Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory: Delivered to the Classes of Senior and Junior Sophisters in Harvard University, Volume 1Before becoming President of the United States, John Quincy Adams was a Harvard professor of language, rhetoric and oratory, with this book comprising his lectures. Published in 1810 when Quincy Adams was in his forties, this work is a collection which demonstrates the breadth of knowledge which he passed to students eager to learn about the arts of speaking. The early lectures cover the basic principles of oratory and eloquence in the context of public speaking, and the origins of rhetoric as a celebrated art form in ancient Greece and Rome. It is clear that the author possesses an intense knowledge of the subject and its professional application. Later on in the text are more specific lectures, such as the importance of perfecting oratory for the courtroom, and the personal qualities a good speaker should cultivate. Keeping tight control of one's emotions when speaking or debating with others, and delivering compelling lectures from the church pulpit, are also discussed at length. Although this material is well over 200 years old with much of the language archaic by modern standards, the ideas and principles espoused by Quincy Adams remain both relevant and important to students and those working in fields where speech is vital. |
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... Eloquence of the pulpit 321 LECT . XV . Intellectual and moral qualities of an orator LECT . XVI . Excitation and management of the passions 343 367 LECT . XVII . Disposition . Exordium 391 LECT . XVIII . Narration . 411 AN INAUGURAL ...
... eloquence was awarded to the writer , who maintained , that the sciences had always promoted rather the misery , than the happiness of mankind ; and in the age ) and nation , which heard the voice of Demosthe - art nd nes , Socrates has ...
... eloquence is attested by the belief , that the art of public speaking was of celestial origin , ascribed to the invention of a God , who , from the possession of this faculty , was supposed to be the messenger and interpreter of Olympus ...
... eloquence , and eloquence in return was the most effectual aux- iliary to the passion . In proportion to the won- ders , she achieved , was the cagerness to acquire the faculties of this mighty magician . Oratory was taught , as the ...
... eloquence , and the whole duty of man consisted in making himself an accomplished pub , lic speaker . With the dissolution of Roman liberty , and the decline of Roman taste , the reputation and the excellency of the oratorical art fell ...