Rhetoric: Secular & Sacred

Rhetoric: Secular & Sacred is a Christian approach to the Great Books. Rhetoric: Secular & Sacred is an elective humanities course designed to lead the student through Western Civilization’s foundational works of rhetoric and philosophy in a true liberal arts fashion. Students in Rhetoric: Secular & Sacred course will learn to read and appreciate the Great Books from Plato to Cicero and from Augustine to Vico, think critically about, and cultivate answers to, perennial human questions, and expand their imaginative faculties to practice oral presentation in a context outside of secular reasoning alone. This year-long course consists of four eight-week sections.

Each week students will be assigned reading appropriate for the week, relevant reading questions, and meet on Zoom for two 1.0 hour live recitations. Each eight week section will be assigned one 1200-word essay, 4 oral presentations (in class). Each semester will have a final exam. In the course of the year, the students will have read all the texts listed below and attended a minimum of 30 (ideally 32) live class meetings to discuss the texts on rhetoric in Socratic fashion and presented 16 oral presentations.

In this course, students will develop an appreciation for wisdom in its proper mode of presentation—beauty and clarity. Surveying both the classical and sacred categories of rhetoric, this course introduces students to the art of persuasion in speech and composition. Students learn and apply the disciplines of reading, writing, and oratory that serve as a foundation for effective communication, learning, and service.

Course Objectives:

1. To become proficient in the skills of oral persuasion: close readings, interpretive questions, and Socratic discussions of the texts.
2. To gain a grasp of the philosophical figures and the historical framework of the time period.
3. To develop lateral thinking skills by analyzing and synthesizing themes and motifs.
4. To cultivate an appetite for learning as a way of life (the life of the mind).
5. To cultivate a desire to pursue the highest things.
6. To be able to think Christianly and speak persuasively about perennial human questions.

Texts or Required Materials:

• Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Trans. R. P. H. Green; Oxford World’s Classics, 2008 [ISBN 978-0199540631]
• Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric, Trans. W. R. Roberts, Dover Thrift Editions, 2004 [978-0486437934]
• Cicero, How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Rhetoric (ed. James M. May) [ISBN 978-0-691-16433-5]
• Plato, Gorgias, Trans. Robin Waterfield; Oxford World’s Classics, 2008 [ISBN 978-0199540327]
• Plato, Phaedrus, Trans. Robin Waterfield; Oxford World’s Classics, 2009 [ISBN 978-0199554027]
• Plato, Ion, Trans. Benjamin Jowett, Publisher: Polit Press, 2010 [ISBN: 978-1434408815]
• Plato, Empire and the Ends of Politics: Plato’s Menexenus and Pericles’ Funeral Oration: Focus, First edition (1999) [ISBN 978-0941051705]
• Occasional articles are given in PDF format as the teacher deems necessary.
• The ability to record and upload oral presentations in a good quality video format.