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Cicero’s “Five Canons of Rhetoric” for coin club presentations

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Rhetoric is the art of persuasion through effective speaking and writing. It is a vital tool in the exploration and teaching of truth, and a weapon against falsity and injustice. In 95 CE the Roman rhetorician Marcus Fabius Quintilianus explored the “Five Canons of Rhetoric” in his 12-volume textbook, Institutio Oratoria.

 

The Five Canons of Rhetoric are:

 inventio (invention): The process of developing and refining your arguments.

 dispositio (arrangement): The process of arranging and organizing your arguments for maximum impact.

 elocutio (style): The process of determining how you present your arguments using figures of speech and other rhetorical techniques.

 memoria (memory): The process of learning and memorizing your speech so you can deliver it without the use of notes. Memory-work not only consists of memorizing the words of a specific speech, but also storing up famous quotes, literary references, and other facts that can be used in impromptu speeches.

 actio (delivery): The process of practicing how you deliver your speech using gestures, pronunciation, and tone of voice. [Adapted from Brett & Kate McKay, 2010]

 

Try following the steps above next time you speak to a club. I suspect it will make communication of your ideas easier.

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Good points. Only one of my local clubs has educational programs and sometimes they can be painful to listen to as the person just rambles off the cuff, repeats himself, delays and hesitations while he tries to think of the next thing to say.

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The Romans are much neglected and unfortunately so. Some good points in the discussion, but I don't know if they would be employed or appreciated at the two clubs I attend.

 

Apollonius of Perga (fl. c.240 B.C.) On Conic Sections

Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Works (Orations, On Friendship, On Old Age)

Lucretius (c.95-55 B.C.) On the Nature of Things

Virgil (70-19 B.C.) Works

Horace (65-8 B.C.) Works (Odes and Epodes, The Art of Poetry)

Livy (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) History of Rome

Ovid (43 B.C. - A.D. 17) Works (Metamorphoses)

Plutarch (c.45-120) Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Moralia.

Tacitus (c. 55-117) Histories, Annals, Agricola, Germania.

Nicomachus of Gerasa (fl. c.100 A.D.) Introduction to Arithemetic

Epictetus (c.60-120) Discourses, Encheiridion (Handbook)

Ptolemy (c.100-178) Almagest

Lucian (c.120-190) Works (The way to Write History, The True History, The Sale of Creeds)

Marcus Aurelius (121-180) Meditations

Galen (c.130-200) On the Natural Facilities

 

Neglected works.

 

 

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Good points. Only one of my local clubs has educational programs and sometimes they can be painful to listen to as the person just rambles off the cuff, repeats himself, delays and hesitations while he tries to think of the next thing to say.

 

Apparently, they aren't really prepared.

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The canons of rhetoric are really about being prepared for your presentation - even if it is 5-minutes long.

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The Romans are much neglected and unfortunately so. Some good points in the discussion, but I don't know if they would be employed or appreciated at the two clubs I attend.

 

Apollonius of Perga (fl. c.240 B.C.) On Conic Sections

Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Works (Orations, On Friendship, On Old Age)

Lucretius (c.95-55 B.C.) On the Nature of Things

Virgil (70-19 B.C.) Works

Horace (65-8 B.C.) Works (Odes and Epodes, The Art of Poetry)

Livy (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) History of Rome

Ovid (43 B.C. - A.D. 17) Works (Metamorphoses)

Plutarch (c.45-120) Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Moralia.

Tacitus (c. 55-117) Histories, Annals, Agricola, Germania.

Nicomachus of Gerasa (fl. c.100 A.D.) Introduction to Arithemetic

Epictetus (c.60-120) Discourses, Encheiridion (Handbook)

Ptolemy (c.100-178) Almagest

Lucian (c.120-190) Works (The way to Write History, The True History, The Sale of Creeds)

Marcus Aurelius (121-180) Meditations

Galen (c.130-200) On the Natural Facilities

 

Neglected works.

Neglected works? Where did you get that from, Wikipedia? Neglected by whom, coin collectors?

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The Romans are much neglected and unfortunately so. Some good points in the discussion, but I don't know if they would be employed or appreciated at the two clubs I attend.

 

Apollonius of Perga (fl. c.240 B.C.) On Conic Sections

Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Works (Orations, On Friendship, On Old Age)

Lucretius (c.95-55 B.C.) On the Nature of Things

Virgil (70-19 B.C.) Works

Horace (65-8 B.C.) Works (Odes and Epodes, The Art of Poetry)

Livy (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) History of Rome

Ovid (43 B.C. - A.D. 17) Works (Metamorphoses)

Plutarch (c.45-120) Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Moralia.

Tacitus (c. 55-117) Histories, Annals, Agricola, Germania.

Nicomachus of Gerasa (fl. c.100 A.D.) Introduction to Arithemetic

Epictetus (c.60-120) Discourses, Encheiridion (Handbook)

Ptolemy (c.100-178) Almagest

Lucian (c.120-190) Works (The way to Write History, The True History, The Sale of Creeds)

Marcus Aurelius (121-180) Meditations

Galen (c.130-200) On the Natural Facilities

 

Neglected works.

Neglected works? Where did you get that from, Wikipedia? Neglected by whom, coin collectors?

 

It's from the Adler-Van Doren list, troglodyte.

 

 

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The Romans are much neglected and unfortunately so. Some good points in the discussion, but I don't know if they would be employed or appreciated at the two clubs I attend.

 

Apollonius of Perga (fl. c.240 B.C.) On Conic Sections

Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Works (Orations, On Friendship, On Old Age)

Lucretius (c.95-55 B.C.) On the Nature of Things

Virgil (70-19 B.C.) Works

Horace (65-8 B.C.) Works (Odes and Epodes, The Art of Poetry)

Livy (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) History of Rome

Ovid (43 B.C. - A.D. 17) Works (Metamorphoses)

Plutarch (c.45-120) Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Moralia.

Tacitus (c. 55-117) Histories, Annals, Agricola, Germania.

Nicomachus of Gerasa (fl. c.100 A.D.) Introduction to Arithemetic

Epictetus (c.60-120) Discourses, Encheiridion (Handbook)

Ptolemy (c.100-178) Almagest

Lucian (c.120-190) Works (The way to Write History, The True History, The Sale of Creeds)

Marcus Aurelius (121-180) Meditations

Galen (c.130-200) On the Natural Facilities

Neglected works.

Neglected works? Where did you get that from, Wikipedia? Neglected by whom, coin collectors?

It's from the Adler-Van Doren list, troglodyte.

 

Read Adler's Aristotle for Everybody. Let's just say, it reads a little grammar schoolish, misunderstands some things. You read Nicomachean Ethics and The Politics, I'm sure you'll pick that up. On Livy's History of Rome, in terms of it being "neglected," tell that to Machiavelli.

 

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David Ross's introduction to Aristotle is also authoritive to his normally hard to read works. The most difficult boring courses I took in college were Medieval philosophy and abstract math and logic courses without specific connection to day to day reality.

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David Ross's introduction to Aristotle is also authoritive to his normally hard to read works. The most difficult boring courses I took in college were Medieval philosophy and abstract math and logic courses without specific connection to day to day reality.

I think we ought to spin this back to coins before we get slapped for going off-subject. I’ll take up the challenge. You see, boys and girls, I happen to dig philosophy and math, while Nutmeg Coin happens to find those abstract curricula difficult and boring and of little practical utility. He’s still cool, though. Do you know why? There are two sides to every coin. :)

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The one time I remember the Danbury club having an outside speaker, and he was an excellent one, David Alexander of Heritage Auctions on tokens, it really seemed that members did not appreciate him that much. There are high end collectors and a few clubs with members of significant means who would enjoy good speakers and rhetoric, I hear the Mansfield, CT, club, near Storrs, has some really serious collectors.

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If they are really serious, then they should hire a comedian to speak at the next club meeting.

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To be "serious" for a moment.....I know several extremely knowledgeable professional numismatists who refuse to speak at coin clubs. Largely, it is because the work they put into preparation and presentation is rarely appreciated by the audience. Few in the audience recognize their names or their accomplishments. David Alexander is one of the best, yet I doubt one in 1,000 would recognize the name and maybe 1 in 10,000 would recognize the person.

 

Huge emphasis is placed on dealers and businesses, not on people and accomplishments.

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I agree. One of the biggest problems it that most coin clubs are filled with coin COLLECTORS. Many if not most of which really don't know much about their coins or numismatics. And they aren't really interested in learning about them.

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I agree. One of the biggest problems it that most coin clubs are filled with coin COLLECTORS. Many if not most of which really don't know much about their coins or numismatics. And they aren't really interested in learning about them.

Funny thing, too. When it comes to subjects like stars, and plusses, and CAC beans, AT, QT, NT, MA, CAM, DCAM, BU, you name it, it's like every one of them has a Ph.D. :grin:

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