![]() Rhetorical education flourished in eighteenth century England, for example, because people outside of London wanted to learn to speak and write like someone educated in the metropole. Part of appearing educated was to learn to speak and write in the ways that you thought educated people spoke or wrote. For American English speakers in the nineteenth century, mastery of language was indexed to class-and that’s true today, although we value class presentation differently now than we did in the past, for better or for worse. There is a significant ideological component to what counts as eloquence in a given moment. Erasmus’ De Copia), which was fashionable at the time. There was a lot of reading out loud, which reinforced the relatively florid style of speech inherited from Renaissance interpretations of Quintilian’s rhetorical manual Institutio Oratoria (cf. Every student would study/perform verbatim speeches at length, or they might read a novel to the family at night, or they might read passages from the bible in Sunday school. Training in eloquence primarily took place through (a) memorizing/reading and performing great speeches, works of literature, or poetry in the classroom (b) listening to similar performances (c) reading. Suffice it to say that American culture was decidedly oral in this period, and learning to speak well was a cornerstone of American education. culture in the earlier part of the nineteenth century. But there are some places to begin.įirst, there’s an excellent book by Carolyn Eastman called A Nation of Speechifiers that explores the various roles of speaking in U.S. I think the question would be better phrased this way: why did people write the way they did in the nineteenth century, and why don’t we still write like that today? You’re essentially asking for a history of communication norms in the U.S., which is a huge undertaking. In its common usage, eloquence is often conflated with stylistic choices like ornate description or figurative allusion, whose overwhelming popularity was unique to certain historical periods. Today there is considerable value placed on simplicity, directness, and clarity in prose writing, whereas the “abundant” style popularized by Erasmus may have been more eloquent for an eighteenth-century Englishman, which in turn might have appeared garish to Aristotle in 400BCE Athens. ![]() It depends largely on what we value in communication. ![]() Language and its uses vary greatly over time, and by definition eloquent writing today will look different from eloquent writing in the past. ![]() Eloquence is fundamentally a felicity with language. My answer begins in the context of speech, not writing, because direct instruction in eloquence was often conducted through oral interpretation in the nineteenth century, but I will add some comments specific to writing throughout.įirst it is important to define what eloquence is and what it is not. If you want to be reminded to check back later, or simply find other great content to read while you wait, this thread provides a guide to a number of ways to do so, including the RemindMeBot- Click Here to Subscribe - or our Twitter.įinally, while we always appreciate feedback, it is unfair to the OP to further derail this thread with META conversation, so if anyone has further questions or concerns, I would ask that they be directed to modmail, or a META thread. Please, our dearest and most faithful of companions, though it pains me to say such a thing, consider this your warning.įor sure! We know that it can be emotionally trying to come here and see naught but the message, and we humbly thank you for your patience. Before you style your hand to post, spend but a moment with our rules, as we don't want to have to warn you further. It causes us great consternation to have to remove comments that are just asking about removed comments. We remove comments which don't follow them for reasons including unfounded speculation, shallowness, and of course, inaccuracy. Our mission here at r/AskHistorians is to provide our beloved users with in-depth and comprehensive responses, and our rules are intended to facilitate that purpose. I would implore you, though, to remember those upvotes represent an interest in the question itself, and it can often take time for a good answer to be written. It is my greatest delight to welcome you if you are a first time visitor! You may have noticed that this thread is trending high right now and getting a lot of attention.
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