A Treatise of Schemes and Tropes

In Short

Richard Sherry’s treatise serves as a mid-sixteenth-century instructional manual for English writers and students seeking to master rhetorical style. By compiling definitions and examples from ancient authorities and classical scholars, the work classifies various figures of speech, syntactical alterations, and emotional devices. It lays out the mechanics of eloquence, showing how deliberate stylistic choices bring clarity, variety, and persuasiveness to both spoken and written communication. The text endures as a vital landmark in the history of English education, marking an early effort to codify ornate vernacular composition.

The Story

The text begins by setting out its educational purpose: providing an accessible guide to elocution so that students can recognize and employ figures of speech in their own language. Establishing elocution as the third and most significant part of rhetoric, the opening section emphasizes that true eloquence requires joining wise thoughts with appropriately decorated words. The discussion lays the groundwork by identifying the three essential qualities of an effective oration—evidence, composition, and dignity—and describing the temperate style of writing, which balances plainness with modest ornamentation.

From this foundation, the work shifts into its primary analytical framework by defining the main categories of linguistic alteration: schemes and tropes. Schemes are identified as unconventional patterns or shapes of sentences and words, divided further into legitimate figures, poetic licenses, and outright errors. The text classifies figures of words, detailing how additions, omissions, and rearrangements of letters or words alter expression. It cautions writers against linguistic faults, such as excessive wordiness, meaningless repetitions, and structural obscurity, while outlining rules for proper proportion, rhythm, and vocal modulation.

The focus then transitions to tropes, defined as deliberate shifts where words are moved from their original meanings into new ones based on resemblance or necessity. The argument breaks down single-word substitutions—such as using descriptive titles instead of proper names or employing roundabout descriptions—and extends to full conceptual inversions like allegories, riddles, ironies, and sarcastic taunts.

The final movement expands into larger structural and emotional strategies for building persuasive arguments. It outlines rhetorical devices used to express intense human emotions, including formal cursing, earnest pleading, urgent questioning, and self-directed debate. It demonstrates methods for amplifying raw material by enumerating the causes and consequences of events, painted so vividly that the audience feels as though they are witnessing the scene firsthand. Finally, the text details the practical assembly of proofs, dividing them into hard evidence—such as testimony and physical signs—and soft logical arguments drawn from a speaker's character, background, and motives, ultimately providing a complete toolkit for construct ing polished compositions.

How It Unfolds

The purpose of eloquence The text establishes that elocution is the key component of rhetoric, turning raw arguments into polished speech through careful word selection and arrangement. It argues that English writers need clear definitions to recognize these tools in classical literature and apply them to their own writing.

Classifying linguistic forms The framework introduces schemes as special shapes or patterns of expression that depart from common speech. It breaks these down into valid grammatical figures, allowable poetic departures, and structural flaws that cause vagueness or confusion.

Shifting word meanings The discussion transitions to tropes, explaining how words are intentionally altered from their literal sense to create vivid imagery or deeper meaning. It categorizes techniques ranging from subtle indirect descriptions to sharp irony, riddles, and biting taunts.

Amplifying emotional impact The text moves into advanced stylistic tools designed to move an audience, showing how to structure passionate requests, dramatic questions, and internal debates. It details methods for building detailed descriptions of events and their consequences to make arguments visually compelling.

Assembling logical arguments The final section covers the practical gathering of proofs, distinguishing between physical evidence and invented logical points. It explains how to build arguments based on a person's background, age, and character to complete a persuasive speech.

The People

Richard Sherry The author and schoolmaster who organizes the treatise to help English students master rhetorical tools. He wants his countrymen to speak and write their native language with elegance, clarity, and structural precision. Standing in his way is the lack of clear, accessible instructional texts in English, which he overcomes by gathering, translating, and organizing materials from classical and modern sources into a single systematic guide.

Desiderius Erasmus A primary neo-classical source whose writings supply foundational definitions and structural examples throughout the text. His work represents the ideal of stylistic variety and educational theory, serving as a model for how brief themes can be expanded into complete, persuasive declamations.

Marcus Tullius Cicero The legendary Roman orator drawn upon as the standard for high eloquence and legal argumentation. His speeches and rhetorical theories provide benchmark examples of how figures of speech, emotional appeals, and structured proofs operate in actual practice.

Quintilian The classical educator referenced to establish rules on grammar, vocal tone, and the proper selection of words. His authoritative rulings on language serve to separate natural speech from corrupt or barbaric usage.

In Its Own Voice

"Eloquucion, which the Greekes call Phrase, whereof also the name of eloquence dothe ryse, as of al partes it is the goodlyest, so also is it the most profitable and hardeste..."

The text introduces its primary subject by identifying elocution as the central engine of effective speaking and writing.

"Scheme is a Greke worde, and signifyeth properlye the maner of gesture that daunsers vse to make, wh[en] they haue won the best game, but by translacion is taken for the fourme, fashion, and shape of anye thynge..."

The work explains the origin of its technical vocabulary by tracing how a term for physical movement became a label for sentence structures.

"Figure, of Scheme y^e fyrst part, is a behaueoure, maner, or fashion eyther of sentence, oracion, or wordes after some new wyse, other th[en] men do commenlye vse to wryte or speake..."

The text defines how rhetorical figures alter ordinary speech to create striking linguistic effects.

What It's Really About

At its core, the work explores how language can be systematically shaped to influence human thought and emotion. It argues that eloquence is not an innate, accidental talent, but a learnable craft built on a deep understanding of structural patterns and word choices. Beneath its technical definitions lies the belief that clear, ornate expression enhances truth rather than hiding it, allowing writers to communicate complex moral and philosophical ideas effectively. The text also champion the dignity of the English vernacular, asserting that the native tongue is fully capable of expressing the same stylistic depth, precision, and rhetorical power as classical Latin and Greek.

Why Read It Today

This text appeals to historians of language, literature scholars, and anyone interested in the mechanics of writing and historical pedagogy. Reading it offers a direct view into Renaissance education, revealing how sixteenth-century scholars learned to dissect sentences, construct arguments, and analyze literature. The experience of working through the material is uniquely engaging, featuring early modern English spelling alongside Latin technical terms and vivid historical examples.

Readers should expect some friction from period typography, erratic archaic spelling, and dense lists of specialized terminology that require patient reading. Additionally, the text reflects sixteenth-century cultural and religious attitudes, using historical biases and severe judicial examples to illustrate its points. What remains with the reader is a newfound appreciation for the structural machinery behind persuasive speech, as well as a realization of how heavily modern literary style depends on these foundational early attempts to organize English rhetoric.