September 10, 2008, 10:17 am by Brett

Kairos: where time meets place with opportunity. This is one of my favorite parts about rhetoric. Seizing the moment when presented is one of the most exhilarating feelings a person can experience. I think that kairos is also one of the most important parts of rhetoric. Without the proper time and place to present a particular point, then what good can come of it? Kairos is like the volume knob on your guitar amp, the moment will determine whether or not you will be strumming your tune at 2, or cranked up like a real rock star at 11.

Progymnasmata. If you want to take a stab at pronouncing that word, then be my guest. While you’re at it, try chreia. According to the authors of our text, a brief saying or action that makes a point is known as chreia, this being one of the four forms of progymnasmata. I coined one of these chreias a while back. Have a gander, if you will:

I do what I can do, when I can do it; because if I don’t do it when I can, then it won’t get done.

It has yet to be elevated to the status of proverb like our man Jefferson and his, “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today,” but nevertheless, I have high hopes of spreading my little chreia far and wide.

Thinking again about the definition of chreia, I wonder what action could qualify as such? A thumbs up? The bird? Slapping someone in the face? What action could possibly make a point better than a high five? I could be way off base here, so feel free to help me out. Until next time, be on your toes so you can grab hold of that Kairos by the locks of his looney haircut.