particularly in the corporate workplace. The five canons discussed in this paper are Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory and Delivery.
In this discussion, it is aimed to shoot at one of the five canons of classical rhetoric, which is arrangement. Arrangement is simply the
organization of a speech or text to ensure maximum persuasion. Classical rhetoricians divided a speech into six different parts, they are
introduction exordium, statement of facts narratio, proof confirmatio, refutation refutatio,and conclusion peroration.
As a president, William Jefferson Clinton is known for his great speeches in any occasion. President Clinton has no doubt in deciding to
which purpose of speech he would like to address to audience. Moreover, President Clinton managed to make a neat arrangement of
classical rhetoric speech in his two apology speeches I Misled and I Have Sinned
.
a. Introduction exordium
Introduction makes the topic that the speaker is going to deliver is known by the audience. It is clear that the main goal of introduction
is to announce the subject or the purpose of speeches , for instance to persuade, to teach, to praise, to apologise. The example is below:
This afternoon in this room, from this chair, I testified before the Office of Independent Counsel and the grand jury.
SP0200:08-00:15 As you know, in a deposition in January, I was asked
questions about my relationship with Monica Lewinsky. SP0600:35-00:42
The examples above were delivered by President Clinton to address to which gravity of topic he would like to deliver in his
apology speech. President Clinton introduced the topic by opening the topic of what happened in that afternoon which might be seen by
the society.
b. Statement of Facts narrate
The main goal of statement of facts is to provide enough information for the audience to understand the context of the
speaker‘s arguments. If the rhetoric‘s goal is to persuade people to adopt a certain course of action, the speaker has to convince the
audience that there is a problem that needs to be addressed, for instance. Here is the example:
I answered their questions truthfully, including questions about my private life, questions no American citizen would
ever want to answer. SP0300:16-00:25
The fact that these questions were being asked in a politically inspired lawsuit, which has since been dismissed, was a
consideration, too. SP1801:49-01:57
In data SP0300:16-00:25 and SP1801:49-01:57, it was clear that the speaker tried to convince the audience that there were
problems that needed to be addressed. In data SP0300:16-00:25, President Clinton tried to convince his people that the condition at
that time was very hard for him. Moreover it was the matter of his private life. While in data SP1801:49-01:57, President Clinton
tried to convince the people that the counsel investigation team had gone too far in interfering his life that was considered as a political
attempt to make his position in danger.
c. Division partitio
