Fred Newton Scott - Questions Facing 19th Century Rhetoricians

Questions Facing 19th Century Rhetoricians

Rhetoric in the 1890s was full of vigorous experimentation in rhetorical theory and practice. The Harvard Reports of 1892, 1895, and 1897 generated much public interest and concern about the teaching of writing. At this time, composition was shifting away from an emphasis on oratory skills. The 19th century American University was experiencing a major transformation in its educational purposes. Education was opening up to everyone, including women. Classical rhetoric was being displaced as schools responded to more practical needs, like preparing their students to be excellent employees.

Originally, classical rhetoric studies were geared to composition that included emotional and ethical appeals in addition to logical ones. The purpose of oratory skills at this point was persuasion and included a concern of the emotional disposition of the audience. The classical composer shaped the work to be appealing. The composer was to discover the best possible reasons for their argument and persuade the audience to accept their point of view.

This belief system began to change. Current-traditionalists were not concerned with probabilities and the subjects were essentially factual or able to be proven. The goal was not to persuade anyone to a particular conclusion. Rather, the focus was just to present the information to the audience and let them do with it what they will. This new method affected the tone and arrangement of the work. Instead of arranging the piece to convince the audience of something, they just arranged it to reflect a rational thought process that the audience could follow. The arrangement became deductive; it was just a way to report facts.

Questions for 19th century rhetoricians:

1.How relevant is psychology to composition?

2.How can the change in practical teaching skills caused by a changing social climate best be dealt with?

3.Is teaching grammar really beneficial to the composing process?

4.What is the relationship between rhetoric and literary studies?

5.Should the focus of writing instruction be parts-to-whole or whole-to parts?