Rhetoric Gym
from Celebrate Creativity Hosted by George Bartley
Send us Fan Mail GEORGE (to mic, playful): All right. Confession Some people hear the phrase “rhetorical devices” and immediately reach for the nearest exit sign. But over the years I have learned that rhetorical devices are not decorations. They’re not lace on the edge of language. They’re engines. They’re how a speaker makes an audience feel the truth— even when the truth is… being negotiated. And Shakespeare? Shakespeare wasn’t born with a quill in his hand. He was trained. Today we walk into the rhetoric gym. GEORGE: And we’re going to meet the young Shakespeare as he learns the craft of making words do things. But first GEORGE: This is Celebrate Creativity. I’m George Bartley. This series blends historical research with fiction and imagined conversations. Not a documentary, not advice. Today: the schooling that made Shakespeare’s language possible—and how those rhetorical “moves” show up in the plays like fingerprints. Now Picture it: a grammar school. from at least six o'clock in the morning to 6 o'clock at night Monday through Saturday. Repetition that drills itself into the mind. Latin. Translation. Memorization. Imitation. Not because the world is kind, but because the world is competitive. A boy learns to hold language in his mouth like a tool—and to sharpen it. GEORGE: Master Shakespeare—be honest. Was Learning about rhetoric miserable? SHAKESPEARE (pleasant, sardonic): It was character-building. GEORGE: That’s what people say when it was miserable. Support the show Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.
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Send us Fan Mail GEORGE (to mic, playful): All right. Confession Some people hear the phrase “rhetorical devices” and immediately reach for the nearest exit sign. But over the years I have learned that rhetorical devices are not decorations. They’re not lace on the edge of language. They’re engines. They’re how a speaker makes an audience feel the truth— even when the truth is… being negotiated. And Shakespeare? Shakespeare wasn’t born with a quill in his hand. He was trained. Today we ...
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