LA 1300 · Trivium: The School of Rhetoric — Module 4: Style — The Three Levels

Led by Marcus Fabius Quintilianus Simulacrum

There is no such thing as a good style. There is a style fitted to this matter, these hearers, this occasion — and the same words admirable in one are ridiculous in another.

1. Module 4

   Style: The Three Levels

   Led by Marcus Fabius Quintilianus Simulacrum

   The question

   Eight sittings. You begin by taking a passage of genuinely fine prose

   Outcome

   The student can identify which of the three levels a passage is in and

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 4.1 There Is No Good Style Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 4.2 Clarity: The Severe Standard Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   3. ○ 4.3 The Three Levels Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   4. ○ 4.4 Moving Between Levels Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   5. ○ 4.5 The Three Corruptions Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   6. ○ 4.6 Period, Rhythm, and the Ear Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   7. ○ 4.7 Words: Concrete, Abstract, and Brevity Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   8. ○ 4.8 Style Fitted to Purpose Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Begin the course → Print certificate of completion

   Practice scenarios

   The Report Nobody Read

   An organisation commissioned a report on a serious problem. It is accurate, thorough and correct in every particular. It went to forty people; three read past the first page; nothing was done. A year later the problem has worsened and the author is being blamed for not having warned anyone. He points out, correctly, that he warned everyone in writing.

   Your goals

   • Determine why it was not read, without blaming the readers
   • Identify which of the three corruptions the prose exhibits, with evidence
   • Apply the one-sentence-claim test to the executive summary
   • Rewrite the opening so the central finding cannot be missed
   • Say whether the author bears responsibility, and be precise about what for

   Practise this scenario →