| Synopsis: |
Quintilian's method is based on the interrelationship between speaking, reading, and writing. Murphy lists and defines the main elements that appear in the Institutio oratorio. Each of these elements--Precept, Imitation, Composition Exercises, Declamation, and Sequencing--is further subdivided according to goals and exercises. The first two books of the Institutio oratorio concern the early education of the orator, with the focus on the interplay between seen-language and heard-language. Book Ten is an adult's commentary on the instruction of rhetoric. It involves itself primarily with facilitas, the readiness to use language in any situation. |