Student-Driven Imitation as a Means to Strengthening Rhetorical Agency—Or, Propelling Quintilian’s Chapter on Imitation into Today’s Teaching

Advances in the History of Rhetoric May 2016

Student-Driven Imitation as a Means to Strengthening Rhetorical Agency—Or, Propelling Quintilian’s Chapter on Imitation into Today’s Teaching

Christina Matthiesen

Abstract

ABSTRACT Quintilian’s notion of imitation is often acclaimed for its focus on invention and appropriateness and for highlighting attunement to individual talent. Yet these aspects tend to be somewhat neglected in the practice of imitation as shaped by the classical rhetorical tradition, which primarily focuses on imitation exercises for beginners. This essay accentuates Quintilian’s chapter on imitation, which, as stressed by Murphy, is aimed at the mature student, in order to propel these precepts into today’s teaching. Specifically, this article advances a pedagogy of student-driven imitation constituted of five dimensions and characterized by the student’s own choice of text, valuing reflexive process over mirroring, and strengthening rhetorical agency. The exposition of student-driven imitation is supplemented with questions that students might address and excerpts from a student’s work.

Journal: Advances in the History of Rhetoric
Published: 2016-05-03
DOI: 10.1080/15362426.2016.1186579
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Topics: rhetorical theory multilingual writers

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Cites in this index (3)

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Also cites 3 works outside this index ↓

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Retorisk agency. Hvad skaber retorikken? [Rhetorical Agency: What Makes Rhetoric?/What Do…

Rhetorica Scandinavica ↗
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Imitation and Invention in Antiquity: A Historical-Theoretical Revision

Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric ↗
Murphy (2012)

A Short History of Writing Instruction: From Ancient Greece to Contemporary America

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