Assignment: Rhetorical Analysis of Pericles' Funeral Oration

Pericles led Athens at the height of its classical glory, and from the funeral oration he gave, as recorded by Thucydides, we get a sense of how the Athenians thought of themselves, as well as the role that public speaking played in their culture.

I'd like my students to read the funeral oration of Pericles and analyze this rhetorically in about 300-400 words, using the rhetorical terminology learned to date -- including the three encompassing terms, the three persuasive appeals, and the three branches of oratory. (One might also look at the use of topics of invention, or at arrangement or style -- all terms on the Forest of Rhetoric but not yet formally introduced).

Since this oration is included within a history, we have a second frame of reference for this, and that is the one provided by the historian Thucydides. Consider history as another genre of rhetoric, comparable to a branch of oratory. So, in addition to looking at Pericles, analyze Thucydides' rhetoric (audience, intention, kairos, style, etc.) In order to do so, you may nee to do some brief research on Pericles and on 5th century Athens, or on the Peloponnesian war. How is the history by Thucydides "rhetorical"? What role does oratory play in reflecting history or making it understandable to us? Does Thucydides violate the rules of history?

To encourage learning from one another, as well as the avoidance of duplication, each post should make explicit reference to and link to at least one other student's analysis. Rather than seeing multiple students make very similar points, I'd like to see students refining or even challenging one another's analyses. Feel free to read and respond to my students' posts from a past class. Find theirs by using the same label you should use for this assignment, "Pericles' funeral oration"