Rhetoric Review Apr 2015

“A Maturity of Thought Very Rare in Young Girls”: Women’s Public Engagement in Nineteenth-Century High School Commencement Essays

Amy J. Lueck University of Louisville Hospital

Abstract

Though largely debarred from public rhetorical performance as adult women, young women in the nineteenth-century US received rhetorical training and performed their original compositions before large public audiences as high school students. Their access to the academic platform stemmed in part from their politically contained position as students and “girls” in this context. But students used these opportunities to intervene in political debates and to comment on their experiences as women and students. These rhetorical interventions represent an important part of our rhetorical history, shedding light on a significant rhetorical opportunity for many young women across the US.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
2015-04-03
DOI
10.1080/07350198.2015.1008911
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Topics
rhetorical criticism service learning archival research gender and writing public rhetoric editorial matter
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Tillman (2023)
    “Our Hidden Revenge”: Anti/Colonial Rhetorics at a Korean Women’s College Gradu…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  2. Riddick (2022)
    Students’ Social Media Disclosures: Reconsidering the Rhetorics of Whistleblowing
    Rhetoric Review
  3. Price-Mckell (2019)
    When Kairos Compels Composition: Women’s Response to the 1924 Burpee Seed Compa…
    Rhetoric Review

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