Completing her trilogy of classical approach how-to specifics, in this book Leigh Bortins' focus is on the high school student – or the rhetorical stage. Her goal is to illustrate the importance of educating our children to be conversant in all aspects of life – interpersonal as well as formally through writing or speech.
In her familiar subject-by-subject style, she discusses the pattern for each. This involves 1) invention (What should I say?), 2) arrangement (In what order should I say it?), 3) elocution (How should I say it?), 4) memory (How should memory inform my presentation?), and 5) delivery (How should I present this truth in speech and action?) These are known as the five canons of rhetoric – first identified by the ancient Greeks. Bortins takes some of the mystique out of them by pointing out that they are just ways to systematize the study of something.
The book is very readable and a good map for this last segment of a home education. Appendices include conversation games and resources as well as a list of common rhetorical devices and their definition. 267 pgs, pb. ~ Janice