{"id":1645,"date":"2020-10-24T07:04:22","date_gmt":"2020-10-24T12:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/?p=1645"},"modified":"2023-05-01T20:42:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T01:42:51","slug":"classical-roots-of-narration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/24\/classical-roots-of-narration\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 2: Classical Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/03\/why-the-history-of-narration-matters-part-1-charlotte-masons-discovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">my last article<\/a> I shared the first piece of why the history of narration matters: it has the potential to break down the barrier between the <a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/02\/15\/charlotte-mason-and-the-liberal-arts-tradition-part-1-mapping-a-harmony\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Charlotte Mason community and classical educators<\/a>. There are some notable exceptions who have tried to cross the aisle, but for the most part these two groups have kept to their own camps \u2014 some have even had cutting critiques of the other side to share. And of course, we may be each other\u2019s best critics in a way that would be good for both of us. But for that to happen Masonites would need to interact with the broader classical tradition and classical educators would need to actually read and engage with <a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/charlotte-mason\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Charlotte Mason<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 2: Classical Roots\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sMSRmT2rsR4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For someone like me, having spent my entire professional career straddling the aisle between the two (at a Charlotte Mason influenced classical Christian school), this can be easy to say. But the fact that <a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/charlotte-mason\/charlotte-masons-practice-of-narration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">narration<\/a> \u2014 the centerpiece of Mason\u2019s method, and her claim to fame, as it were \u2014 was not itself discovered by her, but was a mainstay of the classical tradition may come as a shock to some. As I explained last time, <a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/03\/why-the-history-of-narration-matters-part-1-charlotte-masons-discovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mason did claim<\/a> to have discovered how to use narration as a global tool of learning in such a way as to train students in the <a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2019\/10\/19\/attention-then-and-now-the-science-of-focus-before-and-after-charlotte-masons-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">habit of attention<\/a> and significantly improve their rate of learning and retention. But the devil is in the details.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded is-style-rounded--1\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.circeinstitute.org\/store\/books\/classical-guide-narration-pre-order\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"550\" data-attachment-id=\"1646\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/24\/classical-roots-of-narration\/narr_store-1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/narr_store-1.jpg?fit=400%2C550&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"400,550\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"narr_store-1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/narr_store-1.jpg?fit=218%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/narr_store-1.jpg?fit=400%2C550&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/narr_store-1.jpg?resize=400%2C550&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/narr_store-1.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/narr_store-1.jpg?resize=218%2C300&amp;ssl=1 218w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In this article I want to unpack some of those details, as a sort of preview of my new book <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.circeinstitute.org\/store\/books\/classical-guide-narration-pre-order\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A Classical Guide to Narration<\/a><\/em> coming out with the CiRCE Institute in November. (I found out this week you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Classical-Guide-Narration-Jason-Barney\/dp\/1734785322\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=25OKZC9EY1RSV&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=a+classical+guide+to+narration&amp;qid=1603537557&amp;sprefix=A+Classical+%2Caps%2C178&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">preorder on Amazon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.circeinstitute.org\/store\/books\/classical-guide-narration-pre-order\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">at a discount on the CiRCE website<\/a>. Also, have you seen the endorsements from Ravi Jain, Jessica Hooten Wilson, W. Davies Owens, and Bill St Cyr in the CiRCE press release?) The history of narration matters because it helps classical educators approach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Classical-Guide-Narration-Jason-Barney\/dp\/1734785322\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=25OKZC9EY1RSV&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=a+classical+guide+to+narration&amp;qid=1603537557&amp;sprefix=A+Classical+%2Caps%2C178&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">narration<\/a> (and Charlotte Mason) with greater confidence. Once Mason is in the Great Conversation about education, classical educators will gain other helpful insights and correctives as well. Narration\u2019s history also matters because it helps Masonites understand her application of narration in a fuller light. When they know the history, they can be better equipped for the task of continuing Mason\u2019s legacy by bringing a liberal education to all children of the modern world in a way that is philosophically sound and holds old and new in concert from a Christian worldview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now to the history!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Narration as a Progymnasmata in the Rhetorical and Grammatical Tradition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Thoughts-Concerning-Education-Understanding-Classics\/dp\/0872203344\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2I08220QUCMCL&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=some+thoughts+concerning+education+john+locke&amp;qid=1603537743&amp;sprefix=John+Locke%27s+Some+Thoughts%2Caps%2C191&amp;sr=8-1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1647\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/24\/classical-roots-of-narration\/41qsok-tjjl-_sx303_bo1204203200_\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/41Qsok-TjjL._SX303_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=305%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"305,499\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"41Qsok-TjjL._SX303_BO1204203200_\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/41Qsok-TjjL._SX303_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=183%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/41Qsok-TjjL._SX303_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=305%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/41Qsok-TjjL._SX303_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=155%2C254&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1647\" width=\"155\" height=\"254\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/41Qsok-TjjL._SX303_BO1204203200_.jpg?w=305&amp;ssl=1 305w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/41Qsok-TjjL._SX303_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=183%2C300&amp;ssl=1 183w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 155px) 100vw, 155px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In my own story of discovery, John Locke and Quintilian were the first to the party. In reading Locke\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Thoughts-Concerning-Education-Understanding-Classics\/dp\/0872203344\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2I08220QUCMCL&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=some+thoughts+concerning+education+john+locke&amp;qid=1603537743&amp;sprefix=John+Locke%27s+Some+Thoughts%2Caps%2C191&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Some Thoughts Concerning Education<\/a><\/em> I was struck by the similarity of thought with Charlotte Mason on numerous topics: the <a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2019\/10\/19\/attention-then-and-now-the-science-of-focus-before-and-after-charlotte-masons-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">importance of attention<\/a>, the role of the instructor, the futility of rules and the necessity of training in habit. But then I chanced across his discussion of Rhetoric and was amazed at his recommendations for the use of narration. Sometime afterward I discovered many of the same themes and topics in the opening books of Quintilian\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Institutes-Oratory-Education-Orator-Quintilian\/dp\/1500342661\/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Institutes+of+Oratory+Quintilian&amp;qid=1603537848&amp;sr=8-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Institutes of Oratory<\/a><\/em>, as well as a stunning similarity in the suggestions for narration, like using Aesop&#8217;s fables. At this point I knew I had struck upon something significant.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Classical Roots Stage 1: Narration in Aelius Theon<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>But I still thought there might have been a simple and unique route along the narration highway: from Quintilian, to Locke, to Mason. It was only later that I realized narration\u2019s roots went far deeper. For this I needed the expertise of a scholar of rhetoric: <a href=\"https:\/\/classics.unc.edu\/about-us-2\/departmental-history-3\/george-a-kennedy\/\">George A. Kennedy, the long time Professor of Classics at the University of North Carolina<\/a>. In his masterful book <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Classical-Rhetoric-Christian-Secular-Tradition\/dp\/0807847690\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Classical+Rhetoric+and+Its+Christian+and+Secular+Tradition&amp;qid=1603537949&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">Classical Rhetoric and its Christian and Secular Tradition from Ancient to Modern Times<\/a><\/em> (2nd ed.; University of North Carolina, 1999), he writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cThe earliest surviving treatment of <em>progymnasmata<\/em> is the work of Aelius Theon, a teacher in Alexandria in the middle of the first century after Christ. In Theon\u2019s method of teaching a passage was read aloud and students were first required to listen and try to write it out from memory; after gaining skill in doing this they were given a short passage and asked to paraphrase it and to develop and amplify it, or seek to refute it.\u201d (26-27)<sup>&nbsp;<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we have the first distinct step in the history of narration. The first surviving book of preliminary exercises for rhetoric students (a <em>progymnasmata<\/em>) records Theon\u2019s \u201cmethod of teaching.\u201d And it is surprisingly book-based in a way that is reminiscent of Mason: a passage is read aloud, students are required to listen, and then write out a narration from memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Classical-Rhetoric-Christian-Secular-Tradition\/dp\/0807847690\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Classical+Rhetoric+and+Its+Christian+and+Secular+Tradition&amp;qid=1603537949&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1648\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/24\/classical-roots-of-narration\/4124k0k1uil-_sx331_bo1204203200_\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/4124K0k1UiL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=333%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"333,499\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"4124K0k1UiL._SX331_BO1204203200_\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/4124K0k1UiL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/4124K0k1UiL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=333%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/4124K0k1UiL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=237%2C355&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1648\" width=\"237\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/4124K0k1UiL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?w=333&amp;ssl=1 333w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/4124K0k1UiL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 237px) 100vw, 237px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This is clearly not dictation, where scribes in training would write as the text was read out slowly and with pauses, aiming for word-for-word accuracy. Instead, this \u201cmethod of teaching\u201d focuses on students&#8217; ability to listen with <a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2019\/10\/19\/attention-then-and-now-the-science-of-focus-before-and-after-charlotte-masons-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">focused attention<\/a>, inwardly digest and reproduce content in writing as faithfully as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Aelius Theon, this practice no doubt honed students ability to hear and understand a complex discourse. This then became the foundation on which students could practice amplifying the thought or refuting it accurately. From what we know of the value of retrieval practice from modern research, it also likely gave his students a ready wit and a memory stocked with the style and vocabulary and living thought of the authors read to them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Classical Roots Stage 2: Narration in Quintilian<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It is not surprising that we have to wait for Quintilian to hear of narration again. Many of the rhetorical handbooks deal more with the customs and details of judicial speeches that were most popular or effective in the classical era, and not so much with the pedagogy of how students were actually trained. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Institutes-Oratory-Education-Orator-Quintilian\/dp\/1500342661\/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Institutes+of+Oratory+Quintilian&amp;qid=1603537848&amp;sr=8-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Quintilian\u2019s <em>On the Education of an Orator<\/em><\/a>, however, is the fullest ancient source of pedagogy we have, beginning from students\u2019 very cradles with a call for the hired nurse to speak only the best grammatically correct Latin.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1649\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/24\/classical-roots-of-narration\/800px-quintilian_institutio_oratoria_ed-_burman_leiden_1720_frontispiece\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/800px-Quintilian_Institutio_oratoria_ed._Burman_Leiden_1720_frontispiece.jpg?fit=800%2C1071&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"800,1071\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"800px-Quintilian_Institutio_oratoria_ed._Burman_Leiden_1720_frontispiece\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/800px-Quintilian_Institutio_oratoria_ed._Burman_Leiden_1720_frontispiece.jpg?fit=224%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/800px-Quintilian_Institutio_oratoria_ed._Burman_Leiden_1720_frontispiece.jpg?fit=765%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/800px-Quintilian_Institutio_oratoria_ed._Burman_Leiden_1720_frontispiece.jpg?resize=599%2C802&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Quintilian teaching rhetoric\" class=\"wp-image-1649\" width=\"599\" height=\"802\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/800px-Quintilian_Institutio_oratoria_ed._Burman_Leiden_1720_frontispiece.jpg?resize=765%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 765w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/800px-Quintilian_Institutio_oratoria_ed._Burman_Leiden_1720_frontispiece.jpg?resize=224%2C300&amp;ssl=1 224w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/800px-Quintilian_Institutio_oratoria_ed._Burman_Leiden_1720_frontispiece.jpg?resize=768%2C1028&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/800px-Quintilian_Institutio_oratoria_ed._Burman_Leiden_1720_frontispiece.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, 599px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Quintilian\u2019s treatment of narration is assigned to the important work of the <em>grammaticus<\/em>, the elementary school teacher who would be responsible for training a student in written and oral expression, and beginning his study of authors (from poets to historians and astronomers). Among other things the <em>grammaticus<\/em> needed to prepare the future orator with the foundational skills and fluency necessary for elite rhetorical training:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cLet boys learn, then, to relate orally the fables of Aesop, which follow next after the nurse\u2019s stories, in plain language, not rising at all above mediocrity, and afterwards to express the same simplicity in writing. Let them learn, too, to take to pieces the verses of the poets and then to express them in different words, and afterwards to represent them, somewhat boldly, in a paraphrase, in which it is allowable to abbreviate or embellish certain parts, provided that the sense of the poet be preserved. He who shall successfully perform this exercise, which is difficult even for accomplished professors, will be able to learn anything.\u201d <\/p><cite>Quintilian, <em>Institutes of Oratory<\/em> 1.9.2-3 (trans. John Selby Watson, ed. Curtis Dozier and Lee Honeycutt; Creative Commons, 2015) 49-50<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Notice how, for Quintilian, we have a step added before Aelius Theon\u2019s practice of written narration. After all, students can speak before they can write, so why can\u2019t their narration training start earlier, when they&#8217;re just advancing from the \u201cnurse\u2019s stories\u201d to their formal education. Here Aesop\u2019s fables become the hallowed starting place for narration \u2014 a pattern we see in Locke and Mason as well. As anyone knows who has read them, <a href=\"http:\/\/read.gov\/aesop\/001.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Aesop\u2019s fables<\/a> are a great place to begin narration with young children partly because of their length. They are short but pack a punch. Get the children telling the fables read to them \u201cin plain language,\u201d not as an exercise in ornate style, but in elegant simplicity of plot and compact expression. Then as they develop their writing skills, they can do the same practice as written narration, with the emphasis placed upon simple, correct statement of fact, rather than stereotyped formulae.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/downloads\/narration-2-0-webinar-recording\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2783\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/webinars\/copy-of-narration-2-0-ad\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad.png?fit=1080%2C1080&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1080,1080\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad.png?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad.png?fit=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad.png?resize=633%2C633&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2783\" width=\"633\" height=\"633\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Copy-of-Narration-2.0-Ad.png?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 633px) 100vw, 633px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Narrating Poetry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, once narration of stories is in place, poetry provides the next challenge. We have to read a bit between the lines to imagine what exactly Quintilian is implying. Do each of the students have their own copy of the poems read? Or is the teacher still reading aloud to the students? If the former, then students might be able to look at the poem while they \u201ctake to pieces\u201d and re-express \u201cin different words\u201d the verses. This would be a very different analytical task from narration, but a powerful rhetorical training practice in its own right. Benjamin Franklin employed a similar tactic in teaching himself to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/02\/01\/the-writing-process-sentences-paragraphs-edit-repeat\/\" target=\"_blank\">write essays<\/a>. If the latter, then we have another example of narration being used as the foundation stone for rhetorical training, with students hearing a poem and then reproducing it in prose, paraphrasing it, amplifying parts and diminishing others. Of course, the fact that the form of the content is being deliberately changed has added an extra element of artistry to it, but presumably it is still long form telling, as opposed to the short, look-up-the-sentence-in-the-book answers of the exercises in our modern curricula.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/02\/01\/the-writing-process-sentences-paragraphs-edit-repeat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" data-attachment-id=\"893\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/02\/01\/the-writing-process-sentences-paragraphs-edit-repeat\/canva-girl-writing-on-paper\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1711&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1711\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C684&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper.jpg?resize=1024%2C684&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-893\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C684&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C513&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1026&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1368&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Canva-Girl-Writing-on-Paper-scaled.jpg?resize=120%2C80&amp;ssl=1 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My instinct tells me that the second option involving narration is the more likely for Quintilian\u2019s ancient context. Scrolls were not cheap and it is hard to see the average <em>grammaticus<\/em> of the Roman era providing his students with textbooks or copies of each poem. He did not have a teacher\u2019s lounge with a copier to retreat to and quickly scan the poem he found in his old college textbook. Of course, students would likely have transcribed poems and memorized them by heart as well, so we could imagine a student first transcribing a poem and then proceeding with this exercise; however, students normally wrote on a wax tablet with a stylus, and while these could have multiple \u201cpages,\u201d it seems less likely that ancient teachers would tolerate this kind of lack of verbal memory.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, we can appreciate the value of Quintilian\u2019s concluding statement: \u201cHe who shall successfully perform this exercise, which is difficult even for accomplished professors, will be able to learn anything.\u201d Not only does this seem to clinch the argument in favor of the latter (Is picking apart poetic lines that are right in front of you really that hard?), it prevents us from claiming that narration was an ancillary or insignificant thing in Quintilian\u2019s pedagogy. Yes, it\u2019s true that he doesn\u2019t spend a lot of time discussing it, while he\u2019s happy to wax eloquent on issues of Latin grammar and solecisms. But if it mattered little, why would he make so stunning a claim for it as a touchstone of all learning? Here we have a foretaste of Mason\u2019s notion of narration as the centerpiece of education.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Have you downloaded the free resource <a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/637557916b4f\/charlotte-mason-and-the-trivium\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Charlotte Mason and the Trivium: Planning Lessons with Narration&#8221;<\/a>? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Seed of Narration\u2019s Classical Roots: Hearing-Dominance and Preliterate Narration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Orality-Literacy-New-Accents-Walter\/dp\/0415027969\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=FI7JB40QAK1X&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=orality+and+literacy+the+technologizing+of+the+word&amp;qid=1603538636&amp;sprefix=Orality+and+LIter%2Caps%2C181&amp;sr=8-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1650\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/24\/classical-roots-of-narration\/518935avc7l-_sx317_bo1204203200_\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/518935AVC7L._SX317_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=319%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"319,499\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"518935AVC7L._SX317_BO1204203200_\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/518935AVC7L._SX317_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=192%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/518935AVC7L._SX317_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=319%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/518935AVC7L._SX317_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=278%2C435&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1650\" width=\"278\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/518935AVC7L._SX317_BO1204203200_.jpg?w=319&amp;ssl=1 319w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/518935AVC7L._SX317_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=192%2C300&amp;ssl=1 192w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 278px) 100vw, 278px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As modern people in a text-dominant society we tend to undervalue the power of human memory for extended discourse, as we have largely abandoned this ability in our reliance on texts. The reality is that the cost of paper and writing rendered the ancient and medieval world largely hearing dominant, even after the introduction of writing. \u201cHearing dominant\u201d is a term I borrow from John Walton and Brent Sandy\u2019s <em>The Lost World of Scripture<\/em> (IVP Academic: 2013), but the ideas of orality and literacy go back to my undergraduate reading of Walter Ong\u2019s mind-blowing book (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Orality-Literacy-New-Accents-Walter\/dp\/0415027969\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=FI7JB40QAK1X&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=orality+and+literacy+the+technologizing+of+the+word&amp;qid=1603538636&amp;sprefix=Orality+and+LIter%2Caps%2C181&amp;sr=8-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Orality and Literacy<\/a><\/em>, Methuen: 1982). Hearing dominance means that people remembered and relied more on what they heard in day to day communal life than on the scripted communication of a text. We forget that until the modern era the vast majority of people were not literate, but relied on professionals for that sort of thing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hearing dominance also means that oral narration of things heard was just a common occurrence. It almost didn\u2019t need to be said, as it was so obvious a feature of social interaction with others. If you think about it, the only ways that content could have been passed down in a preliterate society would have been through narration or memorization. Whether a story or a wisdom saying, any tradition would have been passed down through tellings and retellings. Corrections would have occurred during family recitals, but only recognized authorities would likely have shared at public events. Oral narration would have simply been a part of culture and an aspect of normal social life before writing came along. And it makes sense that after the introduction of writing among an educated elite, the centrality of spoken and heard discourse would not immediately vanish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These considerations seem to me to support the prominence of narration-like activities not only in the classical world, but in the pre-literate antiquity out of which the classical world was born. We might call preliterate narration the seed out of which the classical roots of narration sprung. After all, once texts became more and more prominent in education, narration was bound to be used as a technique to get the matter on the page into the pupils\u2019 heads. It would have seemed natural. That\u2019s not to underrate Aelius Theon\u2019s or Quintilian\u2019s pedagogical brilliance. It\u2019s simply to see it in its broader context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" data-attachment-id=\"1651\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/24\/classical-roots-of-narration\/alexandria-scrolls-mj\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alexandria-scrolls-mj.jpg?fit=640%2C480&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"640,480\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;3.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Picasa&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;COOLPIX L120&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1373369623&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;160&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.033333333333333&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"alexandria-scrolls-mj\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alexandria-scrolls-mj.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alexandria-scrolls-mj.jpg?fit=640%2C480&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alexandria-scrolls-mj.jpg?resize=640%2C480&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"ancient scrolls\" class=\"wp-image-1651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alexandria-scrolls-mj.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alexandria-scrolls-mj.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As we have become more and more text dominant we have moved further and further from the discipline of expecting one another (or our students) to hear and know enough to tell. Ironically this is exactly what Plato\u2019s Socrates foretold in the dialogue <em>Phaedrus<\/em>. He retells a myth of an Egyptian Pharaoh Thamus being presented with the invention of great arts by the god Thoth. When Thoth praises writing as a \u201cbranch of learning that will make the people of Egypt wiser and improve their memories,\u201d king Thamus counters,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cIf men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks. What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder. And it is no wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only its semblance, for by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing, and as men filled, not with wisdom, but with the conceit of wisdom, they will be a burden to their fellows.\u201d (<em>Phaedrus<\/em> 274e-275b, from <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Collected-Dialogues-Plato-Including-University\/dp\/B00E31I43M\/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3L9LBXONG4TEO&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=the+collected+dialogues+of+plato&amp;qid=1603539137&amp;sprefix=The+Collected+Dialogues%2Caps%2C178&amp;sr=8-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Collected Dialogues<\/a><\/em>, Princeton: 1989; 520)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The problem of writing causing forgetfulness is akin to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/03\/why-the-history-of-narration-matters-part-1-charlotte-masons-discovery\/\" target=\"_blank\">the problem of securing attention that Charlotte Mason puzzled over in our last article<\/a>. In fact, we might even say it is the same problem. How can we prevent ourselves from relying on the written record for reminders rather than performing the spontaneous, yet difficult \u201cact of knowing\u201d? The answer lies in a task like narration that forces the student to immediately retrieve from memory. It was inevitable that rhetorical teachers would find a solution to this intriguing problem, given that one of their main tasks included training future orators in the art of memory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In our next installment we will explore the rebirth of narration in the Renaissance with recommendations of Erasmus and Comenius, and John Locke\u2019s critique of \u201cclassical\u201d training during the Enlightenment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/85375ed4784c\/habit-training\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1652\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/24\/classical-roots-of-narration\/sm-post-for-habit-training-ebook-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SM-post-for-Habit-Training-eBook.png?fit=1080%2C1080&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1080,1080\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"SM post for Habit Training eBook\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SM-post-for-Habit-Training-eBook.png?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SM-post-for-Habit-Training-eBook.png?fit=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SM-post-for-Habit-Training-eBook-1024x1024.png?resize=517%2C518&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Habit Training\" class=\"wp-image-1652\" width=\"517\" height=\"518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SM-post-for-Habit-Training-eBook.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SM-post-for-Habit-Training-eBook.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SM-post-for-Habit-Training-eBook.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SM-post-for-Habit-Training-eBook.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SM-post-for-Habit-Training-eBook.png?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 517px) 100vw, 517px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Other articles in this series:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/03\/why-the-history-of-narration-matters-part-1-charlotte-masons-discovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Part 1: Charlotte Mason\u2019s Discovery?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2021\/01\/02\/why-the-history-of-narration-matters-part-3-narrations-rebirth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Part 3: Narration\u2019s Rebirth<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2021\/01\/23\/history-narration-charlotte-mason\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Part 4: Charlotte Mason\u2019s Practice of Narration in Historical Perspective<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Short-History-Narration-Historical-Perspective\/dp\/B09VWRWVG5\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=30SSIY5CUG23H&amp;keywords=a+short+history+of+narration&amp;qid=1648313903&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=%2Cstripbooks%2C205&amp;sr=1-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2806\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/edren-books\/41tzbxb91l-_sx331_bo1204203200_\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/41TZbxb91L._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=333%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"333,499\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"41TZbxb91L._SX331_BO1204203200_\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/41TZbxb91L._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/41TZbxb91L._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=333%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/41TZbxb91L._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=234%2C351&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2806\" width=\"234\" height=\"351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/41TZbxb91L._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?w=333&amp;ssl=1 333w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/41TZbxb91L._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 234px) 100vw, 234px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my last article I shared the first piece of why the history of narration matters: it has the potential to break down the barrier between the Charlotte Mason community and classical educators. There are some notable exceptions who have tried to cross the aisle, but for the most part these two groups have kept [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[38],"tags":[369,70,11,32,23,114,101,370,368,117,27,367,155],"class_list":["post-1645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-of-education","tag-aelius-theon","tag-attention","tag-charlotte-mason","tag-classical-tradition","tag-liberal-arts","tag-memory","tag-narration","tag-pedagogy","tag-quintilian","tag-retrieval-practice","tag-rhetoric","tag-rhetorical-tradition","tag-trivium"],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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There are some notable exceptions who have tried to cross the aisle, but for the most part these two groups have kept&hellip;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa7K1D-qx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1591,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/10\/03\/why-the-history-of-narration-matters-part-1-charlotte-masons-discovery\/","url_meta":{"origin":1645,"position":0},"title":"Why The History of Narration Matters, Part 1: Charlotte Mason&#8217;s Discovery?","author":"Jason Barney","date":"October 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve decided to put the series on Bloom's Taxonomy vs. Aristotle\u2019s Intellectual Virtues on hold for a couple months after contracting with Classical Academic Press to film two courses in December for ClassicalU: one on narration and another on Charlotte Mason\u2019s philosophy for classical educators. So I\u2019m returning to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;History of Education&quot;","block_context":{"text":"History of Education","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/history-of-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"an old and traditional school room","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Canva-Brown-Wooden-Desks-With-Benches.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1816,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2021\/01\/23\/history-narration-charlotte-mason\/","url_meta":{"origin":1645,"position":1},"title":"Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 4: Charlotte Mason&#8217;s Practice of Narration in Historical Perspective","author":"Jason Barney","date":"January 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In this series I have contended that the history of narration should bring Charlotte Mason educators and classical Christian educators together. That is because narration\u2019s use as a pedagogical practice in the classical tradition illustrates vividly the connection between the two. When we know this history and turn to Charlotte\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;History of Education&quot;","block_context":{"text":"History of Education","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/history-of-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16813474792_c751c5480b_z.jpg?fit=640%2C424&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16813474792_c751c5480b_z.jpg?fit=640%2C424&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16813474792_c751c5480b_z.jpg?fit=640%2C424&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1713,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/11\/21\/narration-course-for-classical-u-a-rehearsal-sneak-peek\/","url_meta":{"origin":1645,"position":2},"title":"Narration Course for ClassicalU: A Rehearsal Sneak Peek","author":"Jason Barney","date":"November 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"As I mentioned in a previous article on the history of narration, I've received an opportunity to film two courses at the beginning of December for Classical Academic Press' ClassicalU: one on narration and another on Charlotte Mason's philosophy for classical educators. Our working titles are A Classical Guide to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Charlotte Mason&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Charlotte Mason","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/charlotte-mason\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"civic building with classical style of architecture","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ancient-classical-order-on-historical-building-in-london-picjumbo-com-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ancient-classical-order-on-historical-building-in-london-picjumbo-com-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ancient-classical-order-on-historical-building-in-london-picjumbo-com-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ancient-classical-order-on-historical-building-in-london-picjumbo-com-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ancient-classical-order-on-historical-building-in-london-picjumbo-com-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2435,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2021\/12\/04\/expanding-narrations-history-in-the-late-middle-ages-bernard-of-chartres-from-john-of-salisburys-metalogicon\/","url_meta":{"origin":1645,"position":3},"title":"Expanding Narration&#8217;s History in the late Middle Ages: Bernard of Chartres from John of Salisbury&#8217;s Metalogicon","author":"Jason Barney","date":"December 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the third blog article expanding the short history of narration I laid out a year ago. In the last two I expanded my treatment of John Amos Comenius to engage in detail with the passages from The Great Didactic and the Analytical Didactic that recommend activities that Charlotte\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;History of Education&quot;","block_context":{"text":"History of Education","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/history-of-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Chartres_-_Cathedrale_2012.01_08-e1638620744242.jpg?fit=799%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Chartres_-_Cathedrale_2012.01_08-e1638620744242.jpg?fit=799%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Chartres_-_Cathedrale_2012.01_08-e1638620744242.jpg?fit=799%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Chartres_-_Cathedrale_2012.01_08-e1638620744242.jpg?fit=799%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1785,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2021\/01\/02\/why-the-history-of-narration-matters-part-3-narrations-rebirth\/","url_meta":{"origin":1645,"position":4},"title":"Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 3: Narration&#8217;s Rebirth","author":"Jason Barney","date":"January 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In my previous two articles I framed my discussion of the history of narration with the controversy between Charlotte Mason and classical Christian education advocates. I suggested that narration\u2019s history may be a fact that puts to rest the false dichotomies of either side. While Charlotte Mason did claim discovery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;History of Education&quot;","block_context":{"text":"History of Education","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/history-of-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Renaissance","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/renaissance.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/renaissance.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/renaissance.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/renaissance.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/renaissance.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":911,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/02\/15\/charlotte-mason-and-the-liberal-arts-tradition-part-1-mapping-a-harmony\/","url_meta":{"origin":1645,"position":5},"title":"Charlotte Mason and the Liberal Arts Tradition, Part 1: Mapping a Harmony","author":"Kolby Atchison","date":"February 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cWhat has Athens to do with Jerusalem?\u201d the church father Tertullian skeptically asked. Tertullian was writing at a time in which church leaders were weighing the pros and cons of mining the Greco-Roman philosophical tradition for insights they could utilize in the development of a distinctively Christian philosophy.\u00a0 Similarly, within\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Charlotte Mason&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Charlotte Mason","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/charlotte-mason\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Liberal-Tradition.jpg?fit=1000%2C670&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Liberal-Tradition.jpg?fit=1000%2C670&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Liberal-Tradition.jpg?fit=1000%2C670&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Liberal-Tradition.jpg?fit=1000%2C670&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1645"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2839,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions\/2839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}