The Teaching of Writing After the American Civil War
Higher Education Before the Civil War
Before the war, those few Americans who went to college did so because they sought a career in medicine, law, or the ministry.
Higher Education After the Civil War
After the war, American entered a boom time of industrial expansion. Families wanted their sons (very few women went to college) to have a background in business. That included strong skills in writing, logic, and public speaking.
The requirements of composition courses did not change. Students were expected to write an essay each week. The professor was expected to require that students explore a different theme – usually on a subject involving morality, such as “honesty.” The essays were called “Themes.”
Professors wanted to reduce their workload. Their solutions to the problem changed the teaching of writing.
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