Theme Writing at the Beginning of the 17th Century with Note on Erasmus’S De Copia.

The Theme is a moral or political subject, having relation to life, and especially such as concerns virtues and vices. The gravest of problems in Theme-writing is how to get suitable material for discourse. The object of a good Theme is the presentation of such adequate subject matter as may inculcate love of virtue and hatred of vice. The regular written exercise of Theme-making is a necessary pre­parative. Brinsley requires the boys to begin the Exordium of a Theme, and contend with one another at the ‘bettering’ of sug­gested phrases of an author, both in English and in Latin. The de Copia is based on rules adopted from Aristotle, Hermogenes, Quintilian and other writers on rhetoric, but the examples for the most part are those of Erasmus. The de Copia of Erasmus was first published in 1511. The Copia is intended to be a guide to the best modes of expression in words, phrases, and both grammatical and rhetorical forms.