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Quintilian was the celebrated orator and rhetorician from the first century
who brought forward rhetorical theory from ancient Greece and from the
heyday of Roman rhetoric in the prior century. This theory he compiled
in his Institutio Oratoria, an exhaustive and pedagogically oriented
treatement of rhetoric in twelve books. Many later rhetoricians, especially
from the Renaissance, derived their rhetorical theory directly from this
text.
Compact and detailed outlines follow below. The complete
text online is now available (John Selby Watson translation, 1856),
courtesy of Lee Honeycutt of Iowa State University.
Compact Outline:
| Book I |
Elementary Education (Prior to Rhetoric) |
| Book II |
The Nature and Rudiments of Rhetoric |
| Book III |
Invention: Kinds of Oratory |
| Book IV |
Arrangement (The Parts of a Speech) |
| Book V |
Arrangement and Proofs |
| Book VI |
Arrangement, Pathos, Judgment |
| Book VII |
Arrangement, Laws, Reasoning |
| Book VIII |
Eloquence: Style, Words, Tropes |
| Book IX |
Eloquence: Figures of Thought and Speech |
| Book X |
Training Eloquence: Reading, Composition,
Speaking |
| Book XI |
Kairos, Memory, and Delivery |
| Book XII |
The Character of an Orator: Duties, Studies, etc. |
Detailed Outline:
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| 1.1 |
Elementary Education |
| 1.2 |
Public vs. Private Education |
| 1.3 |
Capacity and Treatment of Students |
| 1.4 |
Grammar |
| 1.5 |
Purity of Language and Vices of Diction |
| 1.6 |
Origin and Usage of Words |
| 1.7 |
Spelling |
| 1.8 |
Reading, Authors to be Read |
| 1.9 |
Composition |
| 1.10 |
Studies Adjunct to Rhetoric |
| 1.11 |
Lessons from the Theatre: Delivery, Gesture, Recitation,
Gymnastics |
| 1.12 |
Studying Multiple Subjects Simultaneously |
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| 2.1 |
Rhetoric vis-a-vis Grammar |
| 2.2 |
Choice of Teacher; The Teacher - Pupil Relationship |
| 2.3 |
Inferior Teachers |
| 2.4 |
Progymnasmata (Elementary Rhetorical Exercises) |
| 2.5 |
Rhetorical Analysis of Literary Authors |
| 2.6 |
Declamation - Amount of Guidance for; Imitation |
| 2.7 |
Declamation and Memorization |
| 2.8 |
Customizing Methods to Pupil's Abilities |
| 2.9 |
Students to Treat Teachers as Parents |
| 2.10 |
Themes for Declamation to have Verisimilitude |
| 2.11 |
Necessity of Rhetorical Instruction |
| 2.12 |
Untrained Speakers - Pro and Con |
| 2.13 |
Need for Adapting of Rules |
| 2.14 |
"Rhetoric" and "Oratory" Considered |
| 2.15 |
Definitions of Oratory |
| 2.16 |
The Value of Oratory Attacked and Defended |
| 2.17 |
The Art, Morality, and Truth of Oratory |
| 2.18 |
Rhetoric as a Practical Art |
| 2.19 |
Nature and Art |
| 2.20 |
Is Rhetoric a Virtue? |
| 2.21 |
The Subject of Rhetoric. Oratory vs. Philosophy; An Orator's Broad
Knowledge. |
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| 3.1 |
Greek and Roman Writers on Rhetoric |
| 3.2 |
Origin of Oratory |
| 3.3 |
Divisions and Order of the Art of Rhetoric |
| 3.4 |
Views on the Number of Kinds of Oratory |
| 3.5 |
Things vs. Words; Questions; Definitions of a Cause |
| 3.6 |
Stasis Theory (The Status of a Case) |
| 3.7 |
Panegyric |
| 3.8 |
Deliberative Oratory |
| 3.9 |
Forensic Oratory; Parts of a Forensic Speech |
| 3.10 |
The Nature of the Cause |
| 3.11 |
The Question, Mode of Defence, Point for Decision, Foundation of
the Case, etc. |
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| 4.1 |
Parts of a Speech: The Introduction (Exordium) |
| 4.2 |
Parts of a Speech: The Statement of Facts (Narratio) |
| 4.3 |
Digressions |
| 4.4 |
Propositions Preparatory to Proof |
| 4.5 |
Parts of a Speech: Partition (Partitio) |
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| 5.1 |
Parts of a Speech: Artificial and Unartificial Proofs |
| 5.2 |
Previous Decisions |
| 5.3 |
Public Opinion |
| 5.4 |
Evidence from Torture |
| 5.5 |
Refutation of Documents |
| 5.6 |
Taking Oaths: Pro and Con |
| 5.7 |
Evidence: Documentary, Oral, Witnesses, Supernatural |
| 5.8 |
Aritifical Proofs |
| 5.9 |
Signs, Circumstantial Evidence, Prognostics |
| 5.10 |
Arguments |
| 5.11 |
Examples and Instances |
| 5.12 |
Arguments, cont'd |
| 5.13 |
Parts of a Speech: Refutation and Proof |
| 5.14 |
Enthymeme, Epicheireme, and Syllogism |
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| 6.1 |
Parts of a Speech: Conclusion (Peroration) |
| 6.2 |
The Judge's Temperament; Pathos, Ethos |
| 6.3 |
Wit and Humor |
| 6.4 |
Altercatio or Debate |
| 6.5 |
Judgment and Sagacity |
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| 7.1 |
Arrangement |
| 7.2 |
Conjecture |
| 7.3 |
Definition |
| 7.4 |
Quality |
| 7.5 |
Points of Law |
| 7.6 |
Letter of the Law / Intention |
| 7.7 |
Contradictory Laws |
| 7.8 |
Syllogism |
| 7.9 |
Ambiguity |
| 7.10 |
Status of a Case; Limits of Rules |
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| 8.1 |
Style |
| 8.2 |
Clarity (perspicuitas) |
| 8.3 |
Ornament: Merits and Faults |
| 8.4 |
Amplification and Diminution |
| 8.5 |
The Value of General Reflections in Oratory |
| 8.6 |
Tropes |
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| 9.1 |
Figures of Thought and Speech |
| 9.2 |
Figures of Thought (Detail) |
| 9.3 |
Figures of Speech (Detail) |
| 9.4 |
Apt Use of Structure, Rhythm, Metrical Feet |
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| 10.1 |
Reading Curriculum |
| 10.2 |
Imitation |
| 10.3 |
Writing |
| 10.4 |
Correction |
| 10.5 |
Composition Exercises: Translation, Paraphrase, Theses, Commonplaces,
Declamations |
| 10.6 |
Thought and Premeditation |
| 10.7 |
Extemporaneous Speaking |
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| 11.1 |
Respecting kairos When Speaking |
| 11.2 |
Memory |
| 11.3 |
Delivery, Gesture, Dress |
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| 12.1 |
The Great Orator as Good Man |
| 12.2 |
Strengthening Character; Philosophical Study |
| 12.3 |
The Study of Civil Law |
| 12.4 |
Orator Prepared with Examples and Precedents |
| 12.5 |
Firmness; Presence of Mind; Cultivating Natural Advantages |
| 12.6 |
The Orator's Age |
| 12.7 |
Causes to be Undertaken; Remuneration |
| 12.8 |
Careful Study of the Case |
| 12.9 |
Not Aiming for Applause; Restraining Invective; Preparation Through
Writing and Extemporaneous Speaking |
| 12.10 |
Styles of Oratory |
| 12.11 |
Retirement from Speaking; Successful Training of an Orator |
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