After having distinguished the two main contexts for the transmission of knowledge – the esoteric and exoteric – the paper offers a systematic comparison between scientific and popular science texts in terms of inventio, dispositio and elocutio. The popular science texts tend to present knowledge in anthropocentric terms, showing the relevance of the message to the recipients’ everyday lives. They turn out to be shorter than genuine scientific texts, and this is achieved, in part, by eliminating information about the methodologies used. The user-friendly vocabulary offers the audience a sense of familiarity with the presented topic, which is, however, different from in-depth specialist knowledge.
After having distinguished the two main contexts for the transmission of knowledge – the esoteric and exoteric – the paper offers a systematic comparison between scientific and popular science texts in terms of inventio, dispositio and elocutio. The popular science texts tend to present knowledge in anthropocentric terms, showing the relevance of the message to the recipients’ everyday lives. They turn out to be shorter than genuine scientific texts, and this is achieved, among others, by eliminating information about the methodologies used. The user-friendly vocabulary offers the audience a sense of familiarity with the presented topic, which is, however, different from in-depth specialist knowledge.
After having distinguished the two main contexts for the transmission of knowledge – the esoteric and exoteric – the paper offers a systematic comparison between scientific and popular science texts in terms of inventio, dispositio and elocutio. The popular science texts tend to present knowledge in anthropocentric terms, showing the relevance of the message to the recipients’ everyday lives. They turn out to be shorter than genuine scientific texts, and this is achieved, in part, by eliminating information about the methodologies used. The user-friendly vocabulary offers the audience a sense of familiarity with the presented topic, which is, however, different from in-depth specialist knowledge.
This paper is part of a triptych devoted to the most significant work by Martin Kromer and it is an attempt to answer why Martin Kromer is called Polish Livy. This paper presents an analysis of Kromer’s style in his De origine et rebus gestis Polonorum libri XXX . The analysis is intended to determine if Kromer’s style meets the requirements imposed on historical treatises by Ancient and Renaissance theorists of historiography. By juxtaposing the analysis of Kromer’s style against theories of historiography, the author manages to prove that Kromer met all the major requirements concerning the style of a historical work. Taking into account the other two texts of the triptych, devoted to the protagonist and the narrative of Kromer’s work, one can justifiably claim that he deserves to be named Polish Livy.
The rhetorical art is the skill of speaking well, it is useful, it is an art, and it has virtus. The Greek concept of fra;sivj is rendered by Roman authors as elocutio, i.e. style. Quintilian believes clarity of speech is the basic element of good style. Words should be apt, order – direct, conclusion – not too distant, and everything should have adequate proportions. Words should be selected depending on the context. The words used in a metaphorical sense gain appreciation only in a specific context. Ability to present facts clearly and vividly is a great asset. Even the natural and unsophisticated simplicity, which the Greeks call a]fe;leia, contains some decorativeness, while punctilious scrupulosity in adhering to grammatical correctness gives the impression of sophistication and subtlety. The real power of the speaker lies in his ability to strengthen or weaken the power of words. The last, sixth chapter of book eight contains Quintilian’s thoughts on the rhetorical tropes. A trope (tro;povj) is an artistic (cum virtute) change of a word or an expression from the original and proper one to another.
In the second book of Institutio oratoria Quintilian contemplates the definition and nature of rhetoric. The lecture on rhetoric can be divided into three parts: on art (ars), master (artifex), work (opus). The most common definition of rhetoric can be summed up as the power of persuasion (vis persuadendi). Every element of rhetoric changes with the content of the cases, the times, the circumstances, the needs. No law proposals, no resolutions passed by the people constituted the noble rules of rhetoric; they were formed by practice. If utility will advise us to do something different, we should follow such advice and not be constrained by the authority of the former masters. The important virtue (virtus) of the teacher is to take into consideration the different talents of every student and to discover their natural predispositions. In Quintilian’s definition the speaker and his art are not dependent on the effect. Though a speaker aims for victory, then even if he lost the case he still achieved the goal of his art, provided that he spoke honestly.
The paper presents the analysis of Józef Beck’s parliamentary speech on 5 May 1939, showing its characteristics as well as its unique value in different facets of the speaker’s creative act. Accordingly, the paper has been divided into seven sections. The first one provides a historical outline and an attempt to reconstruct the background of the keynote address by the minister of foreign affairs. The second one characterises Beck as a diplomat, allowing to understand the person who adopted a role of public speaker in Poland under an imminent threat of war with the German Reich. The third one introduces some details on how the chief of diplomacy prepared himself for delivering a definite statement of his policy. The fourth, fifth and sixth sections contain the actual analysis of the text presented to listeners, and also examine how the speaker complied with the principles of the rhetorical art on the consecutive stages (inventio, dispositio, elocutio) of creating a text as intended to be delivered. Finally, the seventh section of this study briefly summarizes how the stages of memoria and actio, i. e. memorising and giving the speech, were conducted, according to the audiovisual record of Beck’s address delivered in the Polish Sejm.
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