Imitatios Reflection Paper

Katherine Lee 11106264

English 360, Section 1

October 4, 2011

Imitatios Reflection

            The entire first segment of this class on ancient rhetoric has truly been thought provoking, and the historical context in which rhetoric in its entirety, and how it has evolved and progressed throughout time, has provided an alternative way of looking at this area of study overall. By being exposed to a piece of classical text written by an ancient rhetorician and orator, the practice of examining and critically analyzing these ancient documents helped to broaden my prior knowledge on the subject of rhetoric, and I was able to apply the various tools and speech methods to my own writing. Although it was difficult to dissect the language found within a speech of a classical rhetorician, there was a strong connection between what was being taught within the classroom as well as what has been taught from the assigned texts, and applying it to my own writing of this speech. This exercise, I found, was meant to not only expose myself and my peers to this ancient style of language, but to encourage us to literally practice these techniques, as well. This exercise was not only helpful in the exposure to different types of ancient rhetoric, but also, there was growth in that connection, which helped me to develop my writing in many ways. By doing an assignment such as this, I felt as if I developed a true exposure and connection to the world of rhetoric.

            For this particular assignment, I chose Alexander the Great’s speech, which was given to his troops when his desire to expand his holdings into India seemed to outweigh the temptations of returning home, as well as the overall exhaustion of his men, who battled with him throughout Europe. However, this speech was, and still is, extremely powerful, and contains the strong use of rhetorical tools that ultimately led to the persuasion of Alexander’s men to continue on in the fight for greatness. Perhaps, it can even be suggested that his stylistic methods of persuasion are used within various forms of rhetoric in modern day society, as well.

The sort of deliberate, yet humbling methods of speech that Alexander used within his speech were incredibly difficult to emulate. His attitude throughout the entire speech was motivational and truly persuasive, yet humanly and humbling, because the audience could see how much he truly aimed to relate directly to his troops rather than try and convince them of something solely using his authority and power over them. Overall, Alexander the Great uses a great deal of pathos to appeal to his troops. He uses various methods of rhetoric, and appeals to the prospect of eternal glory and personal pride that would be guaranteed with the continuation on in the battle to expanding the empire. Alexander also appeals to logos, because he provides examples of how he and his troops had expanded their holdings. He questions his men as to why they would not want to continue on in the conquest for more, given all that they had gained with their power and militaristic strength. Alexander’s use of ethos is also evident, yet in a more subtle tone and in with a less blatant appeal to it. Because he was the general of these troops, he was able to use a more authoritative air and gain the automatic respect from his men for being the great and powerful leader that he was.

In order to do this paper, I felt it necessary to appeal to my classmates in the same ways in which Alexander the Great did with his troops. It was difficult to emulate the way in which his speech flows; yet, I felt that by the end of the speech, I was able to gain insight into classical rhetoric as well as form a connection with the various rhetorical devices and arguments. By analyzing the ancient rhetorical speeches, it was blatantly evident that the rhetorical devices that were developed in the past have truly formed the modern world of rhetoric. The ways in which modern classrooms teach the field of rhetoric are very deeply rooted in the teachings and methods from the past. By doing this assignment, the exposure to actual examples of classical rhetoric allowed me to see exactly how to cohesively put what has been taught within the classroom setting into developing a strong, functioning speech or other piece of writing. While it is oftentimes easy to make arguments, many people do not understand the essence of making strong and decisive points in order to convey a personal thought or message. By dissecting one piece of classical literature and applying the perceptions of said writings, I felt as if I learned a great deal about the overall process of making and developing my own strong arguments, based off the readings as well as the deep analysis of a piece classical rhetoric.

In order to execute and construct this speech, I appealed to the ethos, pathos, and logos of my peers, in order to try and convince them to attend graduate school after their time at Washington State University. This was difficult, because I had to attempt to appear as an authoritative figure, and use the same methods that the powerful Alexander did with his troops. I focused on a topic that I am truly passionate about, and I felt as though that passion and interest resonates throughout my Alexander the Great speech emulation. While it was difficult to connect to my peers on the levels that Alexander did with his troops, being able to conform to the methods and stylistic methods of him helped me truly to connect to both myself as well as this great and ancient oration, and its complicated language. In this sense, this project forced a sense of connection and comfortableness with the otherwise unfamiliar world of ancient rhetoric prior to this course.

I truly believe that this project was beneficial in a variety of ways. While one can devote a great deal of time to reading and studying ancient rhetoric, one cannot truly understand and comprehend the presented material until it is actually experienced. By creating a modern speech based off of the structure and rhetorical conventions found within a classical rhetorical speech, it truly shed light on how profoundly ancient rhetoric has impacted modern speech and language today. The sense of language that was used in the past truly has perhaps altered and matured the ways in which society communicates today. Without deeply analyzing a piece of classical rhetorical speech or literature, the connection between ancient rhetoric and the development of the world of modern rhetoric would not have been made otherwise.