Character study - praising or blaming

In progym terms this is taken from the Encomium and is a praise of a person, the same format looking at the negative or a person is known as an Invective, or the blame of a person.

In putting all of my kids together we have chosen to work through a free form progym rather than spending a year on each form. My goal is to integrate writing and humanities so that using the right form for an essay becomes second nature. I'm also hoping that a more free form approach will remove the focus from just getting through the book to enjoying our writing and being able to have fun while we do so. classical writing seems to leave all of us scrambling to get it done rather than learning better ways of writing. As you will have noticed I need to learn better ways of writing.

By looking at a person both through Encomium and Invective we have the ability to see both sides of a person, the fallen side and the side that reflects the image of God. We haven't yet reached the point where we will run these exercised together - but I can see the point in doing so and will probably introduce this when we study Plutarch.


Encomium

Discovery / Research

• The persons background, what nation, city, ancestry, and parents.
  
  
• The person's education, both formal and informal, their life experiences and natural abilities. What moral training did they have, what was their inclination to study.
  
  
• The persons virtues. Qualities of mind body and spirit.
  
  
• Their achievements - holding public office, helping others, serving in the military, making a living, making a home, raising children etc.
  

The Pattern of Arrangement.

• Introduction to the person, a quick overview of who they are. You can include anything that you want although the aim should be to support the rest of your essay.
  
  
• Narrative a description of their background leading to their virtues and or deeds. This section of the essay would include most of the findings of the essay relevant to your conclusions. In some cases the detail from this section is spread throughout the essay in support of various achievements of the person.
  
  
• An amplification or added detail about their virtues and deeds. this is the main portion of praise of the achievements of the person under consideration.
  
  
• A comparison to other people who have been recognized for these deeds / virtues or who form a contrast with the person being praised.
  
  
• A conclusion or their contribution to our society and usually an appeal for other to incorporate these virtues in their own lives.