Canon Of Rhetoric Phenomenon Essay

The word “canon” in rhetoric often refers to a body of principles, rules, standards, or norms. In Gideon O. Burton’s Silva Rhetoricae, Aristotle’s five canons of rhetoric convey general tenets of concentration that make communication more effective. These canons are labeled as Invention, Arrangement, Elocution, Memory, and Delivery, and as stated, “That is to say, they provide a template for the criticism of discourse (and orations in particular), and they give a pattern for rhetorical education” (Silva Rhetoricae, The Canons of Rhetoric)

To write something, we must have something to write about. In the first principle of Invention, Burton states, “Invention describes the argumentative, persuasive core of rhetoric” (Canons of Rhetoric: Invention).

“In ancient rhetorics, arrangement referred solely to the order to be observed in an oration, but the term has broadened to include all considerations of the ordering of discourse, especially on a large scale”, as stated by Burton. Arrangement in oration consists of introduction, statements of facts, division, proof, refutation, and conclusion.

The third canon in rhetoric is Style. According to Burton, “Style concerns the artful expression of ideas” (Canons of Rhetoric: Style). Basically, this means the way something is said using vocabulary, sentence structure, and expressions. The writer breaks down style into virtues of style, levels of style, qualities of style, and figures of speech, all which are major groupings rhetorically.

Memory is the fourth canon of rhetoric mentioned by Burton in the writing. He states, “Because Memory differs widely in what it can mean as an aspect of rhetoric, rhetorical criticism in terms of Memory has equally broad possibilities” (Canons of Rhetoric: Memory). He then lists these possibilities as the degree to which a speaker successfully remembers a memorized oration, the facility with which a speaker calls upon his memory of apt quotations and thoughts that effectively meet the rhetorical intention, an analysis of the methods a speaker uses in order for the message to be retained in the memory of those hearing (mnemonics), and assessment of direct appeals to memory or the mention of it or related