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Rainold's rhetoric is the first English version of the ancient progymnasmata
exercises. It is based upon Reinhard Lorich's Latin version of Aphthonius
(1572), and is the second rhetoric in English of any sort, following that
of Thomas Wilson. Following Aphthonius, Rainolde gives brief introductions
and instructions for each of the 14 progymnasmata, or practice
speeches, followed by model speeches for each sort, broken down with headings
to show how the formula applied throughout the speech.
Introduction: The Foundation of Rhetoric
1. Fable
- An oration made upon the fable of the shepherds and the wolves,
the wolves requesting the bandogges; wherein is set forth the state of
every subject, the dignity of a prince, the honorable office of counselors.
- An Oration upon the fable of the ant and the grasshopper, teaching providence
2. Narration - An oration
historical, how Semiramis came to be queen of Babylon
- An Oration historical,
upon king Richard the third, sometime Duke of Gloucester
- An Oration
historical, of the coming of Julius Caesar into England
- An Oration civil
or judicial, upon Themistocles, of the wall building at Athens
- An oration
poetical upon a red rose
3. Chria
- A profitable oration, showing the decay of kingdoms and nobility
4. Sentence or Proverb - An oration
upon a sentence, preferring monarchy, containing all other states of commonwealth.
5. Destruction [Refutation] - The
confutation of the battle of Troy
6. Confirmation
- A confirmation of the noble fate of Zopyrus
7. Commonplace
- An oration called a commonplace
against thieves
8. Praise (or Encomium)
- The praise of Epaminundas, Duke of Thebes, wherein the ground of nobility
is placed
9. Dispraise (or Vituperation)
- The dispraise of Domicious Nero, Emperor of Rome
10. Comparison - A comparison between Demosthenes and Tully
11. Ethopoeia (or Impersonation) -
A lamentable oration of Hecuba, queen of Troy
12. Description - A description upon Xerxes, king of Persia
13. Thesis - An oration called Thesis,
as concerning the goodly state of marriage
14. Legislation (An oration
in defense of or against a law) - An oration confuting a certain law of
Solon
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