COMM 3600- Exam 1 Questions and Answers Fully Solved Latest Version 2025-2026
Corax - AnswersOn the island of Sicily in 5th century BC, he offered to teach individuals how to make
their cases in the courts so they could win their claims for family land when Hieron died. His approach to
teaching rhetoric became a model for other teachers throughout Greece, particularly those in Athens
Gorgias - AnswersOne of the earliest and most famous orators and teachers of rhetoric, boasted he
could persuade anyone of anything at anytime, regarded persuasion as "an art of deception,"
considered rhetoric to be magical or supernatural; emphasis on speaking style, using rhetorical devices
to captivate audiences
Protagoras - AnswersHe was important to developing the philosophy underlying rhetorical practices,
taught a practical approach to reasoning, taught that contradictory arguments are possible on every
issue; a logos (argument) and an antilogos (counterargument).
Isocrates - AnswersA native Athenian who taught rhetoric in Athens, but disapproved of much of what
Sophists such as Gorgias and Protagoras taught, was famous as a teacher, but not as a speaker, served
as a logographos or speechwriter for the courtroom, had a weak voice so could not command audience
attention in public speaking, maintained that Areté (virtue) could not be taught, he did set high moral
standards for students, the essence of rhetoric was sound arguments; thematic and pragmatic, taught
his students what we would recognize today as a liberal arts education.
Aspasia - AnswersWhile women in ancient Greece were barred from citizenship and prohibited from
making speeches, there is one woman who has a bearing on the development of rhetoric, she lived in
the 5th century BCE and was Pericles' companion who was considered to be one of Greece's greatest
generals and orators, there are claims that she wrote Pericles' Funeral Oration, the Greek term for
women like her was hetaera or courtesan. These women were different in that they were often
educated, appeared in public and even gave speeches, socrates makes reference to having been taught
rhetoric by her, and it is suggested in some writings that it is she that invented dialectic argument or the
Socratic Method
The Sophists - AnswersCame to Athens with a promise to provide training in rhetoric; they were
different in that they would provide training to any family who could afford it, not just to the aristocracy;
because of them training in rhetoric became the foundation of education in Athens.
Socrates - AnswersPlato's teacher, believed in Philosophy and the search for Truth, distrusted Athenian
democracy, was hostile towards the Sophists, and skeptical about rhetoric as a true art, believed there is
a difference between true knowledge (episteme) and "mere belief" (pistis), rhetoric substitutes true
knowledge for mere belief in the swaying of public opinion, he is concerned that Sophists such as
Gorgias teach justice without any understanding of justice.
Plato - AnswersHe is one of the most important philosophers of ancient Greece, he was a student of
Socrates, the most important and famous philosopher of all time.
, In his dialogues, Socrates is the protagonist, believed the purpose of philosophy was the search for
Truth, and the process of dialectic or the Socratic Method was the means by which ideas and issues
were examined until Truth was finally revealed; philosophy was the only real path to knowledge.
Lysias - AnswersFound in Plato's The Phaedrus, he was a Sophist and famous orator that gave a speech
on love; the main argument of his speech is that the nonlover is to be preferred over the lover.
Aristotle - AnswersHe was Plato's most famous pupil, educated at Plato's Academy, he was trained in
the Socratic dialectic and to believe that Philosophy and the search for Truth was the most noble art and
the highest calling one could pursue, he studied and wrote on the arts, sciences, politics, and on
rhetoric, his "On Rhetoric" is arguably the most important of the classical works that survive from
Ancient Greece, he began to question some of Plato's teachings, particularly his teachings on rhetoric, in
fact, the opening line of On Rhetoric is a direct shot at Plato's teachings on Philosophy. The first
sentence in Aristotle's "On Rhetoric" claims that "Rhetoric is the counterpart of dialectic," to say that
rhetoric is the counterpart of dialectic is to say that it is equal to philosophy as an art or academic
discipline.
Syracuse - AnswersRhetoric, as a systematic discipline is traced back to a Greek city on the island of Sicily
and a teacher named Corax in the 5th century B.C.E.
Athens - AnswersThere are some features about this city that made it very hospitable to education in
rhetoric and training in public speaking. It was a Greek city-state or "polis", the form of government was
a democracy, all citizens participated in the governance, while definition of "citizen" was limited, it was
expanded from just the aristocracy to include more of the "middle class" and because of the need for
citizens to actively participate in the daily affairs, education of future citizens was important.
The Athenian Assembly (legislature) - AnswersDecisions about Athenian policy were made by this, a
body made up of citizens chosen by lot. Meeting perhaps 40 times each year, this listened to speeches
on a wide range of topics; gaining and holding attention of this several hundred-member body involved
considerable rhetorical skill
The Athenian Courts - AnswersAn Athenian trial consisted of two speeches- one of prosecution, the
other of defense- and the jury of several hundred members did not deliberate but simply voted; there
were no attorneys in the modern sense of the term, so a citizen had to speak for himself
Doxa - AnswersA belief or opinion; also mere opinion
Demos - AnswersThe people
Pistis - AnswersMere belief
Areté - AnswersAn ability to manage one's personal affairs in an intelligent manner and to succeed in
public life; excellence; natural leadership ability; virtue; a component of ethos
Corax - AnswersOn the island of Sicily in 5th century BC, he offered to teach individuals how to make
their cases in the courts so they could win their claims for family land when Hieron died. His approach to
teaching rhetoric became a model for other teachers throughout Greece, particularly those in Athens
Gorgias - AnswersOne of the earliest and most famous orators and teachers of rhetoric, boasted he
could persuade anyone of anything at anytime, regarded persuasion as "an art of deception,"
considered rhetoric to be magical or supernatural; emphasis on speaking style, using rhetorical devices
to captivate audiences
Protagoras - AnswersHe was important to developing the philosophy underlying rhetorical practices,
taught a practical approach to reasoning, taught that contradictory arguments are possible on every
issue; a logos (argument) and an antilogos (counterargument).
Isocrates - AnswersA native Athenian who taught rhetoric in Athens, but disapproved of much of what
Sophists such as Gorgias and Protagoras taught, was famous as a teacher, but not as a speaker, served
as a logographos or speechwriter for the courtroom, had a weak voice so could not command audience
attention in public speaking, maintained that Areté (virtue) could not be taught, he did set high moral
standards for students, the essence of rhetoric was sound arguments; thematic and pragmatic, taught
his students what we would recognize today as a liberal arts education.
Aspasia - AnswersWhile women in ancient Greece were barred from citizenship and prohibited from
making speeches, there is one woman who has a bearing on the development of rhetoric, she lived in
the 5th century BCE and was Pericles' companion who was considered to be one of Greece's greatest
generals and orators, there are claims that she wrote Pericles' Funeral Oration, the Greek term for
women like her was hetaera or courtesan. These women were different in that they were often
educated, appeared in public and even gave speeches, socrates makes reference to having been taught
rhetoric by her, and it is suggested in some writings that it is she that invented dialectic argument or the
Socratic Method
The Sophists - AnswersCame to Athens with a promise to provide training in rhetoric; they were
different in that they would provide training to any family who could afford it, not just to the aristocracy;
because of them training in rhetoric became the foundation of education in Athens.
Socrates - AnswersPlato's teacher, believed in Philosophy and the search for Truth, distrusted Athenian
democracy, was hostile towards the Sophists, and skeptical about rhetoric as a true art, believed there is
a difference between true knowledge (episteme) and "mere belief" (pistis), rhetoric substitutes true
knowledge for mere belief in the swaying of public opinion, he is concerned that Sophists such as
Gorgias teach justice without any understanding of justice.
Plato - AnswersHe is one of the most important philosophers of ancient Greece, he was a student of
Socrates, the most important and famous philosopher of all time.
, In his dialogues, Socrates is the protagonist, believed the purpose of philosophy was the search for
Truth, and the process of dialectic or the Socratic Method was the means by which ideas and issues
were examined until Truth was finally revealed; philosophy was the only real path to knowledge.
Lysias - AnswersFound in Plato's The Phaedrus, he was a Sophist and famous orator that gave a speech
on love; the main argument of his speech is that the nonlover is to be preferred over the lover.
Aristotle - AnswersHe was Plato's most famous pupil, educated at Plato's Academy, he was trained in
the Socratic dialectic and to believe that Philosophy and the search for Truth was the most noble art and
the highest calling one could pursue, he studied and wrote on the arts, sciences, politics, and on
rhetoric, his "On Rhetoric" is arguably the most important of the classical works that survive from
Ancient Greece, he began to question some of Plato's teachings, particularly his teachings on rhetoric, in
fact, the opening line of On Rhetoric is a direct shot at Plato's teachings on Philosophy. The first
sentence in Aristotle's "On Rhetoric" claims that "Rhetoric is the counterpart of dialectic," to say that
rhetoric is the counterpart of dialectic is to say that it is equal to philosophy as an art or academic
discipline.
Syracuse - AnswersRhetoric, as a systematic discipline is traced back to a Greek city on the island of Sicily
and a teacher named Corax in the 5th century B.C.E.
Athens - AnswersThere are some features about this city that made it very hospitable to education in
rhetoric and training in public speaking. It was a Greek city-state or "polis", the form of government was
a democracy, all citizens participated in the governance, while definition of "citizen" was limited, it was
expanded from just the aristocracy to include more of the "middle class" and because of the need for
citizens to actively participate in the daily affairs, education of future citizens was important.
The Athenian Assembly (legislature) - AnswersDecisions about Athenian policy were made by this, a
body made up of citizens chosen by lot. Meeting perhaps 40 times each year, this listened to speeches
on a wide range of topics; gaining and holding attention of this several hundred-member body involved
considerable rhetorical skill
The Athenian Courts - AnswersAn Athenian trial consisted of two speeches- one of prosecution, the
other of defense- and the jury of several hundred members did not deliberate but simply voted; there
were no attorneys in the modern sense of the term, so a citizen had to speak for himself
Doxa - AnswersA belief or opinion; also mere opinion
Demos - AnswersThe people
Pistis - AnswersMere belief
Areté - AnswersAn ability to manage one's personal affairs in an intelligent manner and to succeed in
public life; excellence; natural leadership ability; virtue; a component of ethos
