A set of rudimentary exercises intended to prepare students of rhetoric for the creation and performance of complete practice orations (gymnasmata or declamations). A crucial part of classical and renaissance rhetorical pedagogy. Many progymnasmata exercises correlate directly with the parts of a classical oration.
- Fable
- Narrative
- Chreia
- Proverb
- Refutation
- Confirmation
- Commonplace
- Encomium
- Vituperation
- Comparison
- Impersonation
- Description
- Thesis or Theme
- Defend /Attack a Law