Assignment: The Fishing Holes of Rhetoric: Aristotle and the Topics of Invention

I'm not a fisherman but I get the concept of fishing holes. Some spots are reliable for finding the little swimmers, and it's better to go where you can count on there being something. This is the idea behind the topoi, literally "places" within rhetorical invention ("invention" being the process of finding stuff to talk about).

I want my students to see what Aristotle said about these topics of invention, and then to try use these concepts in a little exercise.

(This is the third in a series of assignments associated with Aristotle's Rhetoric. See the first, the second).

First, my students are to use the reading guide below to go through their study of a number of chapters from Aristotle's Rhetoric (Book II).

Then, I want them to review a few topics of invention not explicitly covered by Aristotle in those chapters (listed at the end of the reading guide). After that, I'd like them to demonstrate they can use these common topics to generate content in a "mini-essay" (instructions and an example follow the reading guide).


Reading Guide: Aristotle's Rhetoric, Book II, chapters 18-26. Before reading this, review "invention" from Silva Rhetoricae. Then, keep a web browser open to the topics of invention on Silva Rhetoricae (or use the links in the list copied below)

• Chapter 18 (pp. 219-20). Read this chapter more closely. 
• Chapter 19 (pp. 220-23). Skim this while consulting Silva Rhetoricae, "The Possible and Impossible"
• Chapters 20-21 (pp. 223-224). Don't read these chapters, though you should read the summary of them on pp. 126-27. Instead, look at the topic of invention "Maxims or Proverbs" on Silva Rhetoricae.
• Chapter 22 (pp. 228-31). Skim and sample. Check the entry for enthymeme on Silva Rhetoricae.
• Chapter 23 (pp. 231-240). Read this more closely, but only the numbered sections indicated. This includes a list of topics, each addressed very briefly. Review the entry from Silva Rhetoricae if available:
  (1) arguing via opposites (p. 231). See the topic of invention, Contraries.
  (4) arguing via degree (pp. 232-33). See the topic of invention, Degree.
  (7) arguing via definition (pp. 233-34). See the topic of invention, Definition
  (9) arguing via division (p. 234). See the topic of invention, Division
  (12) arguing via parts (p. 235). See the topic of invention, Whole / Parts
  (13) arguing via consequence (p. 235). See the topic of invention, Antecedent and Consequence
  (28) arguing via names (p. 239) See the topic of invention, Notation and Conjugates

These chapters will have acquainted you with many of the topics of invention from this list (marked with an asterisk). Now, look up the common topics enclosed in brackets to complete this survey of the topics of invention, ignoring the ones with strikeout.

*Definition      Genus / Species *Division      *Whole / Parts      Subject / Adjuncts [Comparison]      [Similarity / Difference]      *Degree Relationship      [Cause / Effect]      *Antecedent / Consequence      *Contraries      [Contradictions] [Circumstances]      *Possible / Impossible      [Past Fact / Future Fact] [Testimony]      [Authorities]      [Witnesses]      *Maxims or Proverbs      Rumors      Oaths      [Documents]      Law      Precedent      [The supernatural] *Notation and Conjugates

Exercise (blog post, due Tuesday, October 6)

Compose a mini-essay in which you use at least 10 different topics of invention to make a simple argument, while trying to make it sound natural (and not like you're trying to just insert a list of things). Identify each use of a topic of invention by identifying this in brackets after the fact. You may wish to make a list first (or use the one above) to brainstorm ways you could use each topic of invention -- and then try to find a way to weave them together smoothly. Give your mini-essay title.

When responding to others' mini-essays, suggest additional ways the same or other topics of invention could be used to support the same argument.

Example:

On Hunches

You want my advice? I say follow your hunches [The Supernatural]. A "hunch" is not a plan, or advice from a friend you suddenly recalled [Contradictions]. No, a hunch is something one cannot quite grasp or explain, but makes sense on a deep level [Definition]; it is something that is both from within and somehow from without [Contraries]. Some of the greatest people in history, like Einstein [Authorities], have followed hunches. When I've done so previously, it's worked out, so I plan to do it again [Past Fact / Future Fact.] "The proof is in the pudding," they say [Maxims and Proverbs], so I'll keep "putting" my faith in doing so! [Notation and Conjugates]. Either it will work out, or it will not [Contradictions]. A hunch is like a message you send from yourself in another dimension [Similarity / Difference], but is more rational than deja vu or a mere dream [Degree]. If you do not follow hunches, you never learn how these work out better than rational planning [Antecedent / Consequence]. A news reporter I heard recently [Witnesses] said that he knew a man who had a strong hunch to see the doctor, put it off, and died from heart failure the next week [Cause / Effect]. So we ought to take it seriously. It is all too possible that our irrational, unconscious self is trying to speak to us from the darkness. [Possible / Impossible]