Blog 9: History of Rhetoric

The first chapter of Richard Toye's "Rhetoric: A Very Short Introduction" provides a brief, educational overview of the history of rhetoric from classical times to the late nineteenth century. Rhetoric begins with the Sophists in Athens and moves on to the likes of Aristotle and then Cicero. Chapter 1 also documents the incredible survival and adaptation of rhetoric during the middle ages.

What I found especially interesting about this beginning section was the fact that rhetoric stays timeless throughout all the ages: Renaissance, Enlightenment and during times of revolution. I also learned that rhetoric is seen as a complete system of education and has ties to science, commerce, and literature as well as private conversation.