Summary of Inventing the University

This is a summary of Dr. David Bartholomae’s “Inventing the University”.

Brianna Ciriaco

ENG1001-027

Rhetorical Analysis- Rough Draft 1

27 January 2020

Inventing the University

            In the article “Inventing the University” by David Bartholomae, the author says that students at the university have to “invent the university”. He says this because they take many different courses and have to learn how to express themselves in each course. This is part of having a liberal arts education. This can be a problem, because students are required to speak and write before the skill is ‘learned”.

            David Bartholomae gives examples of four student essays and then analyzes them for the reader. He points out positive and negative things in each essay. The first essay shared was a placement essay that a student wrote at freshman orientation in which the student described something creative that he/ she had done. In the second essay, a student writes about his work as a mechanic and an incident that was important to him. In the third essay, the writer writes about his football team and how he had the idea of changing the kind of socks and cleats he and other players would wear. The last essay shared is when the writer talks about his interest and experiences with music.

            David Bartholomae mentions the opinion of Linda Flower. She thinks that expert writers should consider the reader when writing essays and be able to change their writing accordingly. He also mentions the opinion of Mina Shaughnessy. She states regarding advanced writers: “The evidence of a problem is the presence of dissonant, redundant, or imprecise language.”

            David Bartholomae concludes that some students will have to imitate the “distinctive register” of academic discourse before they are able to complete the work. He states that: “Our students must be our students. Their initial progress will be marked by their abilities to take on the  role of privilege, by their abilities to establish authority.”

Bartholome, David. “Inventing the university.” New York: Gulliford, (2019)

Harkin, Patricia. “The Recipitation of Reader- Response Theory.” College of Composition and Communication Vol. 56, No, 3 (2005): 410-25