Course XXXIII - Teaching 4: Formation of the Speech

Philosophical line and development of its principles.
In rhetoric, the formation of the speech is divided as follows: exordium or introduction, proposition, division, narration, argumentation or part of proof, refutation, pathetic part or of effects, epilogue or conclusion. But after a short consideration, you find that this enumeration is not proper.
Exordium: its purpose is to prepare the audience; therefore it is useless when listeners are already prepared. Cicero took advantage of this favorable mood of the audience and starts directly his famous harangue: Quousque tandem abutere Catilina patientia nostra?
Proposition: it is generally laid aside since includes though and object of the speech, and because clearly unveiled might turn the speech scholastic, and contradict its elevation and natural fluency. Division: you need it only for quite complicated matters and questions. You should lay it aside as much as possible because it spoils the unity, which is the most important part of any speech.
Narration: it is out of place in political speech in which there is a simple exposition. So, division can be absent in speech, and this often occurs. But their plan should always be present, as well as development of the prevailing idea.
So, these classical rules should be not only introduced, but also fixed on an hypothetical speech in order to discard what one feels improper, previous to our knowledge of everything.
Exordium or introduction. Its only purpose is to prepare the spirits of the listeners, so the orator takes hold of their attention, interest and goodwill in order to approach naturally the subject.
When his speech is about to start, the orator should consider and know the mood of the audience. The audience may be indifferent, favorable or contrary. If indifference prevails, your exordium should try to replace it by interest. If favorable, your introduction should increase the value of this situation. If audience is against, above all your exordium should destroy and eradicate this mood.
Any exordium should be proportional to the length of the speech, and above all, mainly clear. Nothing can prejudice as much against the orator and his eventual speech as an emphatic exordium, full of subtle thoughts, preposterous and pressing concepts, and forced sentences. If language should be natural, clear and simple, tone, gesture and face should be modest, quite destined to interest and attract attention and goodwill. Tropes and figures should be in accordance with a natural, clear and simple language.
Exordium is a part of the speech and, as such, should be intimately connected with it. Thence, as a rule, any exordium that may be laid aside is improper when its exclusion does not affect the speech as a whole.
In the opinion of certain authors, the exordium should be prepared after the preparation of the speech as a whole. This method may be useful for beginners, but it is improper and useless for those people well versed in eloquence. The latter are aware of their starting and arrival points as soon as they prepare a plan in their minds and trace the periphery that they intend to travel through.
Proposition. As we said, most time is laid aside for it is not necessary. If you use it, especially on sacred oratory, it should be short and clear in order to remain properly fixed and easily remembered by the audience, so that the latter may see it as the axis of the speech during its successive development. Division. As we said, it is rarely necessary, and you should lay it aside as much as possible because it may break seriously the unity. Please remember this: receptiveness is limited in human intelligence, and you should facilitate and pave the way to its conceptions instead of surrounding them with difficulties and shadows.
Narration. Sometimes narration goes before, and sometimes goes after certain parts of the speech. Narration should be as short as possible and, above all, highly clear, because it must be useless to the audience during the entire speech, from a continuous starting point to a continuous reference point. As for narration, the orator must be scrupulously accurate and truthful.
Argumentation. This part essentially rather deals rather logic than with eloquence. Proofs confirming the exposition and subject can be found in scientific, religious and social systems, in books, and in combined formulations. Above all, argumentation should increase the value of proofs and arguments by means of moral reflections and historic comments, all this cleverly combined and expressed.
Refutation. Naturally, certain matters, objects and cases do not admit proofs or refutation, and figures enumerated can be used to anticipate refutations to arguments that the orator has posed. This part of the speech can be generally applied rather to forum or parliament than to sacred or religious oratory; in the latter, certain parts are exceptionally contradicted, if and when they exist. Pathetic or affective part. According to rhetoric, here the author should use all his resources in relation to strength of his ideas and vehemence and color of his images as well. If in exordium he tried to reconcile the attention and goodwill of his listeners; if in narration he posed the matter with method and clarity in order to fix it at the level of every capacity; and in proofs he aimed to engrave a perfect and deep conviction on the understanding of his audience, during this time of the speech, his object should be to reach the heart and to lay aside nothing that may move it favorably; not by means of fiery emotions but of certain solemnity, by means of aristocratic vehemence, by following his inspiration and being carried away rather by his momentum than by his mental logic, but never forgetting the thread, essence and object of the speech. This phase is of conquest; previous phases were of preparation so that, at this point, the listener is prepared for a good sowing time. Epilogue or conclusion. Epilogue is just a flash in the speech as a whole, since otherwise it would be equal to a second edition of it.