A good orator is his audience... sort of.

"Confessions" by Augustine contains
a lot of his story, this is mostly what
we read from in my Freshman class.

In a class that I had at the University of Utah my freshman year we studied Augustine briefly, but instead of focusing on rhetoric, we focused on philosophy and the intellectual tradition of western civilization, so we read his memoirs and treatises, but none of his sermons. I remember the memoirs most clearly, because in them it seemed like Augustine was putting more trust in his audience by writing about details of his life; I gained a lot of respect for the man because he went through a lot of repentance and had to experience a lot of forgiveness on his path to becoming a Christian, and it seemed like his conversion was as complete as any other I've heard of, he was a changed man. Augustine's sermon for lent would have been more powerful if he would have shared some of those personal experiences that he had. I'm not saying that he needed to confess any of his specific past transgressions, but sharing that he had personally experienced in a real, tangible way what the scriptures had taught him would have added so much power.

The act of personally relating to an audience through personal testimony of his or her experience seems like it could be a part of all three categories of style (high, low, middle). All of you have done a great job describing how all three categories were present in the sermon, I agree, and it was cool to see the arrangement of the sermon and how it effected flow of the oratory style. One interesting part that stood out to me was when he included himself as the audience, "... do not be ashamed to seek pardon. In the same manner I speak to all, men and women, young and old, lay persons and clerics, and to myself, also. Let us all hearken; let us all fear." He puts us all on the same level! But at the same time utilizes high style to try and inspire action.

Most of us think of a good leader as one who works a long side those he leads. My mind turns to Jesus Christ; a great deal of the love and respect that many have for Him stems from the fact that He, the single greatest being in the Universe has been through everything that we go through, He's descended to our level, so that He can lift us up to His level. Augustine kind of does the same when he uses the pronoun "us", but could have done it to a greater extent by sharing relevant personal experiences, which, when effectively done, is done in all three styles: high, low, and middle.

He's our best friend!

The highs and lows of Augustine’s Rhetoric.

In Augustine’s book, On Christian Doctrine, are borrowed several key points from ancient Roman rhetoric. Among these are Cicero’s levels or degrees of speaking. We see that these levels of speaking transverse the passage of time from Cicero, to Augustine, and now to us. Said Augustine, “Therefore a certain eloquent man ( Cicero) said, and said truly, that he who is eloquent should speak in such a way that he teaches, delights, and moves.  Then he added, ‘To teach is a necessity, to please is a sweetness, to persuade a victory’”.

Augustine points out that three tasks of speech or to teach, delight, or move. Today we refer to these as High (move), middle (please), and low (teach) levels of speech.

Augustine’s sermon was given on Lent, a 40 day period, prior to Easter, in which Catholic followers choose something to give up or sacrifice. This sacrifice is to be a symbol and a reminder of the Greatest Sacrifice ever made. The Kairos of a Lent sermon would only be fitting, therefore, if it encouraged followers to sacrifice evil parts of ourselves in return for something better. In this sermon teaching alone wouldn't be enough, action would be required.

It was interesting to me to notice the different levels of speaking went both hand in hand as well as on their own.

A good majority of this sermon was low style, meaning its purpose was to teach. It is evident in the first paragraph as he teaches about anger and forgiveness that he is teaching. I notice that it shifts in  the 5^th paragraph to high style with “I admonish you…” he begins using phrasing such as “you are summoning yourselves before your own tribunal” and “seek pardon”  “let us all harken, let us all fear…”

The change is subtle but I wonder if it was because he was talking to a very specific audience. When he was speaking to everyone about forgiveness it was very low style, but as he focused in on a group individually it seemed to gradually change to a higher style of speech

Does St. Augustine contradict himself?

 In St. Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana, he speaks of three styles of speaking – to teach (low), to please (middle), and to exhort (high).  While reading his Sermon for Lent I noticed that he used the three different styles combined to reach the goal of an action either to ask for forgiveness or to forgive.  In De Doctrina Christiana he states that there are more useful situations for each style as follows:

• To teach (Low Style) – To those who are unfamiliar with the subject/focus is mostly on clarity and logos.
• To please (Middle Style) – To those who are familiar with the subject and need to hear it in a new way to be reminded of its importance.
• To Move (High Style) – To those who are sinning and must be corrected.

While reading his Sermon for Lent I noticed that he addresses different groups but there is a pattern within each group.  He starts out in the middle style and addresses the whole congregation.  He uses many metaphors like “tree of hatred”, “light shone in their hearts”, and “his heart in his prison” to make the familiar subject of forgiveness seem more interesting.  In this introduction he captures their attention but also makes the distinction that a mortal life “[…] cannot be lived even by a just person without some sins…”  This makes his earlier classification that the high style is to be used with those transgressing seem odd since everyone is a sinner.

               

Then he goes on to speak to the different ways that a person can commit a sin with forgiveness and clearly in the low style explains the situation.  He moves on after stating the proposed situation to exhort them to either ask forgiveness or to give forgiveness to another.  The majority of the sermon is exhorting all members in the congregation to repent so that they can enjoy the observance of Lent with a clear conscience.