developed according to the rules of rhetoric.

The Origin of Rhetoric

Rhetoric flourished in the democratic cities of Greece in the 5th century BC. The Sicilians Corax (master) and Tisias (disciple) were the first creators of the theories of exhibition techniques useful for the speaker. They created a method to discuss orally in the defense of judicial or political causes, based on the probability that one is more likely than the other.

The Role of Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the building of effective speeches. Each of the formal conceptual levels can enhance the intended persuasive effect.

What is the importance of persuasion to rhetoric?

Persuation is fundamental.

Parts of Roman Speech

• Exordium: The beginning of the speech. The purpose of the exordium is to win the sympathy of the audience to the subject of discourse.
• Narratio: In the narratio, the audience becomes part of the state of the question, giving a concise, clear, and credible account of the facts on which to make a decision.
• Argumentatio: A further confirmation of the narratio, emphasizing what favors it.
• Epilogus or Peroratio: The final part of the speech is twofold: to record by recapitulation, and to influence the feelings of the audience.

What Argument Does Socrates Use in His Apology?

"So I taught to believe that there are some gods, and in this case, I'm an atheist in any way or guilty, or, say, moreover, that in particular do not believe in the gods of the state, but other different."

The Importance of Oratory in the Present Process

Oratory is essential today, as this allows you to establish a good dialogue with others, peers, in our workplace, etc. to obtain the acceptance of others and to convey what I deliver.

What is the Semiotics of Discourse?

The repertoire of topics and methods, with a specific objective, which are communication systems.

The Working Hypothesis of the Semiotician Umberto Eco

• Every culture has to be studied as a communication phenomenon.
• All aspects of a culture can be studied as communication content.

Language Proficiency and Communicative Competence

• Language Proficiency: The ability to produce endless speeches, which corresponds to the correction of the use of the linguistic code and with it the notions of domain management and encoding and decoding.
• Communicative Competence: The specific ability to encode and decode linguistic message types.

Basic Conditions for Communicative Competence According to John Lyons

Each participant must know their role and status; linguistically relevant roles are of two deictic and social classes. Deictic roles are experienced in many languages, while social roles are functions of a culture. Social status is defined by the relative social status of participants.