Rhetoric is a key component of any complete classical education. Unfortunately, the term “rhetoric” has taken on a negative connotation in recent decades because politicians sometimes use it as a term of derision to describe what their opponents are saying. We hear, for example, phrases such as “empty rhetoric,” “mere rhetoric,” and “cut through the rhetoric.” Rhetoric, however, defined as the art of persuasive speaking or writing, is a necessary tool for convincing anyone anywhere of anything at any time. Whether in the classroom, the office, the halls of congress, the courtroom, or just the family dinner table, if you want to make your point, you’re going to use rhetoric. In fact, the aforementioned politicians are also using rhetoric, albeit in a dishonest way, when they criticize their opponents for using rhetoric.
At Trinitas we teach formal classes in rhetoric beginning in the tenth grade, but training in rhetorical skills begins in Junior Kindergarten and continues through graduation. Part of the vision for Trinitas graduates is that they be able to “articulate precisely and reason persuasively”—those skills require training over time. Trinitas students need to be able to do that both in their speaking and their writing. What is in focus here, though, is the speaking part of rhetoric.
The practices of memorization, recitation, and performance are key components to acquiring the skills of rhetoric.
From the earliest days of a classical education at Trinitas, students are memorizing large passages of Scripture, poems, and sometimes even Latin prayers and poems. In Kindergarten, perhaps it is enough to have memorized all the words well and begin to understand what one is saying well enough to use a little inflection and intonation to emphasize meaning and to distinguish between questions and statements. By first grade, however, feast days come with skits that require all the same things required of kindergarteners plus the added skill of performance. In third and fifth grade, presentations accompany feast days. Here, students research historical characters and then dramatize presentations that educate the audience on the lives of those characters.
Fourth through sixth graders are eligible to participate in the Grammar School drama production where memorization, recitation, and performance take center-stage. These young rhetoricians spend a couple months practicing their script and honing their skills, culminating in two performances open to the public. Here, students’ task is to persuade the audience to believe that they are the characters they are portraying.
Beginning in seventh grade, students can participate in Mock Trial and in another drama production. Both of these activities require much memorization and recitation, but at this level, the skills of memorization and recitation are becoming fine-tuned so that the main focus is now the performance skill. Drama requires perfecting delivery of key lines while Mock Trial requires that perfect delivery along with the ability to think quick on your feet and adapt your presentation to an unexpected line of questioning by a cross-examining attorney on the opposing team. The skills developed and practiced since early Grammar School days continue to be practiced, further refined, and honed. The end result is masterful, artful.
All of this practice in the art of rhetoric is what enables Trinitas students to articulate precisely and reason persuasively.
Every adult finds himself or herself in interactions that either feel like or actually are public performances. Even an impromptu conversation in a staff meeting could turn into an opportunity to use rhetoric skills to strengthen an argument to make a point. An opportunity to tell someone about the Gospel will at the very least require us to be winsome and to speak precisely. At Trinitas, we aim to find our students well prepared for all those situations and more, and part of preparing them is cultivating excellent rhetorical skills.
