After ensuring our children are acquiring "Copia" through literature, intelligent conversation, and systematic vocabulary study, we can then focus on the Progymnasmata, or the "before exercises." While copia is designed to teach our children many ways to say the same thing, the first two Progym stages (Fable and Narrative) are designed to provide them with tools of description. Vivid descriptions create an image in the mind of the reader and every successful literary author has learned to do this well.
Remember that the best writing engages both the intellect and the imagination. Though we easily recognize the importance of the imagination in narrative, we often forget its significance in argumentation. The more effectively you create images in your audience's mind, the more likely they are to remember and be persuaded by your reasoning. However, the place to begin learning to communicate vivid images is with narratives...later on, these skills of description will transfer to the more advanced stages of rhetoric, such as refuting or confirming arguments, etc.
How do we train young students in Progymnasmata? First of all, we teach them names and definitions of particular "Figures of Description." Naming and defining, though often ridiculed in modern educational theory, is the most fundamental form of knowledge - think about toddlers learning to talk...they don't begin by forming and verbalizing a rational thought, but by naming things. This constitutes the primary step of "taking dominion" over a thing. "What is it?" and "What is it called?" not only precede, but are essential for securing abstract understanding of the thing named.
Secondly, we identify superior examples of these Figures of Description in real literature, so students recognize how the masters use words to create pictures. During this process, both you and your students may begin to realize that astute powers of observation are necessary to create vivid descriptions and how very dull many of our senses have become. The awakening of our senses requires discipline...the formation of new habits which can be practiced in everyday situations. In order to vividly describe facial expressions, one must actually pay attention to others' features and responses. To communicate personality, one must attend to habits of dress, gait, gesture, posture, speech, etc. Observation is a vital prerequisite to creating vivid descriptions.
Traditionally, when asked to describe an object, place or event, students tend to resort to adjectives...afterall, they ARE "describing" words. C.S. Lewis writes, in one of his Letters to Children: "In writing - Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was 'terrible,' describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say, 'it was delightful,' make us say 'delightful' when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, 'Please, will you do my job for me?'" Teaching and modeling the various Figures of Description will lead students away from excessive use of adjectives, while providing tools for "showing" rather than "telling."
More next time on actual Figures of Description and how to practice them...
How do we train young students in Progymnasmata? First of all, we teach them names and definitions of particular "Figures of Description." Naming and defining, though often ridiculed in modern educational theory, is the most fundamental form of knowledge - think about toddlers learning to talk...they don't begin by forming and verbalizing a rational thought, but by naming things. This constitutes the primary step of "taking dominion" over a thing. "What is it?" and "What is it called?" not only precede, but are essential for securing abstract understanding of the thing named.
Secondly, we identify superior examples of these Figures of Description in real literature, so students recognize how the masters use words to create pictures. During this process, both you and your students may begin to realize that astute powers of observation are necessary to create vivid descriptions and how very dull many of our senses have become. The awakening of our senses requires discipline...the formation of new habits which can be practiced in everyday situations. In order to vividly describe facial expressions, one must actually pay attention to others' features and responses. To communicate personality, one must attend to habits of dress, gait, gesture, posture, speech, etc. Observation is a vital prerequisite to creating vivid descriptions.
Traditionally, when asked to describe an object, place or event, students tend to resort to adjectives...afterall, they ARE "describing" words. C.S. Lewis writes, in one of his Letters to Children: "In writing - Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was 'terrible,' describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say, 'it was delightful,' make us say 'delightful' when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, 'Please, will you do my job for me?'" Teaching and modeling the various Figures of Description will lead students away from excessive use of adjectives, while providing tools for "showing" rather than "telling."
More next time on actual Figures of Description and how to practice them...
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