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Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students
Revives the classical strategies of ancient Greek and Roman rhetoricians and adapts them to the needs of contemporary writers and speakers.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 25, 2019
About eight years ago, I read this book as a high school Rhetoric student. Don't remember a ton from that first read-through. These past couple months, I've re-read the book as a high school Rhetoric teacher (or an English teacher who uses classical Rhetoric to teach nearly all the writing parts of his curriculum to be more precise). The book seems to get a fair number of negative reviews on Goodreads--some of which are a bit deserved, some of which are less deserved. So here's my two cents about the book (4th edition).
The book's stated aim is to take the system of classical rhetoric developed in the Greek and Roman eras and to update it in various ways for a modern era. In other words: a blend of synthesizing classical authors with each other and making them more applicable to the unique rhetorical contexts for the modern age.
Probably the easiest way to sum up the book and how effective it was to accomplish this goal is to say it was a mixed bag. When it was good, the book was brilliant! But when it wasn't... it tilted toward banality.
More specifically, Chapter 2 on Kairos, Chapters 5-8 on the Rhetorical Proofs, and Chapter 9 on Classical Arrangement were all quite good. Crowley and Hawhee finally helped me understand what Aristotle means when he talks about "enthymemes" (since his definition isn't the same as the modern definition of the term), they did a great job categorizing the Common Topics that can sometimes turn into a laundry list of disconnected arguments, and their synthesis on classical advice concerning Arrangement really helped me understand certain parts of that model for the first time. They had some great thoughts about why some aspects of classical rhetoric may not be relevant to us today, but also had a host of great modern examples to show why so much of classical rhetoric is relevant for us today and is much better than the traditional writing advice given in high school classrooms.
While the above chapters were quite helpful, however, the others weren't. At times, that was due to clunky wording and drawn-out discussions that didn't clearly explain the issues at hand. At times, that was due to the advice being rather basic and obvious. And at times, that was due to the advice deteriorating into laundry lists of miscellaneous rules that felt haphazardly put together. There were certainly some good parts in the other chapters. But there was a lot that wasn't--along with some modern applications that seemed like stretches (such as tying an explanation of how to use libraries into a discussion of what it looks like to use the classical canon of Memory today).
I don't know that I'd recommend using this as a textbook for the course in light of this (there's probably a reason I don't remember the content of this book at all from my 11th grade Rhetoric class). But there are certain sections that are helpful for students to read through (like the Arrangement chapter) and several others that I'll definitely be summarizing and synthesizing for their benefit.
In addition to this, as a teacher, I definitely valued reading through this book and came out with a lot of gems that have assisted me in my understanding of Rhetoric. Even if certain parts weren't helpful, the parts that were good were really good, and some of the historical insights they gave into why classical rhetoricians did things in certain ways are not insights I would have simply gleaned from reading the primary sources.
I haven't found a classical Rhetoric book I can wholeheartedly recommend for the classroom yet (my best recommendation is still Aristotle's Art of Rhetoric). But I am adding this to my shelf as a useful resource I would certainly recommend to fellow Rhetoric teachers.
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Very Good).
P.S. All the complaints about the "liberal bias" in this book? Don't listen to them. I'm a conservative, and while the authors were open about their liberal leanings, the book was rather fair and even-handed in its examples and applications to modern political situations. There's really not much political bias going on here.
The book's stated aim is to take the system of classical rhetoric developed in the Greek and Roman eras and to update it in various ways for a modern era. In other words: a blend of synthesizing classical authors with each other and making them more applicable to the unique rhetorical contexts for the modern age.
Probably the easiest way to sum up the book and how effective it was to accomplish this goal is to say it was a mixed bag. When it was good, the book was brilliant! But when it wasn't... it tilted toward banality.
More specifically, Chapter 2 on Kairos, Chapters 5-8 on the Rhetorical Proofs, and Chapter 9 on Classical Arrangement were all quite good. Crowley and Hawhee finally helped me understand what Aristotle means when he talks about "enthymemes" (since his definition isn't the same as the modern definition of the term), they did a great job categorizing the Common Topics that can sometimes turn into a laundry list of disconnected arguments, and their synthesis on classical advice concerning Arrangement really helped me understand certain parts of that model for the first time. They had some great thoughts about why some aspects of classical rhetoric may not be relevant to us today, but also had a host of great modern examples to show why so much of classical rhetoric is relevant for us today and is much better than the traditional writing advice given in high school classrooms.
While the above chapters were quite helpful, however, the others weren't. At times, that was due to clunky wording and drawn-out discussions that didn't clearly explain the issues at hand. At times, that was due to the advice being rather basic and obvious. And at times, that was due to the advice deteriorating into laundry lists of miscellaneous rules that felt haphazardly put together. There were certainly some good parts in the other chapters. But there was a lot that wasn't--along with some modern applications that seemed like stretches (such as tying an explanation of how to use libraries into a discussion of what it looks like to use the classical canon of Memory today).
I don't know that I'd recommend using this as a textbook for the course in light of this (there's probably a reason I don't remember the content of this book at all from my 11th grade Rhetoric class). But there are certain sections that are helpful for students to read through (like the Arrangement chapter) and several others that I'll definitely be summarizing and synthesizing for their benefit.
In addition to this, as a teacher, I definitely valued reading through this book and came out with a lot of gems that have assisted me in my understanding of Rhetoric. Even if certain parts weren't helpful, the parts that were good were really good, and some of the historical insights they gave into why classical rhetoricians did things in certain ways are not insights I would have simply gleaned from reading the primary sources.
I haven't found a classical Rhetoric book I can wholeheartedly recommend for the classroom yet (my best recommendation is still Aristotle's Art of Rhetoric). But I am adding this to my shelf as a useful resource I would certainly recommend to fellow Rhetoric teachers.
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Very Good).
P.S. All the complaints about the "liberal bias" in this book? Don't listen to them. I'm a conservative, and while the authors were open about their liberal leanings, the book was rather fair and even-handed in its examples and applications to modern political situations. There's really not much political bias going on here.
March 6, 2021
a lot of unnecessary information and anecdotes that made some chapters excessively long
September 4, 2017
skimmed
November 6, 2017
Good information, but not compact at all. There is a lot of excess information and though at times interesting, it was a bit too much in my opinion.
March 20, 2017
For textbook standards, pretty darn good.
April 11, 2011
Definitely a textbook, not something you'll want to peruse unless you are just dying to know how the ancient Greeks approached rhetorical analysis!
Pretty heavy liberal bias, which can be difficult to swallow, since I am more conservative-leaning. But in the spirit of rhetoric, it is helpful to have things presented contrary sometimes, so you challenge your thinking about an
argument.
Update after finishing book- very easy to read for a textbook. Liberal bias was a bit much to take but the authors were honest and conversational about it at least. I think it would have been more thought provoking to see examples from both sides.
Pretty heavy liberal bias, which can be difficult to swallow, since I am more conservative-leaning. But in the spirit of rhetoric, it is helpful to have things presented contrary sometimes, so you challenge your thinking about an
argument.
Update after finishing book- very easy to read for a textbook. Liberal bias was a bit much to take but the authors were honest and conversational about it at least. I think it would have been more thought provoking to see examples from both sides.
May 22, 2012
Had to read this for VPSA Rhetoric 1. Without having it explained in class it would have been incredibly dry and confusing, but it was a good supplement. However, the authors' liberal agenda was incredibly distracting, as was their constant switching between gender pronouns (one minute it's "the rhetor, he" the next it's "the rhetor, she")
Still, probably one of the better Rhetoric books out there.
Still, probably one of the better Rhetoric books out there.
February 14, 2014
I loved my English class this semester. But I hated this book. Even my professor admitted that the writers sometimes explain their topics in a very roundabout manner that is hard for a lot of people to understand. I rarely understand ANYthing Crowley and Hawhee talk about, and usually I have to come up with my own way of getting it straight in my head, and cling to that way until I don't have to think about it anymore.
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October 28, 2018It is absolutely amazing that a textbook for freshman composition students could be written without ever once considering the needs of freshman composition students. This textbook violates basic textbook principles, such as, don't define a new term with other new terms. Pretentious, condescending, and confusing. Not to mention $75.
September 7, 2016
This is probably one of the best textbooks I have ever used. The authors do a great job explaining the reasoning and methods of ancient rhetors. The use of modern examples helps show how useful rhetoric still is today and makes this a very engaging read.
October 12, 2008
I utilized the ethos chapter for my 131 class.
February 19, 2009
Good, but gosh-awful.
October 29, 2011
Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students (3rd Edition) by Sharon Crowley (2003)
April 4, 2010
I found this really hard to read for school. A lot of the examples just did not apply in a way that was useful. The chapters were way too long as well.
February 21, 2011
One of the most important books in my life.
May 22, 2014
Not a very good book - it contains utterly useless passages. However, there appears to be no better alternative out there that provides quite the same amount of sound information about rhetoric.
April 27, 2019
Couldn't finish but I blame the class, not the book. This is actually a really great textbook.
Currently reading
September 28, 2018i want read this book for some rhetorical studies and knowledge.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews