A nineteenth-century Scottish rhetorician, George Jardine: prefiguring twentieth-century composition theory

Abstract

This study investigates the contributions of George Jardine, Professor of Logic and Philosophy at Glasgow University from 1774 to 1824, to modern writing theory and pedagogy. Jardine developed a practical plan of instruction to fit the needs of a nation attempting to make education accessible to all citizens. He envisioned a comprehensive rhetoric and stressed that the abilities to reason, to investigate, to judge, to write, and to speak are crucial components of a liberal arts education. Although Jardine had never heard phrases such as peer evaluation, writing as discovery, writing across the curriculum, and writing as process, he was quite familiar with these concepts. This work outlines the significance of the Scottish Universities and their differences from the more traditional English schools; places Glasgow University and specifically George Jardine within the rich educational heritage handed down by the Scottish Universities; and, finally, analyzes closely the teaching theories and practices of Jardine in order to demonstrate that he prefigured much of what we consider to be modern in the pedagogical theory and practice of writing instruction. Parallels are drawn between Jardine's theories and the findings of Fred Newton Scott, Mina Shaughnessy, William Coles, Ken Macrorie, Kenneth Bruffee and Jerome Bruner.