Eloquentia Perfecta

Definition of Eloquentia Perfecta

In accordance with the Jesuit pedagogical goal of Eloquentia Perfecta, the University of Scranton aims to prepare students to speak, write, and to communicate effectively in varied modes and media, and so develop skills that will enable them to contribute to the greater good as engaged and compassionate professionals and citizens. Eloquentia Perfecta derives its goals from rhetorical traditions stressing excellence and logical clarity in communicating. It develops progressively and recursively as students produce a variety of discourse and master the associated arts of reading, listening, observing, inquiring, analyzing, and thinking critically.

The goal of the Eloquentia Perfecta requirement is to assure and further develop each student’s abilities to gather, evaluate and disseminate information and ideas.  The Level I EP requirement exists to present the first-year student with opportunities to develop such abilities.  Primary modes of demonstrating competence are public speaking, writing, and using digital technology.  

 The Level II EP requirement is meant to encourage faculty to formally incorporate writing, speaking and digital technology into their upper-division courses, thus providing students with opportunities to build upon the abilities they have acquired and demonstrated in Level I EP. Students need to learn to communicate not only in general through the development of these abilities, but also in the particular ways of their disciplines. "General skills" courses are important, but so are "discipline-specific" courses that directly address genre and convention issues in that field.

Level I. Foundational
Eloquentia Perfecta in Level I will consist of the following, which the student must complete: 1) First-Year Writing (FYW); 2) First-Year Seminar (FYS); 3 First-Year Digital Technology (FYDT); and 4) First Year Oral Communication (FYOC). These courses will be delivered at the 100 level and will serve as prerequisites for the corresponding Level II designated courses.

Level I. Grid

Level II. Rhetorical
Eloquentia Perfecta courses in Level II will be identified from existing or new courses that meet the established criteria and carry the following designations: Oral (EPO), Digital (EPD), and Writing (EPW).  Students must complete courses of variable credit in order to earn two EPO, two EPD, and two EPW designations. No course may carry more than two of these EP designations. One course of each designation is recommended to be in the student’s major program of study. EP courses in Level II may also fulfill other major, cognate and/or general education requirements. These courses will be delivered at the 200 level or above.  

Level II. Grid

Eloquentia Perfecta Glossary


The purpose of this document is to promote a shared language with which to discuss the goals and teaching in Eloquential Perfecta

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