A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric

by James J. Murphy (Brand), Donovan J. Ochs, Richard A. Katula

This text provides students with a thorough review of the rhetorical theory and practices found in ancient Greece and Rome. Clearly written and engagingly presented, it is appropriate for students and scholars in rhetoric, speech, and related areas.

Genres: Philosophy, History

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Dr. Murphy spent his career studying the history and pedagogy of language use, with scholarly work exploring rhetoricians from the Classical Period, the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, and on to modernity. His work extended to the pedagogy of teaching rhetoric, writing, and debate, including texts that have been published in numerous editions and multiple languages including Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Polish. Before settling at UC Davis in 1965, he taught at St. Mary’s College, Stanford, and Princeton. During his career, he published 75 journal articles and book chapters and edited numerous volumes.
Dr. James J. Murphy, (Ph.D., Stanford University, 1957), Professor Emeritus at UC Davis, passed away in 2021, at the age of 98. He remained alert and intellectually engaged until just a few days before his death. His final publication, The Oxford Handbook of Quintilian, which he co-edited, arrived exactly one week before he died.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Helpful in providing an overview of classical rhetoric, but, sadly, rather poorly written! Some chapters felt illogically arranged or overly pedantic (trying to summarize too much when a few extra excepts in the appendix would have been more useful), while others were simply full of grammar issues or otherwise hard to follow. Excerpts and speeches in the back are very helpful, though.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of our main texts for ENG 570, History of Composition-- "Tracing the Evolving Ecologies of Writing Theory." I had trouble keeping all the different classical rhetoricians straight...