Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric

The Forest of Rhetoric is a valuable tool for getting to know the sometimes overwhelming and complicated parts of rhetoric. Since most rhetorical concepts have a Latin origin and name, the website recognizes the innate trepidation an audience might have with getting to know the various parts of rhetoric and creates a simple navigation pane for this knowledge share.

There is a gentle explanation of navigating the various parts of the rhetorical forest, but encourages the reader to “enjoy the simple beauty of a birch tree without knowing it is Betula alba and make use of the shade of a weeping willow without knowing it is in fact Salix babylonica.” The tree-like navigation will take a part of rhetoric (like persuasive appeal) and break it out into its various deployments (logos, pathos, ethos). “Branches of Oratory” is a tree of its own, braches including judicial, deliberative and epideictic oratory. With this simple introduction it was easy to find out that judicial oratory is “forensic” and limited to the speech you might use in a court of law. Deliberative oratory is traditionally the kind of speech one might give to weigh the good and the bad of a situation, like debating a bill in front of the legislature. Epideictic speech is reserved for performance – roasting your friend at the Lion’s Club on Friday night or pounding the bully pulpit for your most passionate cause.

The site also contains an alphabetical glossary of rhetoric-related terminology that I would probably never stumble upon because of its Latin origin. For instance, I quickly learned that brachylogia is “an absence of conjunctions between single words… [resulting in] the effect of a broken, hurried delivery” and that this is a major violation of the canons of rhetoric. “Delivery” – not what is said, but how it is said. Other fun elements of delivery include “tasis… the pronunciation of a word or phrase because of its pleasant sound” (I am thinking Al Gore, 2000 election, “lockbox” speech). The Forest of Rhetoric is a great all around learning resource for exploring a little more than is required about the powerful qualities of rhetoric.

Works Cited

Burton, Gideon O.. Silva Rhetoricae. Brigham Young University.26 Feb 2007. Web. Accessed 4              July 2011. <rhetoric.byu.edu>.