IEW Classical Rhetoric Through Structure and Style

[Luann in ID]

Has anyone had a chance to look at this? Any reviews?

[MomsintheGarden]

Here's the link to the IEW listing for this book:
http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/index.php?q=product/classical-rhetoric-through-structure-and-style%3A-writing-lessons-based-progymnasmata

Just click on the bottom left where it says "RBW Sample.pdf" to download a 14-page sample.

HTH,
Garden Mom

[Luann in ID]

Thanks. I looked at the sample last night. I was just wondering if anyone had seen the whole deal, or better yet, had used it and can comment. From the sample, it looks like continued emphasis on the dress-ups, which is a little surprising at this level. I ordered it anyway because we've never been disappointed with IEW, and it's what we're used to.

[laughing lioness]

Hi Luann,
My 18 yo dd is using it this year. It does cover all 9 units so there is some repetition. As Andrew P says, don't get stuck on stuff you already know. We've used IEW for several years and both she and I are learning new skills from this book.
The check list for lessons 8,9,10 are
Presentation: Title, name, date, clearly presented.
Mechanics: indent, complete sentences, capitals, punctuation
Style Tools: underline dress-ups (1 of each),# sentence openers, no banned wds, topic/clincher rule
Rhetoric (frequency- once per composition): did the passage contain a proverb?, correlative conjunction, polysyndeton/asyndeton
Sentence Openers: 6 listed- once per para.
Dress-ups: 8 listed incluL dual adj, parallelism, and dual strong verbs (once per para).
There are 31 lessons total and by the end the kids are using style tools that include lead-in to quotation and triple extension and rhetoric that includes: anthimeria, anadiplosis, metonymy/synecdoche, antimetabole, asterismos, chiasmus; sentence openers, dress-ups, decorations, Introductions and conclusions.
Like all of the theme based books it's easy to follow with clear explanations. Source texts include Homer, Livy and Shakespeare with a complete rhetorical analysis of the Gettysburg Address.
It's good stuff:) lmk if you want more specifics or have other ?'s

[In The Great White North]

Thank you very much!

I'm interested in all the details you care to provide.

We haven't done any of the theme based books. Ds(17) is watching TWSS this semster and I'm thinking about using Classical Rhetoric next semester.

I suppose it's too much to hope for a DVD version? I didn't see any on the website.

[Luann in ID]

Hi Luann,
My 18 yo dd is using it this year. It does cover all 9 units so there is some repetition. As Andrew P says, don't get stuck on stuff you already know. We've used IEW for several years and both she and I are learning new skills from this book.
The check list for lessons 8,9,10 are
Presentation: Title, name, date, clearly presented.
Mechanics: indent, complete sentences, capitals, punctuation
Style Tools: underline dress-ups (1 of each),# sentence openers, no banned wds, topic/clincher rule
Rhetoric (frequency- once per composition): did the passage contain a proverb?, correlative conjunction, polysyndeton/asyndeton
Sentence Openers: 6 listed- once per para.
Dress-ups: 8 listed incluL dual adj, parallelism, and dual strong verbs (once per para).
There are 31 lessons total and by the end the kids are using style tools that include lead-in to quotation and triple extension and rhetoric that includes: anthimeria, anadiplosis, metonymy/synecdoche, antimetabole, asterismos, chiasmus; sentence openers, dress-ups, decorations, Introductions and conclusions.
Like all of the theme based books it's easy to follow with clear explanations. Source texts include Homer, Livy and Shakespeare with a complete rhetorical analysis of the Gettysburg Address.
It's good stuff:) lmk if you want more specifics or have other ?'s

Lisa,
It's encouraging to hear from someone who has used IEW for years and is finding this course beneficial. I got the book in the mail on Friday (I ordered directly from IEW. Such fast shipping!) and had a chance to look over it while I waited for the older boys to take their SAT. WOW! I am so glad I got this course. I spent the summer looking over two other rhetoric books and felt like I was drowning. There was no way I was going to be able to pull those off. But, Classical Rhetoric through Structure and Style looks like something we can actually do. I love the source choices, the gentle step-by-step instruction, all of it. We started today. Thanks so much for posting.

[laughing lioness]

Yep, I'm a happy IEW user! Glad it looks like it will be a good fit, Luann!
IEW hasn't made Dvd's of any theme-based books so I wouldn't expect one on this. My dd has been able to do it mainly on her own so once your student understands TWSS it should be self-explanatory