In this study I examine twenty-five reading textbooks published in America between 1785 and 1819 for their rhetorical theory, pedagogy, and approach to language in order to discover more about the origins of modern writing instruction. The reading textbooks were selected for popularity, needing to go through at least three editions. I also examine four early writing textbooks, all published 1816 and earlier, and compare them to the reading textbooks on the same points.My results show that the dominant rhetorical theorist before 1800 is James Burgh, and not Hugh Blair. After 1800, rhetorical theory in these textbooks is dominated by Blair and John Walker. An emphasis on grammatical correctness is inherent in both writing and speech instruction, meaning the public associated grammatical correctness with writing instruction even in the eighteenth century. Correctness went beyond grammar into vocabulary and pronunciation because language instruction was primarily a matter of imitating the upper class. The reading textbooks, designed for teaching speech, show no evidence of the transition to writing instruction that occurred in the nineteenth century. My examination of the writing textbooks shows that writing instruction developed separately from speech instruction because the elocutionary pedagogy dominant in these years could not be applied to writing instruction. The early writing textbooks have the same emphasis on grammatical correctness, and add inventional schemata that are wholly absent from the reading textbooks. / Department of English
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/181975 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Wilken, Curtis B. |
| Contributors | Hanson, Linda K. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | vi, 227 leaves : facsims. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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