Explores the relationship between the traditional methods of teaching composition, beginning in the late nineteenth century and the cultural matrix in which it took shape. Describes the changing student demographics and the ritual mechanisms within a very well-defined sociocultural and pedagogical context. (HB)

Discusses the life and work of Marian Wharton, a socialist and feminist who helped shape the English curriculum at the People's College in Fort Scott, Kansas. Develops a rich, historical-situated conception of how the rhetorical activities of women and other marginalized people are a complex interweaving of alliance and antagonism, of free choice…

An examination of nineteenth century rhetoric is presented in this publication. The first chapter analyzes three rhetorical systems of the nineteenth century: classical, psychological-epistemological, and romantic. The second chapter discusses the demise of the classical tradition, while the third chapter, "The Triumph of Eighteenth-Century…

Explores the varieties of writing instruction and rhetoric available to women of the early national period in the United States, specifically as manifested in works of didactic fiction. Analyzes Hannah Webster Foster's 1797 novel "The Boarding School" to understand the educational sources available to early American women. (HB)

Considering the rhetorical strategies four 19th-century black women employed to address various audiences can be helpful in the continuing struggle to find effective means of teaching writing to college students. These four women used a variety of strategies to reach audiences which were, to one degree or another, hostile to them because of their…

This paper surveys the study of English in British schools from the 16th century to the present. The paper proceeds chronologically, using key terms operative in education at various times to structure discussion. In the 16th century a key term was "rhetoric," which concerns oral expression. "The Art and Craft of Rhetoric," is…

The proposition can be offered that the notion of "the plant" should be the paradigmatic metaphor for modern conceptions of the composing process. Various forms of the metaphor are found in classical and eighteenth century writings alike. A modern shift in focus from writing product to process has brought to the fore the dynamic…