1. Gertrude Buck in the Modern
Composition Classroom
DECEMBER 13, 2010

2. Why Gertrude Buck?
 Looking back to Buck’s life and work will enrich our
understanding of the “rhetorical tradition.”
 Buck’s theories and texts speak to current
conversations in rhetoric and composition.
 Buck’s pedagogy and texts could be useful in modern
classrooms and writing programs nationwide.

3. Gertrude Buck: A Brief Biography
 Received her B.S., M.S., &
Ph.D. from the University of
Michigan
 Became a member of Vassar
College faculty in 1897
 Acted as a full professor from
1907 until her early death in
1922 (at the age of 51)
 Performed administrative
duties on top of teaching,
eventually directing the first-
year English program at
Vassar
Gertrude Buck

4. Biography, cont’d
 During her time at Vassar,
Buck published:
 six textbooks,
 a book of literary criticism,
 numerous articles focused on
grammar, rhetoric, and
pedagogy,
 and several creative pieces
• (Campbell ix)
 Attention to her work was
fleeting, and often in
connection with her mentor,
Fred Newton Scott.

5. A Bit of Context
 Buck—with her mentor
Scott & fellow rhetorician,
Joseph V. Denney—were
part of a counter-
movement interested in
“rhetoric of public
discourse” (Berlin 46).
 Thisschool was in direct
opposition to both the
current-traditional and
“liberal arts” schools.
Fred Newton Scott

6. Context, cont’d
 Two themes from their school’s ideology are
important to understanding Buck’s rhetorical
theory and composition pedagogy:
 “Organic”-ism
 Social consciousness and responsibility

7. Buck, “The Present Status of Rhetorical Theory”
 “Sophistic” v. Platonic discourse
 Sophistic: “individualistic and socially irresponsible”
 “The art of rhetoric is the art of war.”
 Platonic: “social” and “continuous”
 “The connection between the two minds is living and unbroken.”
 “Both the Platonic and the modern theory of
discourse make it not an individualistic and isolate
process for the advantage of the speaker alone, but a
real communication between speaker and hearer, to
the equal advantage of both, and this is a real
function of the social organism.”

8. Buck, “The Present Status of Rhetorical Theory”
“Sophistic Discourse”:
“gap in the chain of communication”
Conclusion
of speaker
X X X
Speaker’s Conclusion Hearer’s
mind for hearer mind.
“Platonic Discourse”:
“living and unbroken”
Conclusion
of speaker
X X X
Speaker’s Conclusion Hearer’s
mind for hearer mind.

9. Rhetorical Theory to Composition Pedagogy
 The themes present in Buck’s rhetorical theory
—“organic”-ism and social responsibility—help to
inform her composition pedagogy.
 “Organic” concerns become concerns for a “natural” occasion
for writing
 Social responsibility becomes a necessary connection to
students’ lives

10. Buck, A Course in Expository Writing
 “[…] the prime difficulty which an English teacher has to meet
is one no less fundamental than that of getting his students to
write at all; to […] spontaneously communicat[e] their own
observations or experiences to other people. This difficulty has
its source, at least very largely, in the student's sense of
the artificial character of his work. What is the use, he thinks,
of writing about the birth-place of Hawthorne, or the character
of Lady Macbeth? His teacher knows all about them
beforehand, and besides, he isn't writing to his teacher. He
isn't writing to anybody. He is just “writing a composition”
that is to be corrected for spelling, punctuation,
paragraphing; or for its lack of certain qualities, such as
“clearness,” “precision,” and “unity.” No wonder he finds it
hard to write.”

11. Bringing Buck Back into Modern Composition
 Her texts and pedagogy ultimate have one goal: the
empowerment of students.
 Keeping composition personal validates students’ experiences.
 Using inductive a teaching-style, give students agency.
 Drawing on Buck’s legacy can help us in the modern
composition classroom and discussions.
 Her pedagogy points to the importance of keeping composition
as a requirement, as a small course, and as a course apart from
other subjects .

12. Bringing Buck into Modern Composition
 Drawing on Buck’s legacy can help us in the modern
composition classroom and discussions.
 When Buck was writing, universities had increasingly
heterogeneous groups of students in need of
empowerment—like today.
 She speaks to the “subject” of composition, and the
necessity for small class sizes.

13. Ways to Help Empower Through Composition
 Whenever possible, use an inductive teaching style instead
of giving definitive rules.
 Make assignments and prompts as “organic” (natural,
relevant) as they can be.
 Have students act as each others’ critics, rather than solely
depending on your criticism.
 Make students aware of the larger social context
surrounding their seemingly isolated compositions.

14. Works Cited
Berlin, James. Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American
Colleges, 1900 – 1985. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1987. Print.
Bordelon, Suzanne. A Feminist Legacy: The Rhetoric and Pedagogy of
Gertrude Buck. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2007. Print.
Buck, Gertrude. “The Present Status of Rhetorical Theory.” Educational Review
22 (1901): 371-82. Rpt. in Toward a Feminist Rhetoric: The Writing of
Gertrude Buck. Ed. JoAnn Campbell. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh
Press, 1996. 45-51. Print.
--- and Elisabeth Woodbridge. A Course in Expository Writing. New York:
Henry Holt and Co., 1901. Print.
Campbell, JoAnn, ed. Toward a Feminist Rhetoric: The Writing of
Gertrude Buck. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996. Print.