The Office of Assertion: An Art of Rhetoric for the Academic Essay

by Scott F. Crider

A frivolous argument or inflated claim is often dismissed with the reply, "That's just rhetoric!" But as Scott Crider explains in The Office of Assertion, the classical tradition of rhetoric is both a productive and a liberal art. The ability to employ rhetoric successfully can enable the student, as an effective communicator, to reflect qualities of soul through argument. In that sense, rhetoric is much more than a technical skill. Crider addresses the intelligent university student with respect and humor. This short but serious book is informed by both the ancient rhetorical tradition and recent discoveries concerning the writing process. Though practical, it is not simply a "how-to" manual; though philosophical, it never loses sight of writing itself. Crider combines practical guidance about how to improve an academic essay with reflection on the final purposes—educational, political, and philosophical—of such improvement.

Genres: Writing, Education, Nonfiction, Philosophy, School, Reference, Academic

168 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

Scott Crider is the Associate Dean of Constantin College and Professor of English at the University of Dallas.

He earned a B.A. and M.A. from California State University, Sacramento, and a Ph.D. from University of California, Riverside.

His research interests include Shakespeare, Rhetoric and Composition, and the Rhetorical Tradition, Ancient and Modern.

Reviews

[Meghan Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m reading this book for the Circe teaching apprenticeship. I think it deserves 5 stars for its general organization/clarity and its message. I gave it 4 because I would have loved to cut the organization and style chapters in half and say, “Read incessantly and then all of this will come intuitively!” But I know that’s not really reasonable. Still, those chapters were a slog for me at times. I’m hoping as we continue to study the book together, my appreciation for those chapters will grow.

[Matt Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a book. Crider offers an insightful, clear, and practical guide to writing well. But this book is so much more than a guide to writing. It is an apologia for rhetoric as both a skill and a way of being. Crider understands that education is about the formation of the mind, imagination, and affections and he situates writing within that grand educational vision. A remarkable and useful and easy read.

A favorite quote: "An education for economic productivity and political utility alone is an education for slaves, but an education for finding, collecting, and communicating reality is an education for free people, people free to know what is so. Remember, knowing the real is a good before it is a power" (123).

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crider, Scott. The Office of Assertion. Wilmington, DE: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2005.

It’s risky writing a book on rhetoric. One (perhaps unfairly) expects it to be a prime example of rhetorical flourish. If it isn’t, then the book is seen as inadequate. This volume is somewhere in the middle. It has a weak beginning but ends quite strongly and covers the necessary points.

It cannot function as a stand-alone text on rhetoric, but in conjunction with other texts, which he does list, it is quite useful.

Rhetoric isn’t just pretty words masking a weak argument. It includes the very structure of the argument, even its literary shape. This is perhaps the main strength of the book. Further, he guides you in how to write a good argument, as we shall see.

Questions to ask as you develop an argument:

(1) Can I define x? What are its general and specific characteristics?
(2) How do X and Y compare?
(3) What is the relationship between x and y? This is analysis. Sometimes students will ask, “What do you mean that we should analyze the text?” Show the relations.

Organization

Classical Oration, the parts.
1. Introduction
Types of introduction
Inquisitive
Paradoxical
Narrative
Corrective
Preparatory
2. Statement of circumstance
3. The outline
4. The proof
5. The refutation
6. The conclusion

Style

We want to aim as something like a coordinating style, or what Richard Weaver calls an equilibrium of forces. This is particularly achieved in the KJV of Ecclesiastes 2:4-11. Richard Weaver suggests a judicious use of the balanced compound sentence.

A subordinate clause introduces a level of complexity in your argument. If you want to see the compound-complex clause in its perfection, read Jane Austen.

In all cases, don’t be afraid to use parallelism, in which Samuel Johnson is the master. And if you use a string of parallelisms in a paragraph, have the first be self-evident and the following as allusions upon the first (which Johnson does in his preface on Shakespeare).

The book isn’t perfect and towards the end it relies much on Richard Weaver. That is no fault. More people should rely on Richard Weaver’s writings on rhetoric. The book is a quick read that addresses some basic concerns.

[Kiara Aldana · Rating 5 out of 5]

An appropriate, precise, concise and vivid rhetoric manual beautifully structured and logically chariotted. Crider interconnects the three canons, invention, organization and style, within a lucid microcosmic order, heeding truth over rules and love over power.

“We are speaking where we stand, and we shall strand afterward in the presence of what we have said.” (Wendell Berry)

Such a pithy open remark remain on the profound enigmas at the heart of rhetoric. Like a sip of the communion wine, man’s thirst of assertion is his prime satisfaction and greatest mystery. “Words strain, / crack and sometimes break, under the burden, / under the tension, slip, slide, perish, / Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place, / Will not stay still” and yet a strange unheard music conducts our decaying instruments to unlikely achievement of their unworthy end, for “Only by the form, the pattern, / Can words or music reach into / The stillness.” Every sentence is a miracle. Reading this text is stepping on holy ground.

[sarah smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is a half-textbook, so it makes sense that it read that way, but still kinda bored me 😬 getting quizzed on it probably didn’t help either

[Lisajean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with most of what Crider has to say about writing, although his style is off-putting in its careful formality bordering on pompousness. This book could be helpful for a student to read and reflect on their writing; as a teacher, there was little that I could implement in the classroom.

[nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fairly helpful synthesis of the essence and purpose of rhetoric and how to improve upon it, especially regarding the processes of invention & organisation (recommended for more advanced academic writers).

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty specialized examination of rhetoric (in the context of an academic essay), so there are several aspects of this that won't be applicable for rhetoric in general. With regards to its specific focus of academic essays, I found it a bit of a mixed bag. The chapter on organization was quite good, but certain chapters like the chapter on invention and the chapter on style didn't seem well-suited to written form. They seemed like they would have been more effective as a lecture in class accompanied by illustrations and visuals than by the written page.

I also wished that Crider had followed more of his own advice on style; despite arguing for a "medium" style for academic writing, this was pitched at a higher style than felt appropriate. Perhaps part of the issue lies in his narrow focus on academic writing. While certain styles are suited for academic writing, a short book aimed at teaching students rhetoric should not be written in the same style as something academic. A large part of rhetoric is knowing one's audience, and I don't see the style of this work as being great for high school audiences (not his target audience, but the audience that I teach) or the college freshmen (I fell in that camp not so long ago).

Crider has some good advice, and for someone unfamiliar with the classical model of argumentation, this could be a decent introduction, but while there were a couple good insights, I didn't feel like he was always an effective written communicator here.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Okay).

[Jill Courser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better the second time around after spending a year with the Lost Tools of Writing!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had read this 5 years ago before my firstborn started high school. I would have been a better writing teacher for him. Alas, I am more fully equipped for 2 of the 3 boys;)

This book is an excellent guide through rhetoric as an art and as a science. Crider deepened my understanding of the first 3 Canons of Rhetoric by expanding and breaking down the various parts of the academic essay. I think every college-bound student would be served well by reading this and putting into practice the philosophical and practical tools outlined here.

Favorite quote: “An education for economic productivity and political utility alone is an education for slaves, but an education for finding, collecting, and communicating reality is an education for free people, people free to know what is so. Remember, knowing the real is a good before it is a power.”

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an autodidact who has spent thirteen years studying classical books. I recommend this book to homeschoolers who already understand Adler's How To Read A Book, Sire's The Universe Next Door, and Churchill's Age of Revolution. If you have not read those and Homer, this might not be the book for you.

This book was recommended by Peter Kreeft in his book Socratic Logic. I checked Crider out because if Kreeft recommends anything I check it out. Kreeft is a magician.

I loved this book.

It soared above almost all the other books on writing that I have recently studied, read, perused, or referenced.

But let's back up shall we? In the last two months I've read The Lively Art of Writing, On Writing Well by Zinsser, The Book on Writing by LaRocque, Building Great Sentences by Brooks Landon (again), perused Writer's Inc, and flailed around in an assortment of little brown grammar books.

This one was the best on essays.

Why? Well, perhaps the reader -me!- was ready for it. Perhaps I went the long way round, long enough to gather steam and gratefulness, or perhaps it's because he did precisely, with vivid concise language, what he set out to do. He made a defense of rhetoric and he made me a better writer.

The book answered -at least for me- the oh so pivotal, gritty question of HOW. HOW do I make an argument?!?!?!? Where do I start?!? How do I proceed!!!? Why?!?! Why do I need to logically conclude?!?

How does one go about arguing??? (Kreeft's book is a torrent of brilliance about this exact thing yet his book is .. well, he's a magician and I can't always follow him.)

Almost all the other writing books that touched on essay writing (besides The Lively Art of Writing) were like "Oh here ya go, ta ta, write about the prompt, as long as you follow conventions it's perfect" meanwhile I was desperate for universal reasons.

Why does the essay exist? Why are we persuading anyone of anything? Isn't that kinda bad?

What does it accomplish? How can we make it a thing of such incandescent beauty that we lift ourselves up out of muddy confusion? Is that possible?

And Crider delivered.

He used no hyperbole, no superfluous examples, no rants, no snark, no digressions. Hallelujah. I do NOT enjoy learning something complicated from someone who can't get to the point (I make enough digressions in my own mental space thank you very much!) while I DO enjoy a master teacher who can elegantly and effectively make his points clear.

This review isn't for anyone coming along interested in this book. I just realized. Huh.

It's for him. This is my way of saying thanks.

I'm planning on using it to teach classically educated teens in a few months. I hope to deliver them to the halls of wisdom and academia ready to do battle and win, may God receive the glory.

Dear Mr. Crider,
Thank you. I greatly appreciated the format, the clarity, the way you wove the essay example into the chapters, and your full explanations concerning topics of invention and logic. I hope your book becomes widely recognized among homeschoolers. May you be blessed.

[Riley G.]

This book is a good resource for writing. It is geared toward academic writing, but I think there is some good advice in here for literary writing too. I liked this a lot, but I’m not going to rate it, because I will be coming back to this as I write my Senior Thesis.

[Miriam Kaiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

This book provides fantastic insight into writing and communication. It helped my connect so many areas of life and I will certainly return to this book many times.

[Brianna Bratrud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Where was this book when I was in college?! Read for the CiRCE apprenticeship. Can’t wait to use it.

[Hilary Forrest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for apprenticeship with CiRCE. Still processing and hoping to learn more to become a better writer.

[Marshall St. Amant]

4.5 stars*
This book is an amazing intro to the academic essay. It’s strengths lie in its digestible formatting and easy to follow instruction on how to utilize the art of rhetoric. It guides the shape of an academic essay but not much more after that. It is lacking only in how to incorporate secondary scholarship but it once again provides amazing advice on how to begin or think about how one writes.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended by Phil Donnelly. Now I can see why. I used this in ENG 1304 (research paper) beginning in the Fall 2015 semester, but this text is even better for those writing essays on literature (because of the book's own emphasis on literature).

In October 2017, I heard from a UD grad that Crider is a Buddhist. I totally had assumed that the author was a Christian.

[meloh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Exactly what you'd expect (so boring) with a few surprisingly entertaining examples.

[georgia claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

read this for a composition class - i did not like it.

[Anthony Rewak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding - an immensely and tremendously wonderful book on the art of rhetoric, that is, the art of writing artistically and persuasively to bring about the truth of the subject or matter at hand with a host of techniques that have emerged from the classical world, and throughout the history of human writing.

Although the book was primarily targeted at undergraduates, anyone who is new to the specific topic of rhetoric would most likely find this book extremely fantastic. Indeed, it almost made me lament at the thought of finding it so late in my own education, however it nevertheless certainly came at the right and tremendously supported me in my own writing. I feel every English speaking University in the world should have this book in its faculty of the art’s compulsory curriculum; indeed, not even just there - for the skill of rhetoric is universal, and once more I lament that our education system isn’t specifically invested in methods of classical learning - I feel I’ve missed out not learning more about classic literature, rhetoric, and at the very least learning Latin or Greek.

It is thus my duty, possessing the interest, to go back and learn what I’d like to learn, and to perhaps also encourage a revival, even if it’s person-by-person...

Although, if we to truly encourage learning in what ultimately mattered THE MOST, we would encourage all things that studied the Word of God - however, as students, nothing would enrich that more than both a good classical education, steeped in good theology and philosophy; an education that ought to be also combined with being in relationship with good people, and pursuing goodness, truth, and beauty.

[Susannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent little book is indispensable to any humanities student who seeks to improve his essay writing. I can't praise it highly enough. It exemplifies what it teaches. The final chapter on "re-vision" gives a concrete method for drafting, organizing, and refining an essay by isolating each of the first three canons of rhetoric (invention, organization, and style) from the beginning of the writing process. Brilliant, tried, and true.

The author's defense of rhetoric as a good in itself rather than a merely utilitarian power is like a breath of fresh air in the current academic environment.

"An education for economic productivity and political utility alone is an education for slaves, but an education for finding, collecting, and communicating reality is an education for free people, people free to know what is so."

This is my second time through it, and it inspired in me a desire to carve out time to practice writing.

[Davis Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned composition in high school through Crider's methods, and I am immensely grateful for that. I can assure you from first-hand experience that this approach to writing will fortify you in countless ways, and equip you to discourse eloquently and intelligently about anything. It perhaps requires a steeper learning curve than most writing programs, but the payoff is so worth it. I like that he cites thinkers on style and rhetoric as diverse as Samuel Johnson, Virginia Woolf, Richard Weaver, and Peter Elbow. I only wish that Crider (a.) spent more time on the Invention stage and provided more advice on brainstorming, etc. which is in my experience the hardest part of the writing process for many students, and (b.) wrote this book in a slightly more accessible fashion. It's a bit much to expect the majority of college freshmen to not be intimidated by, for example, the word "plenitude".

[Kiersten · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Crider's own words, "This is fine prose, but its diction and syntax are more elevated than contemporary taste would appreciate." I found other books to be more friendly for laymen looking for information about the art of rhetoric. If you're an English teacher, this book serves as a good review. I really enjoyed the chapter about style. Again, it throws a lot of grammar at you at once, so you should have more than a tenuous grip on grammar, but I got some juicy tidbits about conjunctive adverbs and such.

[J. Alfred · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has followed me around to various educational endeavors, so I decided to pick it up and see what it has to offer. And it has good things to offer, but only for pretty specific cases, i.e. if you happen to be writing college style essays for a grader who thinks much like Scott Crider.
But it also feels snarky and snobby and, even if you don't get that vibe, it can get you pretty easily to the idea that Logic Will Save Us All, which is one of those glittering false things that Classical Christian Education tends to leave lying around.

[Travis Vermulm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crider has written an incredibly helpful little book here. By returning to much of the classical style of rhetoric he provides many alternatives to the common "five paragraph" essay style. He also gives a very clear method one can use to analysis their style and word choice and wraps all this practical advice in some deep wisdom about the importance of speaking well.

I highly suggest this to anyone but especially to teachers in the Classical education world. I will be using much of what I read here in class.

[lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book that I was obligated to read for school, I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

It was very enthusiastic, not soulless like any other academic book I've encountered. It was easy to digest and provided helpful tips for my writing that I plan to use in the future.

It made writing essays seem a lot less intimidating. I actually look forward peer review, something that I once found daunting.

I love this book, I'll definitely refer to this when writing.

[Sara Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there were some wonderful nuggets in this book, I found the layout to be terribly unappealing. The format and language would not be engaging for my college students. I do value the general tenets set forth for quality writing, and I appreciate the examples which help students see principles in context.

[Heather]

In this short book, the author takes English grammar and expounds on it in many helpful ways. If you’re familiar with classical education then most of the terms will be familiar. I appreciate how he uses the canons of rhetoric to give an outline of writing an essay; specifically the canons of invention (“what”), organization or arrangement (“in what order”) and style or elocution (“how”).

[Arpita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was like chewing rocks. I think the content is very important and that it was informative, but I genuinely couldn't get through more than 10 pages an hour. The issue was that the text was so, so, so dry. He made references to Homer that flew over my head and had a holier-than-thou type tone that made reading miserable.

[Jan1243 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearest book on rhetorical writing, both for my own understanding and for my students, who will soon read it, with me, in class. Simple and direct. I only know about it because I’m taking the Atrium course at CiRCE. Highly recommend if you are a teacher or a rhetorician.