As I briefly mentioned in “Could You Define Classical Rhetoric?“, rhetoric is the art of oratory. Today we generally refer to oratory as “public speaking” or “speech;” however, I think you’ll agree that the principles of rhetoric can be appropriately applied to written communication like essays, research papers, and even journalism articles. Other than impromptu speeches, which happen on the spur of the moment with limited preparation time, most contemporary speeches start with a written script or at least an outline of the speaker’s (1) idea or claim, (2) proof or evidence, and (3) call to action. So for our purposes, I’ll define rhetoric as

a system for gathering, selecting, arranging, and expressing our material whether in oral or written form

Remember that rhetoric is one of the 7 liberal arts of ancient Rome. If you were to examine the other 6 liberal arts (language, logic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, and arithmetic), you would realize that each of these arts involves a system for gathering, selecting, arranging, and expressing the material.

Let’s modernize this concept. You could probably list a vast number of “arts” that also involve a system for accumulating, organizing, and presenting the material. For instance, the “art of cooking” involves deciding on the recipe, gathering the ingredients, combining the ingredients in a certain measure and order, cooking the mixture, arranging the final presentation, and serving the delightful dish to the audience. In a nutshell, the chef has concocted an idea, presented evidence to prove her idea, and announced a call to action: “eat and enjoy!” The art of gardening, the art sewing, and the art of singing are just three examples which follow a similar pattern of idea, proof, and call to action. Likewise, the master writer or orator develops an idea, presents the evidence, and calls the audience to action.

In other words, rhetoric for the classical home school is not a stage of educational progress, but rather a set of procedures and criteria that guide the author or orator in making strategic decisions during the composition process. During ancient and medieval times, this system was tightly defined as 3 kinds of persuasive discourse (deliberative, forensic, and epideictic oratory) which are the subjects of my next post.

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Have you watched my parent tutorial yet on “The 7 Laws of Teaching?” It’s just a little over 30 minutes in length and full of practical teaching tips that I have used in my own home school. You’ll learn a little history to put the 7 laws in context as well as assess your own expertise in the areas of teaching language, critical thinking, and communicating well. Click on parent tutorial image in the upper right corner of this page now, and the flash presentation will begin right away.

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According to the honorable Zell Miller, former governor of the state of Georgia and United States Senator,

“Twenty years of votes can tell you much more about a man than twenty weeks of campaign rhetoric. Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside.”

Although you’ve heard the word “rhetoric” used in contemporary conversations, you might not have a clear idea of what it means in terms of an authentic classical education. The two most common usages of the word rhetoric in my community of Christian home schoolers are as follows: (1) the inflated verbosity of politicians to win votes at all costs, and (2) the misuse of the original term to describe a “stage” of classical home education, generally the high school years. Our lack of understanding stems from the fact that the term rhetoric belongs to an art (remember the 7 “liberal arts” of a classical education?) that was constructed during ancient times, practiced for thousands of years, yet abruptly abandoned as a fundamental discipline in our public schools during the middle to late 1800s. In short,

Rhetoric is the art of oratory.

For thousands of years, classical rhetoric was classified as (1) verbal, (2) conciliatory, (3) persuasive requests (as opposed to coercive demands) that were (4) delivered by a single orator. More recently with the invention of the printing press, the term rhetoric was broadened to include written as well as spoken oratory. Oratory, derived from the latin infinitive “orare” which means “to pray”, is simply the art of speaking in public and writing for the public. The same principles of rhetoric are applied to both oral and written disciplines.

Classical rhetoric is the art or discipline of using written and spoken discourse to persuade, inform, or motivate an audience…the very essence of the speech or essay is meant to move the listener or reader. According to Scottish Presbyterian Minister and Master of Rhetoric, George Campbell,

“we discourse to enlighten the understanding, to please the imagination, to move the passions, or influence the will.”

Although Campbell was primarily interested in the art of rhetoric because he believed it would result in better preachers, contemporary home school parents see the application of rhetoric to a whole slew of opportunities from platform, interpretive, and limited preparation speeches and essays to books, sermons, and face-to-face encounters in the community.

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Classical rhetoric, simply put, consists of 3 steps: (1) the idea, (2) the proof, and (3) the delivery or style. In my next post, I’ll elaborate on the three kinds of classical discourse. Please consider telling a friend about The Classical Scholar by clicking on the email envelope above this post.

The third stage of the historical trivium is rhetoric…as classical Christian home school parents we want to teach our children to effectively communicate in writing and speaking. But learning the skills of effective communication alone is not enough. We need to also teach the kids to communicate meaning. Meaningless essays, speeches, or conversations might help build skills in the early years, but over time, we desire that our children will be people of influence, communicating that which is ultimately meaningful to their King.

Before your child can communicate effectively in writing or speaking, they must first understand the topic. Acquiring knowledge is the first step, and as they mature, that knowledge should become understanding and eventually (we pray) wisdom. Certainly, we want them to communicate when all they have is knowledge because they are building critical rhetorical skills, but a classical scholar strives for deeper meaning, and when he or she understands the topic, written and oral communication can be extremely powerful and life-changing. Consider this example for learning and communicating about a topic that should be meaningful to Christians.

A Meaningful Idea

In 1982, a worldwide prayer movement for the unreached people groups of the world was launched, and since its beginnings over 25 years ago, the Global Prayer Digest has helped fuel over 9400 days of prayer for an estimated 10,000 unreached people groups. What is an unreached people group?

According to the Joshua Project, there are 16,256 distinct ethnic or “people” groups in the world. Of those, 6877 people groups are considered “unreached” which means they have the least exposure to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the least Christian presence in their midst. Just to put this in perspective, of the 6.6 billion global population, the Joshua Project estimates that 2.7 billion or 41% of the world’s population are unreached! Of course, the driving purpose behind accumulating information on unreached people groups like the Najdi Bedoin people of Iraq is to ultimately assess the effectiveness of the completion of Jesus’ Great Commission to His Church (”Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations“) so that missionaries, lay persons, and resources can be mobilized for people with the greatest need for a life-changing relationship with the Living God.

Embracing The Meaningful Idea

There are many ways to research ideas - you can read, watch an instructional DVD, interview involved people, or experience the idea yourself. In my personal opinion, I think books, DVDs, or interviews function best as appetizers to the main course. In other words, researching the meaningful idea through these methods is critical, but real understanding and wisdom only come when the meaningful idea is experienced. The most passionate communicators in the world are those who have “lived” their passion!

The first step is learning about the meaningful idea. In this case, you can find books and internet sources to inform and instruct in the basic elements of the idea. For example, I mentioned the Global Prayer Digest and Joshua Project websites above which both provide lots of informative data and perspective on the big picture of unreached people groups. Books like Operation World and You Can Change The World can illuminate on specific unreached people groups. Many local churches support missionaries to unreached people groups; an email interview or free skype internet call to the missionary can add a different dimension to your child’s knowledge base. If the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course is offered in your area (over 200 U.S. locations), your high school senior could enroll in this semester course, earn dual college credit, and learn more about the people groups movement.

But don’t stop at acquiring knowledge about the topic…get involved! Once the child or youth begins to learn about the topic, have him or her experience the topic firsthand. In this particular scenario, you can participate in reaching these ethnic groups by regularly praying as a family for the needs of the people. Another idea that also teaches the concept of tithing is to pay your children for some special projects around the house then have them tithe to their people group out of their earnings. Service in the form of collecting resources for foreign missionaries or organizing prayer chains in youth group force hands-on involvement. You might even be called to travel overseas and visit your adopted unreached people group!

How Our Family Embraces The Meaningful Idea

Throughout the years, my family has “adopted” various unreached people groups. When David was teaching in India a few years ago, the kids and I chose 12 Indian people groups to pray for while he was gone. We chose people groups in the geographical area of the country that he would be visiting. We read about each group and prayed for a different one each day. At other times (like the Muslim holiday of Ramadan), we prayed nightly using the facts on a website like Frontiers or a prayer guide like the one published by Global Prayer Digest (daily email guide is free.) Each day we read a little bit about the culture of the unreached people group and included them in our nightly family prayers.

When the kids were doing elementary level work, we read a great book by Jill Johnstone called You Can Change The World. Now that the kids are older, we frequently consult a terrific reference book that I believe every Christian family should have in their library called Operation World when we want to learn more about specific people groups like the percentages of Christians by denomination, number of missionaries, and the top 10 prayer needs for effective evangelism.

Currently, we partner with missionaries in three unreached people groups in Southwest Asia, South America, and Central Africa (represented by the mission agencies: Frontiers, Wycliffe, and International Leadership Institute, respectively) through monthly financial support. Of course, we pray for those people all the time because we hear first hand through regular emails what’s going on with the communities so we can pray as immediate needs arise.

In addition to our family giving, the kids each select a people group to support with their personal tithe. Meredith has been sending her tithe to Lebanese orphan girls through Partners International for several years; in fact, one year she got so involved with her adopted little sisters that she asked her local friends to give the money that they would have spent on her birthday present to the orphanage. At her birthday party, they created a card that they all signed to send to Lebanon. Now that is experiencing the meaningful idea!

Communicating the Meaningful Idea

Once your child has acquired knowledge about the meaningful idea, it is time to incorporate written and oral communication. You might start with assigning an essay or short expository speech with visual aids. Younger kids can give their speech to family members or “publish” the essay by posting it to the refrigerator for all to read! For an older teen, you might arrange some public speaking engagements like the local retirement home or youth group where your child can practice persuasion skills and field questions from the audience. If you have immersed the kids in knowledge and given them a chance to personally experience the meaningful idea then it is very likely that they will have generated some true passion, understanding, and maybe even wisdom that will certainly be conveyed when they write or speak about the subject!

Take the Plunge

You can apply these concepts to any meaningful idea. As classical scholars, we should be encouraging our kids to do more than simply memorize useless facts to parrot back on true/false quizzes. Take them deeper, and explore real meaning. Start with ideas that you and your husband are passionate about then move on to ideas you as a family want to learn more about. Each of your children has a significant calling on their lives, or you wouldn’t be investing such time and energy into raising classical scholars who can communicate effectively as they influence their culture. Recognize that calling, and do all that you can to help them get ready. The rewards of such preparation will yield profound results now and for generations to come!

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Do you have examples to share about how your family has explored or communicated meaningful ideas? Your stories are welcome!

How many times have you, as a home school mom, heard these plaintive words when you have given your child a writing or speech assignment?

“But, Mom, I don’t know what to write!”

Consider adding topical, thematic, and quote prompts to your home school writing toolbox to spark creative ideas and increase the frequency of writing and public speaking. Prompts are also beneficial in helping your homeschooler narrow the focus of the topic and organize thoughts before wasting time in undirected meandering. Don’t encourage writing or speaking just for the sake of checking off a “to-do” on your long list of objectives for the kids. You want to raise effective communicators, and prompts can give you control over the process.

Prompts restrict the focus of the broad topic

Even an excellent author needs to restrict the focus of the topic before beginning the writing process. G. A. Henty is a popular author among home schooling young men and is known especially for his historical fiction. Henty likes to write about major events in world history, but he purposefully narrows the focus of the event to a few significant events. For example in one our family favorites, The Young Carthaginian, Henty tackles the monumental military feat of General Hannibal when he led the troops of ancient Carthage across the Alps to engage the Romans. Extensive coverage of a 15 year military campaign would be impossible in a book of a few hundred pages, so Henty restricts the broad topic of Hannibal’s campaign to the first 3 battles of the Second Punic War: Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae. In restricting his topic to these 3 victories he eliminated other topical possibilities. He could have focused on 3 major people of the engagement: Consul Gaius Flaminius Nepo, Dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus, and General Scipio Africanus. Or he could have restricted the topic to any number of other interesting facts: weapons, animals, and weather.

So, too, topical prompts help your child narrow the focus of the written or speaking assignment. Select a topic from the subjects currently being studied. As in the case of Henty, have your child select a broad topic from the history reading then brainstorm possible subtopics. Here’s an example: Connor is currently reading about the American Civil War. Unlike Hannibal’s war, this war only lasted 4 years; however, there is still a vast wealth of subtopics for consideration. Here are a few ideas for restriction of the topic:

• Battles: Bull Run, Shiloh, and Gettysburg
• Confederate Generals: Lee, Jackson, and Stuart
• Politicians: Polk, Lincoln, and Davis
• Political parties: Whigs, Republicans, and Democrats

He could restrict the writing to the economic conditions before, during, and after the war. He could narrow the focus to any number of subtopics on the Civil War!

Not only do topical prompts restrict the focus for history writing and speaking, but the broad topic can also be restricted for science and geography reading. If your child is studying the animal kingdom (broad topic), let them restrict the focus to mammals, insects, or microscopic life. Once the subtopic of mammals is chosen, the child can then further restrict to cats: tigers, lions, and pumas.

Restriction of topic in writing about their geography studies is equally helpful. Is your child currently mapping the Middle East? Restrict the broad topic to Jordan, Syria, and Israel. Further restrict to politics, topography, or culture. The possibilities are endless.

If you don’t want use a topical prompt from the assigned reading, choose a random prompt from BrainyQuote or Phillips’ Book of Great Thoughts & Funny Sayings.

Thematic prompts and quote prompts are just like topical prompts in that you start with a broad topic then restrict. Thematic prompts usually come from literature or history. Are you listening to the audio version of Treasure Island with your children? Assign the theme, “going on a quest,” and let the kids narrow the topic from there. They could discuss Jim Hawkins adventures in terms of the journey, the dangers, and the valuable treasure. Quote prompts are really just topics or themes rolled into a complete statement. Can you find a broad topic or theme in the following quote prompt?

“But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.” - Thomas Jefferson

When using a quote prompt, look for the nouns to determine broad topics or themes then restrict. In this example, the homeschooler could examine the broad topic of friendship and write about 3 friends in real life, literature, or history. Or an older teen might want to speak about theme of old age (the shade of life) and youth (the sunshine of life) with restrictions from his own personal observations, Scripture, or culture.

Prompts of all kinds, whether taken from assigned studies or randomly chosen, can spark ideas, increase the frequency of writing, and narrow the focus of the broad topic.

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