Not seeing the wood for Daforest

This article exemplifies and promotes the teaching rhetoric in secondary English classrooms. Looking to the ancient past provides valuable lessons for teachers and students today. The wisdom of philosopher Aristotle, lawyer Cicero and schoolmaster Quintilian remains relevant, particularly for crafting sound argumentation, effective persuasion and compelling delivery. At a time when all citizens are bombarded with advertising, fake news and populist propaganda, rhetoric cultivates critical literacy. Understanding how to deconstruct the argumentation of others, as well as to construct articulate self-expression equips every citizen with the capacity to negotiate, deliberate and disagree agreeably. “DAFOREST” is shown to be a diluted, distracting and misleading interpretation of ancient rhetorical advice. Holmes-Henderson argues for its immediate discontinuation and, instead, advocates for a richer and more authentic approach to persuasive writing and oracy, namely the ancient rhetorical method

Discourse analysis · Higher education · Literal and figurative language · Rhetoric · Story telling · Teaching method · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning