Byzantine rhetoric study: the anecdote:
“ln these exercises the student was expected to follow a standardized pattern in developing his theme; thus in anecdote one should:”
first praise the figure to whom the saying is attributed;
then paraphrase the saying;
then uphold the saying in various ways:
• by showing why it is true;
• by pointing to its converse;
• by adducing analogies;
• by giving examples; and finally:
• by citing other authorities for the same principle;
conclude the treatment with an exhortation.
This procedure may seem mechanical. But ancient rhetoricians could have maintained with some justification that the standard structure is recommended because it is a good one-arguably the best, and certainly better than a student might devise off the top of his head.”
– hermogenes-on-issues-strategies-of-argument-in-later-greek-rhetoric