My Pedagogic Creed by John Dewey - Essay Example

Rhetorical analysis of “My Pedagogic Creed” by John Dewey Some of the rhetorical choices, which are involved in the Dewey’s text named “My Pedagogic Creed”, are the generalization of the argument and the use of words which suggest the meaning of fact and repetition of the words, “I believe”, at the beginning of every paragraphs and the division of the text into different sections. These rhetorical choices are very useful not only for articulating the argument but also for persuading the readers to believe in what he is saying or discussing. To specify the audience of the Dewey’s text is very difficult or confusing because the range of his audience is very broad and this text deals with an issue which is not directed towards a specific audience but it seems to be directed towards general public and towards the authorized people who can implement his ideas about education. The philosophical nature of the text suggests that it is written keeping in mind the academic expert who has some understanding of what he wants to say. He generalizes his argument. For instance, he writes, “all education proceeds by the participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race" (Dewey 77). Dewey is not talking about specific education, but the word “all” is used with the word education to talk about the education, in general. Generalization of the argument is one of his techniques to emphasize the importance of the topic he is discussing. In addition, another important aspect of his writing is his use of words, and his sentence structures are also very important rhetorical choices. Dewey is very prudent in his choice of words. He uses very simple words in the text. The use of simple wording in his arguments helps the readers in understanding the meaning of the text. Here is an excerpt from the text as an example is given to show how he uses simple words for facilitating the readers, “Without insight into the psychological structure and activities of the individual, the educative process will, therefore, be haphazard and arbitrary...if it does not, it will result in friction or disintegration, or arrest of the child nature" (Dewey 77). In addition to above, the sort of words, he uses in this article implies that whatever he is stating is true or fact. The word “believe” at the beginning of the every paragraphs function as an iteration which increases the importance of his argument and the words “true education” give the sense of truth or fact. Besides, the words “I believe” at the beginning of every paragraph also suggests that whatever, he is going to state is his own belief or his own ideas about a topic or his own opinion not a universal fact or not any other’s thought. For instance, he writes in the text, “in sum, I believe that the individual who is to be educated is a social individual and that society is an organic union of individuals" (Dewey 78). The writer uses verities of sentence structure. He does not follow only one sentence structure. The verities of sentence structure are other important rhetorical techniques implanted in the text to keep the reader distracting from the argument as well as from becoming bored. The reader’s interest develops in the text when his or her attention is attracted by the structure of the sentences, and he or she enjoys and can’t help appreciating the dexterity of the writer. The sentence structure and the simple wording increases the vitality of the text. The development of the reader’s interest in the text will be a great success of the writer because every writer cannot attract the reader’s attention and if the text attracts the reader’s attention, it will be difficult to develop the interest of the reader. Besides, Dewey uses different kinds of sentences, such as simple, compound and complex to articulate his thoughts or his arguments. The variation of the sentences stops the text from becoming a monotonous and increase the beauty of the structure of sentences as well as arguments. The writer hardly uses metaphors to complete his arguments. This text is less literary and more philosophical. The philosophical nature of the text is very helpful to maintain the follow of the thoughts or to channelize the argument in a sequence. The philosophical nature of the argument seems to be both strength of the text and the weakness of the text. Why it is strength of the text is that it increases the weight of the argument about the topic and why it is weakness is that it, sometimes, causes to develop confusion in the meaning of the text and the readers becomes confused about the meaning. In addition to above, the whole argument seems to be revolved around his opinion and, therefore, he does not use outside sources to support his argument. As the text is rather philosophical and, therefore, the evidences he uses in the text to support whatever he says, are also abstract and are not concrete. For instance, “I believe that if we can only secure right habit of action and thought, with reference to the good, true, and the beautiful, the emotions will, for the most part, take care of themselves" (Dewey 79). Dewey’s all discussions seem to be based on his personal experience and his understanding of the social institution and human society. The articulation of the arguments shows that the writers understanding of the society is very deep. It would not be wrong, if it is said that the writer in his discussion is romantic because he believed that education should not be given collectively through the channel of school system but should be given to the individuals according to an individual’s social performance or fitness. He celebrates individuality. Therefore, he is a romantic. Besides, one more important technique used in the text, is the very short paragraphs which inspire the reader to keep on reading because these sorts of paragraphs do not make the reader bored. The entire text consists of short paragraphs, and there is not a single long exhaustive paragraph in the whole chapter. Another importance of the short paragraphs is psychological. The reader feels that he or she is going through the text quickly, and he or she feels happy because of the sense of reading the text quickly and understanding easily. It also causes to develop interest of the reader in the text. The argument is balanced in the sense of touching all possible aspects of the topic and discusses the positive and the negative sides equally. For instance, while talking about the determination of the spirit in which education is carried on, he writes, “the active side precedes the passive. The expression comes before conscious impression" (Dewey 78). This quotation also shows that Dewey also uses the technique of compare and contrast in the way of discussing his thoughts or to articulate his arguments which contribute to the clarification of the meaning. Furthermore, the text is divided into five different sections to complete the argument and the titles of the first two parts are in the form of question, which also attracts the attention of the readers, and the titles in the form of question compel the readers to think about the topic under discussion or are going to be discussed. The writer, while articulating his thoughts about the persuasion of education, is very efficient in his presentation. It seems that whatever, the writer has written is the result of preplan the program. He presents the problem or his topic of discussion in the form of question, then, he tells what or how his methodology will be involved to deal with this issue and finally presents the possible solution of the issue involved in. This text is written in the form of research, therefore, is persuasive and influencing. The overall tone of the text does not seem to be changed but seems to be remained constant throughout the text. At the beginning of the every paragraph, the words, “I believe” help in maintain the same tone throughout the text but the text goes slowly into deep discussion of the topic from surface level, introduction of the topic, to the depth, in detail explanation. In addition, my rhetorical analysis of the Dewey’s text is also consisted of some rhetorical choices, which are going to be discussed in the following paragraph. All of first in my rhetorical analysis, external source is used to analyze the text and, therefore, textual evidences are given for the sake of persuasion as well as for authenticity. The wording of this paper is very simple, and the sentence structure is also simple. The textual evidences are properly sited, and the paragraphs are short. The paper does not represent a single idea because it is an analysis of rhetorical choices involved in another text written by Dewey. In addition, in the first paragraph all the rhetorical choices used be Dewey are put forth and in the following paragraphs how these rhetorical choices are used have been examined. Works Cited Dewey, John. "My Pedagogic Creed." The School Journal 4.3 (1897): 77-80. Read More