Maybe you will find these funny, more likely you will think:
why did he spend his time doing this? The answer, he was avoiding finishing the
last two questions on the exam. :)
The test reimagined as though Harry Potter had been on
our reading list.
# 1
What might have caused Cicero to believe that his On the
Ideal Orator was superior in style and quality to J.K. Rowling’s Harry
Potter series? Compare the two in terms of their style and readability.
# 2
Between Hermagoras, Hermogenes and Hermione, whose style do you
believe has the most charms? Be sure to indicate an understanding of the differences
and similarities between a stasis system and a stasis spell.
# 3
Do you suppose that Tacitus’ birth as a squib was what
motivated him to reject magic/rhetoric and become a historian? Do you feel that
his attitude was of the ‘sour grapes’ variety?
# 4
When Cicero first discovered that ‘rhetoric’ was really a
code word for magic in ancient texts, he remarked: “Rhetoric without magic has
been of little help to states, but magic without rhetoric has often been a
great obstacle and never an advantage…” Consider whether Harry Potter and his contemporaries
might have benefited from the ability to give speeches that lasted for hours
and entrapped their audiences using spellbinding language.
# 5
Consider how St. Augustine used ‘rhetoric’ to convert the
muggles to Christianity. Why do you think he focused on the non-magical aspects
of rhetoric? Do you think that these aspects of rhetoric are the closest thing
to magic for a muggle?
Bonus Question:
Compare the Latin terms used by Rowling in
Harry Potter to describe magical spells to the Latin terms used in textbooks to
describe the Roman rhetorical system, note any similarities. If you had to
choose between the ability to cast an “engorgio” charm and the ability to
conduct a “copia” speech, which would
you choose?
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