SOURCE: Vos, Alvin. “Form and Function in Roger Ascham's Prose.” Philological Quarterly 55, no. 3 (summer 1976): 305-22.

In the following essay, Vos focuses on the use of parallelism and antithesis as structuring elements in Ascham's prose, giving it force and clarity. Vos corrects the critical notion that Ascham's emphasis on style in his treatises overshadows the content to be learned, arguing that Ascham employed specific rhetorical forms to underscore the practical and moral lessons of his works.

Nearly all modern students of Renaissance prose have been of a divided mind concerning Roger Ascham's style. On one hand, virtually everyone has agreed that he writes well. “[Ascham] combined plainness of speech so far as words are concerned with the scholar's standard of solidly dignified and elevated writing,” says George Krapp, whose survey of English prose remains useful. “His example served as a useful corrective of the loose, popular style of writing...