Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Source Suggestion: Rhetoric in the Medieval Ages by James Murphy

Raise your hand if you’re writing about rhetoric! Somebody? Anybody? Dana? Well, regardless, I am going to tell you about this resource because it has been extremely useful for my research process and I believe it will continue to be relevant as I continue writing the long paper. Whitworth’s Catalog has a physical copy of Murphy’s text (full title, Rhetoric in the Medieval Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory from Saint Augustine to the Renaissance), but please note that I currently have it checked out. Let me know if you’re interested in it, and we can arrange a swap.

After spending about one hundred pages discussing the implications ancient rhetorical theory has upon medieval rhetorical theory, Murphy discusses the three major “Medieval Rhetorical Genres”: verse-writing, letter-writing, and preaching. Writing about pilgrims who are clergymen (especially the Parson)? “Ars praedicandi: The Art of Preaching” is the chapter for you. If you choose to do a rhetorical reading of the Canterbury Tales or the N-Town Plays (or at least incorporate a rhetorical reading), then this book will help you find the means to do so.

Still unconvinced? The (super helpful) index has the following listings that may be of interest to some of you:

  • Authority (general, and theme, Scriptural, as support, etc.): 20+ listings
  • Chaucer, Geoffrey: 5 listings
  • Exegesis: 4 listings
  • Narration: 20+ listings
  • Preaching: 60+ listings
  • Preaching Theory: 9 listings
  • Scriptural quotations: 6 listings

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