How to Compose a Capitalist: The Predicament of Required Writing in a Free Market Curriculum Export

@article{citeulike:2351334, author = {Strickland, Donna}, citeulike-article-id = {2351334}, comment = {"Because composition was regarded as an 'art' rather than a 'science,' it did not become a field of research" in the nineteenth-century university. But in fact Charles W. Eliot intended that Harvard focus on teaching (25). "[A] liberal education, as described by Eliot, prepared Harvard men to take their places in the American capitalist system" by aligning their values with "those circulating in the social economy of capitalism" (26). This was accomplished "through the construction of an elective system in which students freely chose their own courses, and through a new attention to pedagogical techniques that fostered competition and individuation of students" (27). Even though Eliot described these students as an "aristocracy," he was careful to differentiate them from the idle rich; their aristocratic characteristics were their intellectual and physical attainments (28). "This monadic individuation of people is central to the logic of capitalism" (29). Eliot based Harvard admissions not on family but on individual accomplishments (30). "In the logic of capitalism" free subjects own themselves and are expected to "use that property to gain advantage over other individuals; one must compete in order to continually add to the value of one's property" (30). The teacher-student relationship was modeled on "business relations" (32). "The competitive business environment is re-imagined as the free arena of upward mobility; one's boss is re-imagined as a model from whom to learn. . . . The teacher need not encourage competition but simply serve as a model of masculine ability" (33). Even in the elective system of liberal education, composition was required. "The acquisition of good English, which was simultaneously the practice of good (racial) hygiene, formed the basis of all further capitalist endeavors" (33). In his inaugural address, Eliot named "the accurate and refined use of the mother tongue" as the one necessary outcome of "the education of a lady or gentleman" (34). A.S. Hill described "a developmental plan for the teaching of English in secondary schools that would take the student from the dependency of a capital-less worker to the freedom of a man with capital to invest." Hill says, "Gradually he should be led form the skillful use of materials for composition provided by others to the discovery and arrangement of materials for himself, from the practice of clothing another's thought in his own language to the presentation of his own thoughts or fancies in appropriate language. . . ." Strickland comments, "As in the myth of upward mobility so important to American capitalist ideology, the individual works awhile with another's 'materials' until he acquires sufficient language capital to have 'his own thoughts'" (35.) She sees current efforts to give students choice about what they do in the required comp class as extending, not countering, the free-choice component in the logic of capitalism (36). }, journal = {Composition Forum}, keywords = {712, economics, fyc, property}, number = {1}, pages = {25--38}, posted-at = {2008-02-08 01:09:17}, priority = {0}, title = {How to Compose a Capitalist: The Predicament of Required Writing in a Free Market Curriculum}, volume = {9}, year = {1998} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2351334 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2351334 IS - 1 JF - Composition Forum EP - 38 TI - How to Compose a Capitalist: The Predicament of Required Writing in a Free Market Curriculum VL - 9 SP - 25 KW - 712 KW - economics KW - fyc KW - property N1 - "Because composition was regarded as an 'art' rather than a 'science,' it did not become a field of research" in the nineteenth-century university. But in fact Charles W. Eliot intended that Harvard focus on teaching (25). "[A] liberal education, as described by Eliot, prepared Harvard men to take their places in the American capitalist system" by aligning their values with "those circulating in the social economy of capitalism" (26). This was accomplished "through the construction of an elective system in which students freely chose their own courses, and through a new attention to pedagogical techniques that fostered competition and individuation of students" (27). Even though Eliot described these students as an "aristocracy," he was careful to differentiate them from the idle rich; their aristocratic characteristics were their intellectual and physical attainments (28). "This monadic individuation of people is central to the logic of capitalism" (29). Eliot based Harvard admissions not on family but on individual accomplishments (30). "In the logic of capitalism" free subjects own themselves and are expected to "use that property to gain advantage over other individuals; one must compete in order to continually add to the value of one's property" (30). The teacher-student relationship was modeled on "business relations" (32). "The competitive business environment is re-imagined as the free arena of upward mobility; one's boss is re-imagined as a model from whom to learn. . . . The teacher need not encourage competition but simply serve as a model of masculine ability" (33). Even in the elective system of liberal education, composition was required. "The acquisition of good English, which was simultaneously the practice of good (racial) hygiene, formed the basis of all further capitalist endeavors" (33). In his inaugural address, Eliot named "the accurate and refined use of the mother tongue" as the one necessary outcome of "the education of a lady or gentleman" (34). A.S. Hill described "a developmental plan for the teaching of English in secondary schools that would take the student from the dependency of a capital-less worker to the freedom of a man with capital to invest." Hill says, "Gradually he should be led form the skillful use of materials for composition provided by others to the discovery and arrangement of materials for himself, from the practice of clothing another's thought in his own language to the presentation of his own thoughts or fancies in appropriate language. . . ." Strickland comments, "As in the myth of upward mobility so important to American capitalist ideology, the individual works awhile with another's 'materials' until he acquires sufficient language capital to have 'his own thoughts'" (35.) She sees current efforts to give students choice about what they do in the required comp class as extending, not countering, the free-choice component in the logic of capitalism (36). AU - Strickland, Donna PY - 1998/// ER -