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The cultivation of eloquence in speech and writing has been a fundamental part of the Jesuit tradition since the Ratio Studiorum defined eloquentia perfecta perfect eloquence as a central goal of the liberal arts curriculum. The University Core advances this tradition with courses in written, oral and visual communication, and creative expression that foster forms of reasoned discourse essential to academic excellence and action for the common good.
Eloquentia Perfecta: Written and Visual Communication guides students in learning to write effective expository prose, design effective visual messages and participate in academic discourse. Through a variety of formal and informal assignments that require several stages of invention and revision, students gain rhetorical awareness of purposes, audiences, and contexts. Eloquentia Perfecta: Oral and Visual Communication teaches students how to prepare and deliver effective oral and visual messages.
Eloquentia Perfecta: Creative Expression cultivates critical thinking through engagement with a creative process. Finally, students take one Writing Intensive-attributed course —in the Core, major or other coursework—that further strengthens their ability to write effective argumentative prose within the context of a specific Core or disciplinary inquiry.
Nathaniel Rivers, Ph. Department of English. College of Arts and Sciences. Tim Huffman, Ph. Department of Communication College of Arts and Sciences tim. Allen Brizee , Ph. Director, Writing Across the Curriculum. EP-2 Syllabus. EP-4 Syllabus. EP-4 Syllabi. EP-2 Syllabi. EP-1 Syllabi. University Resources.
Suggested Readings. Marius and Melvin E. Scott, and Stephen M.
The historical nature of the Italian language and its variant dialects reflected its incorporation of Latin, even some of Latin's grammatical conventions, while simultaneously preserving their own vernacular qualities. Schwartz explains this relationship as it applies to the French vernacular:. Medieval texts were valued not as end products but as links in an on-going chain of clerkly activity, parts of a process of textual transmission and regeneration linking the poet and poem to a collective literary past: the classical auctores taught in the Cathedral schools.
Recall that the first "romances" were adaptations of Latin works into the French vernacular, or romanz , and that this word was applied to any vernacular French narrative regardless of subject matter. Of course, the vernacular Italian was even more closely tied to Latin grammar, since Italian is nothing more than "evolved" Latin. Finally, Dante argued, as does Ono and Sloop, that the vernacular could borrow from the dominant culture.
In fact, the project of the De Vulgari Eloquentia shares a similar mission with Ono and Sloop who argue that their critical approach "attempts to illustrate other possible realities, not to articulate a vernacular 'space' for further marginalization" , p. For Dante's treatise concerns itself with issues of vernacular empowerment and discursive freedom. Thus, vernacular rhetoric enables the already marginalized speaker an opportunity — a space — to engage in their own activism. Dante pushed his critique of vernacular discourse even farther.
As discussed earlier, Dante began his critique of vernacular rhetoric by describing the context and characteristics of vernacular discourse: the components of who is worthy to use it, what is the content, in what fashion is it used, where is it used, when is it used, and to whom is it addressed?
Then, the four criteria of illustrious, cardinal, courtly and curial offer something that current discussions on the vernacular have failed to mention — the possibility for alliance-building. While De Vulgari Eloquentia goes to some lengths describing the different Italian vernaculars, Dante's hope is for a unification of one, common and nationalist Italian language.
According to Bergin:. Dante proposes that a more rational method be attempted to capture her "who sends forth her perfume everywhere, while yet appearing nowhere. Thus, it is just as easy to see how Dante was highlighting the similarities among the vernacular as he was their differences Dante, , p. In this way, Dante was articulating a rhetorical theory of the vernacular that was akin to deliberative rhetoric, providing space to all communities so that important, political discourse could be accessed by as many as possible Swartz, In addition, Dante not only attempted to create "space" for the vernacular, but his De Vulgari Eloquentia actually helped spur a Medieval movement in vernacular discourse, especially since many of Dante's "humanistic allies" disagreed with revering the vernacular Haller, , p.
For one, his most notable writing, the Commedia , was written in Italian instead of Latin. And, according to Colish , Dante's treatise on "literary subjects makes medieval literature the beginning of many modern vernacular traditions" p. In that small snapshot of history, Dante influenced the rest of Italian discourse.
Important texts have this power — not just to illuminate the vernacular as in this case, but also to affect real historical change. According to Miller,. Works of literature do not simply reflect or are not simply caused by their contexts.
They have a productive effect in history. This can and should also be studied. To put this another way, the only thing that sometimes worries me about the turn to history now as an explanatory method is the implication that I can fully explain every text by its pre-existing historical context. But the publication of these works was itself a political or historical event that in some way or another changed history.
De Vulgari Eloquentia definitely reinforces this explanation. As a result, the De Vulgari Eloquentia is extremely significant for the way it produced a historical shift in language. Thus, the De Vulgari Eloquentia actually has much to say about rhetorical theory in general, and vernacular criticism in particular. It offers a way to engage in vernacular discourse simply by adopting the linguistic techniques of marginalized groups.
It valorizes the lyrical and poetic form of the vernacular as it rings through the countryside. It also proposes a means by which to criticize vernacular discourse. It offers us the characteristics of context, and it provides four key criteria to discern potent vernacular rhetoric from the sterile. It also provides a significant rupture in linguistic history, marking the importance of the vernacular in contradistinction to the predominantly used Latin.
I have attempted to describe and validate Dante's rhetorical theory of the vernacular. The De Vulgari Eloquentia , while brief, provides tremendous insight into the issues of linguistic power of Dante's time, as well as offering us fruitful advice on how to examine our own vernacular discourse. As others have mentioned, the De Vulgari Eloquentia is the first major work of literary criticism that concerns the vernacular Mazzocco, ; Shapiro, Of course, there are limitations and concerns with adopting Dante's critique of vernacular rhetoric.
For one, the De Vulgari Eloquentia must be translated from Latin to understand its precepts. The two most cited translations from Howell and Shapiro differ in many respects. However, when one compares both translations, the general subject content is roughly the same. Indeed, when translating from the Medieval Latin, "translators and editors diligently try to overcome the problems of translating" Rossini, , p.
A second concern lies with the critic who speaks for the vernacular speaker, rather than letting the vernacular speak for itself. A related problem concerns the essentialization of vernacular speakers, as if the texts under investigation represent entire groups of people. Of course, citing the text and allowing the critique to emerge from the text itself by means of a close textual analysis can help alleviate this problem. Shugart also provides helpful ways that a critical rhetorician can avert speaking for the Other.
Finally, Ono and Sloop suggest that "we must be careful that our criticism of vernacular discourses does not create understandings of vernacular cultures as unchangeable or simply as margins in opposition to a fixed and rigid center" p.
Vigilant self-reflexivity as a critic can help immensely in ameliorating this risk. While using Dante's theory of vernacular rhetoric has some concerns, it nevertheless opens the way for more insightful and meaningful interrogations of vernacular discourse. It should be obvious by now that ignoring or dismissing vernacular rhetoric silences entire groups of people. Ono and Sloop articulate this well:.
Since the tradition of rhetorical theory and criticism has been to privilege and analyze the discourse of those in power, Ono and Sloop's contention could not be more pertinent. Dante echoed this sentiment seven hundred years ago. His conviction was motivated not only by the beauty and power of the ignored Italian vernacular of his time, but also by his exile from the Latin-centric city-state of Florence. Only by challenging the dominance of the Latin word could Dante be heard and respected with dignity by his fellow Italians.
In addition, Dante's discussion of the vernacular reminds us that everyday people speaking everyday common speech produce important ideas about society. The very notion of the vernacular presupposes a unique insight into the experiences and occurrences of the public realm, which makes the vernacular dependent on the sentiment of the community of speakers Mazzocco, , p.
According to McLaughlin :. Vernacular theory does not guarantee politically progressive attitudes … and it does not guarantee total freedom from received ideas and ideological constructs. But in its local, momentary insights into the ways of power and the workings of culture, it does remind us that ideological power isn't total, that political resistance is made possible by intellectual critique, and that it is not only "intellectuals" who can produce that critique.
In this way, Dante's examination of the vernacular reminds and instructs us to view the voice from the outside: the voice often not heard. We may believe that everyone has the opportunity to speak, but in what language? The vernacular ensures that there is always the possibility of speech and that the space is always open for speaking.
The De Vulgari Eloquentia opens the way for us not only to construct such powerful vernacular comments, but it also allows us to question the vernacular of others. Baranski, Z. Dante Alighieri. Berkowitz, S. Empathy and the "Other": Challenging U. Jewish ideology. Communication Studies, 48, Botterill, S. In Steven Botterill Ed. London: Cambridge University Press. Cheshire, J. The syntax of spoken language. Longman: London. Colish, M. Medieval foundations of the Western intellectual tradition: Cosmo, U.
A handbook to Dante studies Trans. By David Moore. Dante, A. De Vulgari Eloquentia. Ferrers Howell Trans. Greenwood: New York. Shapiro Trans. London: University of Nebraska Press. Davis, C. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Delgado, F. Western Journal of Communication, 62, Ferrante, J.
The political vision of the Divine Comedy. Haller, R. Literary criticism of Dante Alighieri Trans. Hauser, G. Vernacular dialogue and the rhetoricality of public opinion. Communication Monographs, 65, Vernacular voices: The rhetoric of publics and public spheres. Mazzocco, A. Linguistic theories in Dante and the Humanists: Studies of language and intellectual history in late Medieval and early Renaissance Italy.
Leiden, The Netherlands: E. Mazzotta, G. Why did Dante Write the Comedy? In Theodore J. Cachey, Jr. McKerrow, R. Critical rhetoric: Theory and praxis. Communication Monographs, 56, McLaughlin, T. Street smarts and critical theory: Listening to the vernacular. Murphy, John M. Critical Rhetoric as Political Discourse. Argumentation and Advocacy, 32, Ono, K. Commitment to telos — a sustained critical rhetoric.
Communication Monographs, 59, The critique of vernacular discourse. Communication Monographs, 62, Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Panizza, L. Literature in the Vernacular. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Purcell, S. In Sally Purcell Trans. Ricoeur, P. Thompson, Trans. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Rossini, E. Introduction to the edition of Medieval vernacular documents.
Kleinhenz Ed. Schwartz, D. Medieval attitudes toward vernacular literature [On-line]. Shapiro, M. Shugart, H. An appropriating aesthetic: Reproducing power in the discourse of critical scholarship. Communication Theory, 13, Swartz, O. The rise of rhetoric and its intersections with contemporary critical thought. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Zompetti, J. Toward a Gramscian critical rhetoric. Western Journal of Communication, 61, Zompetti, Joseph P. Inquiries Journal [Online], 9.
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Forgot password? Reset your password ». By Joseph P. Zompetti , Vol. Cite References Print. De Vulgari Eloquentia as Rhetorical Theory At this point, it is important to note that the De Vulgari Eloquentia was written at a time when Dante was very disturbed about his exile from Florence. With Dante, we have the following: "worthy to use it" — who is able and deserving to use the vernacular "content" — the substance of the vernacular discourse "in what fashion" — the style of the vernacular discourse "where" — the location for using vernacular discourse "when" — the temporal considerations for using vernacular discourse "to whom it is addressed" — audience considerations Dante began his rhetorical theory by offering these six characterizations of vernacular rhetoric, which could be described as Dante's six "canons" of rhetoric.
The Illustrious Criterion According to Dante , Now we understand by this term 'illustrious' something which shines forth illuminating and illuminated. The Cardinal Criterion For Dante "cardinal" illustrates the significance of the vernacular discourse. Dante explained this metaphor: Now the reason why we call it 'courtly' is that if we Italians had a court it would be spoken at court. The Curial Criterion The final component to a vernacular rhetoric is the vital element of action.
Dante agreed, and so he posited that: This language is also deservedly to be styled 'curial,' because 'curiality' is nothing else but the justly balanced rule of things which have to be done; and because the scales required for this kind of balancing are only wont to be found in the most excellent courts of justice, it follows that whatever in our actions has been well balanced is called curial.
De Vulgari's Influence on the Commedia Of course, as a treatise concerning composition, the De Vulgari Eloquentia is a vital contribution to our understanding of both contemporary and Medieval rhetoric. This is done in a few different ways, and Shapiro cogently speaks to this significance: The synthesis of a linguistic model transcending individual languages leans on an interest in geography and astronomy that would remain thematized in the Commedia.
Schwartz explains this relationship as it applies to the French vernacular: Medieval texts were valued not as end products but as links in an on-going chain of clerkly activity, parts of a process of textual transmission and regeneration linking the poet and poem to a collective literary past: the classical auctores taught in the Cathedral schools.
According to Bergin: Dante proposes that a more rational method be attempted to capture her "who sends forth her perfume everywhere, while yet appearing nowhere. According to Miller, Works of literature do not simply reflect or are not simply caused by their contexts. Conclusion I have attempted to describe and validate Dante's rhetorical theory of the vernacular. Ono and Sloop articulate this well: if we limit our attention to such documents available to the widest possible audience, documents that shaped "history" of our society, then we are missing out on, and writing "out of history," important texts that gird and influence local cultures first and then affect, through sheer number of local communities, cultures at large.
According to McLaughlin : Vernacular theory does not guarantee politically progressive attitudes … and it does not guarantee total freedom from received ideas and ideological constructs. References Baranski, Z. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston. Burke, K.
A rhetoric of motives. Berkeley: University of California Press. Why did Dante write the Comedy? Dante Studies, CXI, Gilson, E. Dante and philosophy Trans. Hall, V. A short history of literary criticism. Howell, A. The Latin works of Dante.
Miller, J. Hawthorne and history: Defacing it. Oxford: Blackwell. Page, T. Dante and his influence. Through the Council of Trent —63 the Jesuits were called on by the Pope to help improve the education of clergy. Ignatius and his six students took vows of poverty and chastity in an attempt to work for the conversion of Muslims. After being unable to travel to Jerusalem because of the Turkish wars, they went to Rome instead to meet with the pope and request permission to form a new religious order.
The Jesuit order played an important role in the Counter-Reformation and eventually succeeded in converting millions around the world to Catholicism. The Jesuit movement was founded in August by Ignatius de Loyola. Through the work in the school in Messina and other Jesuit colleges, the Jesuits began to formulate an approach to education that was formalized in a document titled the Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Iesu The Official Plan for Jesuit Education , or often shortened to Ratio Studiorum [4] Latin : Plan of Studies.
The Ratio Studiorum provided the primary and static conventions for Jesuit teaching for years. It was sufficient in outlining what should be strived for and the core values of Jesuit education. This plan contained such revolutionary ideas as segregating students into smaller groups by their level or ability in a subject. Jesuit institutions were enhanced by many influential mantras. Some of these phrases and their direct translations include Cura Personalis care for the whole person , Magis to do more , Nuestro Modo de Procedor our way of proceeding , and Eloquentia Perfecta perfect eloquence.
The goal of the Ratio Studiorum was not only to educated better clergy but to also do Gods work by also improving the world by creating better educated and compassionate civic leaders. Over the next two hundred years Jesuit schools spread through Europe and beyond. By there were Jesuit colleges in operation.
The growth continued until , when it is estimated that the Jesuits operated over eight hundred separate schools, colleges, seminaries and universities across the globe. Only schools located in Prussia remained open as Jesuits in Europe, the Americas, India, and Asia obeyed the orders of the Pope and closed the institutions. In August , the suppression of the Jesuit order was reversed.
Following the restoration the Jesuit order founded several new universities and expanded into the United States of America. Saint Louis University , founded in in St. Louis, Missouri, is the second oldest Jesuit university in the United States. The goal of education, being strengthening the students communication skills with leadership skills, emotions, and eloquence, remained. However, by the midth century, the modern world called for adjustments to the curriculum. After the Council, members of the Jesuit academic world began taking into account the characteristics of a contemporary world that was evolving at a quick pace.
The Society's new goal at this time was to consolidate the identity of Jesuit education, and to achieve this they sought out particular ways of teaching. For example, the traditional goals of the Society, which were set forth in , were translated after the 32nd General Congregation of Jesuits held in Rome from to This document set forth a concept for modern Jesuit education, which was reiterated in greater detail with the document Ignatian Pedagogy: A Practical Approach.
These two documents, detailing the values of education and how to approach them in a classroom setting, set the stage for contemporary Jesuit education. While the Ratio Studiorum description of rhetoric emphasized only oratory and poetry, today's Jesuit rhetorical education accepts the appreciation of multiple genres in different media [9] These rhetoric classes promoted both useful skills and cultural enrichment.
The classes combined general ideas and stylistic practices from Greco-Roman culture and joined these ideas with the learnings of the church. The phrase eloquentia perfecta was aimed to produce a Christian version of a classical ideal speaker, one who is good in writing and presenting for the common good. This has remained the Jesuit goal over the last three and a half centuries.
Rhetoric can be described as the way one arranges and expresses a thought in a way to adapt and influence someone else's mind. Jesuit rhetoric is often presented with strong emotions. It is important to know what the perfect orator is also considering of the safety and welfare of the whole community and not only their own dignity.
Jesuit rhetoric has evolved from teaching, preaching, running missions, as well as hearing confessions. While their teachings have stayed fairly similar, Jesuits changed their phrasing which changed the most in order to be better heard by their followers. In , the Society of Jesus was presented with Ratio Studiorum , which included Jesuit educational framework and rules for the professors of rhetoric. Gert Beista, the author of The Beautiful Risk of Education , explains that there are three objectives to Jesuit rhetoric that focuses on "reconnecting with the question of purpose in education".
The first is that Jesuit rhetoric provides students with the knowledge, skills, and judgment that enables them to do something within their current society such as training for real-world issues with eloquence. The second of the three objectives is socialization , about which Beista states: "Through education, we become members of and part of particular social, cultural and political orders.
This term is characterized to be the opposite of socialization, in which its emphasis is on individualization and independence in one's thinking and actions. Developing this tradition in modern composition study and communication theory , the course of rhetorical art complements the other foundation courses with topics such as ethics and communication, virtue and authority, knowledge and social obligation.
American schools are trying to revitalize traditions for rhetoric in relation to core curriculum. There is a new focus on combining written and oral rhetoric, speaking and listening with writing and reading. Media is becoming the biggest way to receive messages across the world, but it is also one of the greatest mediators. Jesuit schools are also engaging literacy with other forms of expression such as the new digital revolution and new media technologies which are visual, aural, kinesthetic, and verbal.
After the American Civil War , non-Jesuit colleges began to differ in the curriculum. This divergence was due to the molding of non-Jesuit schools by the elective system, while Jesuit colleges conserved classical courses involving Greek and Latin literature.
This however did not stick and there was a decline in the teachings of Latin especially. In , there was an official restoration of the society which the phrase Eloquentia Perfecta lived through. A type of eloquence not often talked about is the heroic. This term combines human skill and divine inspiration which has come from informed thinking, moral discernment, and civic responsibility.
Steven Mailloux, a professor of rhetoric at Loyola Marymount University LMU , concluded that "an optimal orator would combine written and oral language concepts such as morality or ethics and intelligence". This concept has expanded from education in Jesuit colleges and preaching this tradition and guiding Spiritual Exercises to courses in American colleges such as LMU, University of San Francisco , and Fordham University.
According to the dean of Fordham University in New York, Robert Grimes, eloquentia perfecta is composed of three characteristics—"the right use of reason LMU's core curriculum provides a few aspects that construct eloquentia perfecta, the first being that it "incorporates the traditional mode of rhetoric through writing, reading, speaking, and listening".
The second aspect is the "remediation of this form of rhetoric in terms of adapting to the information age and its digital elements". These courses also incorporate the Jesuit value of cura personalis; the caring for a whole person, to ensure that each student is valued as a unique and multifaceted individual. The core curriculum at Fordham University now incorporates four eloquentia perfecta seminars, differing from other classes in their direct focus on written and oral skills of communication.
Fordham is not the only Jesuit institution to begin experimenting ways to incorporate this concept into modern academics. Clarke notes that such institutions are doing so since "every 10 years or so most institutions take a hard look at the structure and emphasis of their core curriculum to see whether adjustments or even major restructuring is in order".
In a sense, Jesuit institutions are beginning to explicitly teach eloquentia perfecta rather than implicitly. However, this concept will only continue to progress and change with the digital age, as students and the population as a whole have so many means of communication.
It is the responsibility of the Jesuit institutions to uphold the concept and teachings of eloquentia perfecta, one that may even affirm the Jesuit identity among these institutions. This is due to the similarity of the fundamental study of Aristotle , Cicero , and Quintilian. With the advancements of Jesuit rhetoric, Jesuit colleges introduced three important rhetorics written by Jesuits.
Coppens taught at multiple American Jesuit colleges including the Jesuit seminary St. Stanislaus in Florissant, Missouri. He defines the three terms rhetoric, oratory, and eloquence. Coppens states that rhetoric is "the art of inventing, arranging, and expressing thought in a manner adapted to influence or control the minds and wills of others". He defines oratory as "the branch of rhetoric which expresses through orally".
Lastly, he defines eloquence as "the expression or utterance of strong emotion in a manner adapted to excite correspondent emotions in others". The eloquentia-based Ignatian pedagogy is aimed at educating the whole person. They integrate eloquence and critical thinking with moral discernment.
Teaching methods and content that is being put out should be modeled on the institutional embeddedness of the first Jesuit ministries which were created after the Second Vatican Council with their emphasis on verbal dialogue and written conversation. Schools should strive to encompass what makes Jesuit education distinctive and incorporate rhetoric tradition in all historically rich aspects.
As John Callahan, S. Rather, Jesuits and Jesuit education is the property of all the men and women who work in educational institutions which claim the Ignation heritage. Many of these modern Jesuits do their work through Jesuit ministries and other social justice organizations worldwide, with only 5.
Many scholars might have the assumption that the original traditions of eloquentia perfecta have been erased in the later century, both through religious and academic teachings. However, though the term has been altered to fit modern society communication, the traditional teachings of the topic are very much alive. Through both digital technology and verbal communication, eloquentia perfecta continues to carry on the original goal of rhetorical eloquence to spread justice to all.
Many of the Jesuit scholars have had to really adapt to new medians of expression and constantly have to recreate lesson plans for students to adapt to current societal standards. As stated by Morgan T. Reitmeyer and Susan A. Sci in their article "How To Talk Ethically: Cultivating the Digital Citizen through Eloquentia Perfecta": "News is no longer something to simply consume; rather it is something to which we are compelled to respond within a wide array of media.
According to Cinthia Gannett, many universities have integrated eloquentia perfecta at all tiers of their institutions. She further adds that several universities are revising their Core curriculums to include aspects of eloquentia perfecta tied in with digital literacy and communication.
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to be a distinguished orator: eloquentiae laude florere · to be considered the foremost orator: eloquentiae principatum tenere · (ambiguous) to be very eloquent. Eloquentia perfecta is a Latin term which means "perfect eloquence". The term connotes values of eloquent expression and action for the common good. For Jesuits. De vulgari eloquentia on vernacular eloquence" is the title of a Latin essay by Dante Alighieri. Although meant to consist of four books.