Definition:
Preliminary rhetorical exercises that introduce students to basic rhetorical concepts and strategies. In classical rhetorical training, the progymnasmata were "structured so that the student moved from strict imitation to a more artistic melding of the often disparate concerns of speaker, subject, and audience" (O'Rourke, "Progymnasmata," in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition, 1996). See also:
Etymology:
From the Greek, "before" + "exercises"The Exercises
This list of 14 exercises is drawn from the progymnasmata handbook written by Aphthonius of Antioch, a fourth century rhetorician.- fable
- narrative
- anecdote (chreia)
- proverb (maxim)
- refutation
- confirmation
- commonplace
- encomium
- invective
- comparison
- characterization (impersonation)
- description
- thesis (theme)
- defend/attack a law (deliberation)
Observations:
- "Alone among the Greek authors of progymnasmata [Theon] describes classroom methods consisting of oral reading, listening, memorizing, paraphrasing, elaborating, and contradicting what has been read."
(George A. Kennedy, Progymnasmata, Brill, 2003) - "The progymnasmata remained popular for so long because they are carefully sequenced: they begin with simple paraphrases . . . and end with sophisticated exercises in deliberative and forensic [also known as judicial] rhetoric. Each successive exercise uses a skill practiced in the preceding one, but each adds some new and more difficult composing task. Ancient teachers were fond of comparing the graded difficulty of the progymnasmata to the exercise used by Milo of Croton to gradually increase his strength: Milo lifted a calf each day. Each day the calf grew heavier, and each day his strength grew. He continued to lift the calf until it became a bull."
(Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee, Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004)
Pronunciation: pro gim NAHS ma ta
Also Known As: gymnasma
