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SOME RHETORICAL ASPECTS OR THE i.!C GUFFEY READERS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillm ent of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State U n i v e r s i t y By JOHN THOMAS RICKEY, B .S ., M.A. The Ohio State U niversity 1955 Approved by: Adviser Department of Speech TABLE OP CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I . INTRODUCTION.................................. 1 I I . THE PROBLEM AMD DEFINITION OP TERMS ..... 6 I I I . INFLUENCES CONTRIBUTING TO W. H. MCGUFFEY'S PREPARATION FOR THE COMPOSING OF THE READERS. 13 I V . EARLY INFLUENCES CONTRIBUTING TO ALEXANDER H. MCGUFFEY *3 PREPARATION FOR COMPOSING THE FIFTH READER................................................................................... 36 V. INFLUENCES OF WINTHROP B . SMITH ON THE PREPARATION AND SUCCESS OF THE MCGUFFEY READERS.................................................................................. ..... 48 V I. INFLUENCES OF THOSE WHO REVISED THE MCGUFFEY READERS ON THEIR CONTINUED SUCCESS. ..... 61 V II. INFLUENCES AFFECTING THE SELECTION OF MATERIALS AND INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS IN THE MCCUFFEY READERS ......... ..................... 70 V I I I . WILLIAM HOLMES MCGUFFEY'S PLAN OF SELECTION AND REJECTION OF THE PROSE AND POETRY MATERIALS FOR THE READERS.............................. 97 I X . THE COMPOSITION OF THE AUDIENCE OF THE MCCUFFEY READERS AND THE RHETORICAL EFFEC­ TIVENESS OF THE READERS ON THAT AUDIENCE. 119 X . SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ......................................... 136 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................... 14-4 11 I CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION' Throughout the part of the United States which is west of the Alleghenies, the name McGuffey was a household word for the final two-thirds of the nineteenth century* Many of our elders still join McGuffey clubs to recite the selections from their favorite readers. Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, still holds annual National Conventions of the Federation of McGuffey Societies* The programs come from the McGuffey Readers and Spellers. The educational aspects of the Readers which inspired this prolonged interest have been investigated frequently. The rhetorical importance of these books has not been the subject of intense scrutiny, however. Such a study is the province of this thesis. Is a study such as this one a rhetorical study? Most of the rhetorical studies which I have read, and most of the books and articles dealing with rhetorical analysis and criticism, concern the orator and the structure, style and delivery of his speeches in certain surroundings. However, a study may be rhetorical without having a speaker to analyze. An author and his works may be the subject of rhetorical study. 1 2 In discussing some problems of scope and method In rhetorical scholarship, Bryant sees a place for such studies as this one in the history of public address. He says, Perhaps only one or two specific and limited studies need to be made, to give order and movement to a whole series of forces and Influences. Perhaps a study of the contents and vogue of the McGuffey Readers would be sufficient to provide the necessary connection between what Is already known and under­ stood of American literature in the mid-nineteenth century and the knowledge we seek of the state of popular culture at that time. • The larger con­ ceptions of the history of public address must still depend upon the co-operative efforts of many scholars for realization. According to Bryant, then, a study of the contents and vogue of the McGuffey Readers would fa ll within the prov­ ince of rhetorical scholarship. Griffin does not mention McGuffey specifically as Bryant did In the quotation above. However, he does talk of just this type of study when he says, . a need exists for further background studies in the development of theories of rhetoric and public opinion, and in the history of the teaching of rhetoric as well . a need for a body of period and regional-period studies which w ill give us specific demonstrations of the integration of theory and practice.** Donald C. Bryant, "Some Problems of Scope and Method in Rhetorical Scholarship,” Quarterly Journal of Speech, 25:187, April,' 1937. ------------------------------------- 2 Leland M. Griffin, ”The Rhetoric of Historical Movements," Quarterly Journal of Speech, 28:187, April, 1952. According to Griffin, then, this study of the McGuffey Readers is needed in the rhetorical field if it is a back­ ground study in the development of theories of rhetoric and public opinion, or in the history of the teaching of rhetoric* It is both of these. It is also a regional- period study, which he says is needed, giving specific demonstrations of the integration of theory and practice. Further searching to determine whether or not such a study as this one of iVicGuff ey ’ s Readers could leg iti­ mately be considered a rhetorical study revealed other substantial support. Thonssen and Baird point to George M. Trevelyan’s Life of John Bright as a most successful use of rhetorical criticism . Although we are dealing with the rhetorical aspects of a series of readers Instead of the biography of an ora to r, some of the same r h e to r ic a l principles apply. Trevelyan defends his use of Bright’s speeches as follows: Not by administration or legislation, not by arguing in the Cabinet or sharing in the counsels of the party, but by his public orations as a private citizen he profoundly modified English politics and the relations and balance of English classes. We might paraphrase this quotation to make it apply to the authors and editors of the McGuffey Readers as regards George M. Trevelyan, The life of John Bright, (Boston: Houghton M ifflin Company, 19137, p. 4. 4 rhetorical principles. It would read something like this: Not by educational administration or legislation, not by arguing in the pulpit or university board meetings, but by the writing of their readers they profoundly modified oral reading practices in the American schools, Trevelyan referred to the "'bell-like clearness* of Bright’s voice, and ’the absence of gestures’ in his plat­ form performance."^ Among the rhetorical aspects of McGuffey*s Readers is the treatment of voice and gestures in the lessons of the Readers. Therefore, I have found It necessary to take as part of my problem the bases of selection of the lessons. This Includes, among other things, the instructional methods in teaching articulation, gesturing, inflections, accent and emphasis, and culti­ vation of the voice. Bright said, "My life is in my speeches," but Trevelyan found that • • , after two generations have gone by, not even the greatest speeches can be widely read or com­ pletely understood, except with the help of historical comment, and of such reproduction of a great personality as the biographer, by aid of private letters and recollections, can all too feebly accomplish. Lester Thonssen, and A. Craig Baird, Speech Criticism, (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1948), p , 268, Trevelyan, 0 £, cit., p, 4, 5 In the same way, after two, or more, generations not even the rhetorical aspects of these books on oral reading can be completely understood, except with the help of historical comment, and of such reproduction of several great person­ alities as the author and editors, by the aid of private letters, speeches, and other such materials, can this author all too feebly accomplish. Summary. There is adequate justification for considering this approach to McGuffey to be a rhetorical study. The study of an author is as rhetorical as the study of a speaker. The study of a series of books written by that author is as rhetorical as the study of a series of speeches delivered by a speaker. Modern authorities show the way fo r such a r h e to r ic a l study as th is one. CHAPTER X I THE PROBLEM AMD DEFINITION OF TERMS This study of the McGuffey Readers w ill he more easily understood if we define three terms which w ill be used quite frequently throughout the study. The terms are (1) McGuffey Readers, (2) Series, and (3) Rhetoric. The McGuffey Readers are books designed to teach pupils to read orally and then to improve that reading. However, only the Primer was devoted to teaching beginners to read. The six Readers which followed the Primer in progressively Increasing difficulty assumed that the pupil could read at least a little. Improvement in reading included grasping the author*s meaning and interpreting it orally; learning to spell, pronounce, and articulate the words in the lessons; and being able to demonstrate comprehension of what had been read by applying the infor­ mation in answering the questions suggested to the teacher in the books. The major portion of the Readers included selections of prose and poetry to be read by the pupils. These selections had an obvious moral in the First, Second and Third Readers. The selections in the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Readers were examples of the better literature of 6 7 the day. The moral or point of instruction was less obvious than in the lower Readers. The inclusion of McGuffey’s name in the term ’'McGuffey Readers” has led us to believe mistakenly that one man was entirely responsible for these books* William Holmes McGuffey was the ’’McGuffey” referred to. He wrote the Primer and the first four Readers» In so doing he gave the Readers their basic form. He was not alone in the project, however. The publisher Winthrop B. Smith saw the need for such books and went in search of someone who could write them. He bought the rights to the books as they were written. He had the control over their revision and sale. His influence on them was not a minor one. His sales methods and his wise choice of editors may have had as much to do with our remembering the Readers as did William Holmes McGuffey*s contribution in authorship.

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