Tyla Iacobucci
ENG 1001 – 027
Rhetorical Analysis – Rough Draft 2
12 February 2020
About “Inventing the University”
- Summary
In the article “Inventing the University” by David Bartholomae, starts off by stating how students change the way they write depending on their audience. When students sit down to write for the University, they must speak their “language,” create something that fits the discourse of their community. Meaning as students write they may not know the subject, but they must invent it for the time being. Use your imagination to create something on the valid topic. To spend years at the University you must learn a variety of different voices and languages to meet the requirements of the writing. Students must adapt to the topic of any essay and write about it to the best of their ability. Bartholomae then provides examples of students doing so, to see the different errors that can be made.
Every student writes in their own way, whether it be a beginner writer or an expert writer, mistakes are easy to be made. In the article, Bartholomae analyzes two essays, one by a beginner and one by an expert. The biggest mistake that Bartholomae mentions is how in one of the articles the author got lost in their own words explaining things but not exactly staying on topic, jumping all over the place, possibly losing the audience. This can very easily happen, especially when you’re unsure with what you’re writing. Being well educated on your topic is important to creating all writing. Remember to re-read your own writing to make sure it makes sense and you’re staying on track.
- Purpose/Audience
This is an informative article that shows and gives examples of how students adapt to new ideas, languages and credentials by simply writing a paper. The point that the author is trying to get across is very clear and well explained in the first paragraph of this article. Reading this article really made me open my eyes as a writer, because I never really thought about reinventing what I am writing about in my head. I never thought that it was deeper than just writing what was asked of me but now I know there is so much more. I know that this will help me become a better writer and help me take on writing with a whole new mindset. This article was made for beginner writers, just like me, to show the audience there is so much more to writing then just getting a grade. “What our beginning students need to learn is to extend them-selves into the commonplaces, set phrases, rituals, gestures, etc…” (11) Is an example of who Bartholomae is essentially writing to, “beginning students” is used multiple times in the text.
- Content Analysis
Bartholomae explains how students are not being able to write very effective papers or being able to write to the best of their ability because lack of knowledge towards a subject. The author shapes his content around giving examples and explaining the errors for each of his examples, to provide enough information to get his point across to the audience. Bartholomae mainly wrote this for beginner writers such as me and you, to give us a better understanding that everyone makes mistakes even the experts. Despite all the good information this article provides it was very hard for me to not get confused, by the way things are worded and all the different directions the main topic could go. This disturbed me because I had to keep going back and reread some things until it became clearer to me.
- Organization, Language, and Style
The style of this article is and Rogerian argument. First by stating the problem then leads on to show evidence and examples to support to the problem. With an academic and serious tone to get the point across to the audience. The tone of the article did not take away from the meaning, but the vocabulary and the way things are worded does. Personally, I had to go back over and reread some parts of this article just to properly understand. The vocabulary was difficult and distracts the purpose and meaning. This article is deductive that claims the problem first then shows the proof.
- Evidence
I think that the Bartholomae is mainly relying on pathos as he explains his opinion of this subject. In this article the author uses more of his beliefs and observations on writing than actual data or authority. For example, Bartholomae says “There are ways, I think, that a writer can shape history in the very act of writing.” Just in this sentence the author uses words such as “I think” to state his opinion on the topic. The author relied more on his assertions than evidence, instead of stating facts and data Bartholomae relies mainly on the examples that he provides. I think if David provided more actual facts and data the article could be stronger and more convincing to the reader.
- Overall
After reading the article “Inventing the University” by David Bartholomae I have learned that it is a very well written informative article on the way college students adapt their writing to different situations. The intention of this publication is to inform new unexperienced writers on the different mistakes and the difference between expert writers and beginners. This article goes into great detail to inform the writer to the best of their ability. My overall feeling is that Bartholomae should have included actual facts and data to help support his main idea. I also feel that the article could have been worded better, the language took away from the meaning. Overall, Bartholomae covered many different points and examples, so I enjoyed reading this piece.
- Conclusion
In conclusion, this relates to me as a University student because this makes me have a totally different outlook on writing. As I grow as a writer, I will think about this essay and remind myself how important it is think deeper into the topic than what it really is. I have so much to improve on as I write throughout my life, I will always remember to dig deeper and to remember that mistakes are okay. This article was very interesting to read, just took me a little while to understand it.
Work Cited
Bartholomae, David. “Inventing the university.” Journal of Basic Writing,vol. 5, no. 1, 1986, pp. 4-23.
Tyla Iacobucci 