A young person should keep a few short books handy. The Elements of Rhetoric is one of them. It provides a crash course in writing and speaking well.
Good persuasion has been cast away, and with it, much beauty and good, the author believes. The author covers the elements of persuasion: logos, pathos, and ethos, or the grammar, logic, emotion, and character of the speaker. Then, the author turns to the considerations and mechanics of planning, organizating, and delivering a speech or essay. Special attention is paid to devices that make a speech easier to hear.
The book is memorable, harmonizing rules of speech with examples and drawing on greats like Cicero, Augustine, Shakespeare, and Dickens. Importantly, it provides practical exercises for students who want to improve.
It’s a beautiful and enlightening work. The author is clearly a practitioner and teacher of the topic, and shares much wisdom about speaking truthfully and beautifully. Highly recommended gift for middle and high school students.
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