Other| March 01 2015 Lincoln: The “Double Consciousness” of the Man and the President Shawn J. Parry-Giles; Shawn J. Parry-Giles Shawn J. Parry-Giles is Professor of Rhetoric and Political Culture in the Department of Communication and Director of the Center for Political Communication and Civic Leadership at the University of Maryland in College Park. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google David S. Kaufer David S. Kaufer David S. Kaufer is Professor of Rhetoric in the Department of English at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The authors would like to thank Dr. Charles E. Morris III for his insightful feedback on the essay. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Rhetoric and Public Affairs (2015) 18 (1): 147–154. https://doi.org/10.14321/rhetpublaffa.18.1.0147 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Shawn J. Parry-Giles, David S. Kaufer; Lincoln: The “Double Consciousness” of the Man and the President. Rhetoric and Public Affairs 1 March 2015; 18 (1): 147–154. doi: https://doi.org/10.14321/rhetpublaffa.18.1.0147 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveMichigan State University PressRhetoric and Public Affairs Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2015 Michigan State University Board of Trustees. All rights reserved.2015 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

This essay discusses the competing rhetorical styles of two volumes that appeared in the 1880s to remember Abraham Lincoln. One volume, edited by Alan Thorndike Rice, remembered Lincoln in a refined-official style. A second volume, by William Herndon and Jesse Weik, captured Lincoln in a middling-vernacular style. Using automatic coding and close reading, the authors show that Herndon-Weik’s middling-vernacular style put a focus on the “personal” Lincoln. Rice’s essayists, instead, featured an “official” Lincoln set apart from the everyday man. The authors argue that these contrasts were a contributing factor to the different critical reception they received.

Abstract This essay examines reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln that were published in the aftermath of his death by those who had interacted with Lincoln personally. An understudied genre y Lincoln reminiscences offered judgments of Lincolns character through a portraiture style designed to make salient private as well as public dimensions of his character. We historicize the rhetoric of portraiture and trace the rise of reminiscence out of biography as a stand-alone genre, which reached unprecedented popularity in the competitive subgenre of the Lincoln reminiscence. We argue that Lincoln reminiscences featured a balance of common and uncommon virtues thought essential for a president, a balance that helped democratize and humanize presidential character.

The data base of writing examined serves a dual purpose. Here it is used as a research tool and the writing performance from the large, nationally representative sample (N = 20,947) of students (years 4 to 12) interrogated to examine patterns of performance in writing. However, the data base was designed to underpin a software tool for diagnostic assessment of writing. Viewing writing as accomplishing social communicative goals, performance was considered in terms of seven main purposes the writer may seek to achieve. Tasks related to each purpose were encapsulated in 60 writing prompts that included stimulus material. Participants produced one writing sample; the design ensured appropriate representation across writing purposes. Samples were scored using criteria differentiated according to purpose and curriculum level of schooling and acceptable reliability obtained. Analyses indicate that growth was most marked between years 8 and 10, arguably, as opportunity to write increases and writing is linked to learning in content areas. Variability in performance is relatively low at primary school and high at secondary school. Students at any level did not write equally well for different purposes. Mean scores across purposes at primary school were relatively similar with to instruct and to explain highest. By years 11-12 there is a considerable gap between the highest scores (for narrate and report) and the lowest, recount, reflecting likely opportunities to practice writing for different purposes. Although girls performed better than boys, the difference in mean scores narrows by years 11-12.