Progressive Politics and the Training of America's Persuaders (review)

92 Rhetoric & Public Affairs outspoken and blunt upon occasion. To one heckler she retorted: "If you don't want [to hear my] answer, then what in thunder did you ask a question for?" (100). On other occasions, she spoke openly and empathetically to audiences, particularly those composed of women. At these meetings, she began with a short speech attacking the opposition and setting forth her own ideas. The remainder of the meeting consisted of questions—sometimes hostile—and answers, a format at which Astor, with her quick mind, was particularly successful. She used humor, narrative , and self-disclosure effectively at these meetings. During the campaign she fashioned a variety of personas for herself, proving to be capable of adjusting to a variety of audiences and occasions, mother and caregiver ; "hustler" for her aggressive, attacking style. She vigorously denied she was a warming pan, keeping the seat warm until her husband could run for election. The book is a strong contribution to the history of women speakers and continues the tradition of rhetorical/historical analysis of public address in the tradition of the Brigance volumes on American public address. Musolf's book would better serve American readers by giving more contextual information, particularly about election customs. For example, Clivedon, Astor's principal residence, was not located in the Plymouth Sutton district, although Members of the House of Commons were not expected to live in their districts. Musolf takes for granted that readers will understand the conventions and terminology of English electioneering: nomination and confirmation by a special committee , "by-election" and election practices: the short period of time allotted for electioneering (Nov. 4-14,1919). Unfortunately, Astor's successful campaigning style, her repartee, her tendency to start talking "in media res," the informal style, were inappropriate for Parliament. Members of the House of Commons put more emphasis on logical reasoning and factual information—the so-called "mascuhne style"—than on empathy, and Astor seemed unable to grasp the oratorical requirements of her new position. Thus her legislative accomplishments were few. Ellen Reid Gold University of Kansas Progressive Politics and the Training of America's Persuaders. By Katherine H. Adams. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate, Publishers, 1999; pp. xviii + 169. $39.95. As Katherine Adams argues in Progressive Politics and the Training of America's Persuaders, histories of freshman requirements in rhetoric in the United States have provided composition and speech teachers with an academic history and a means of explaining the worst of current practice. Particularly in the field of composition and rhetoric, such histories as the late James Berlin's Writing Instruction in Book Reviews 93 Nineteenth-Century American Colleges and Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985, have fueled the arguments of scholars who believe that the role of the writing instructor should be to train students for responsible citizenship . While there has been much discussion in histories of composition and rhetoric about public writing and civic responsibility, much of it has tended to pertain , nonetheless, to freshman composition. In this engaging study, Adams persuades her audience that the history of freshman writing alone will not tell the story of university writing instruction and its impact on public rhetoric. There needs to be an accurate analysis of advanced as well as introductory courses and more scrutiny of the politics, social climate, and educational priorities that led to the development of advanced courses in colleges and universities (xvi). Adams's study focuses most particularly on the role of rhetoric instruction during the Progressive Era of American history. Born in the decades following the Civil War, this movement arose from citizens' dissatisfaction with late-nineteenth-century big business's consolidation of economic and political power. Progressives saw in university writing instruction an opportunity for reform and empowerment and so sought to develop an advanced curriculum that would train students to be more active readers and writers, to develop skills that would help them to effect change in the world. As Adams's study shows, this goal would be difficult to achieve. Chapter one summarizes the teaching practices within the dominant paradigm of teaching rhetoric. The current/traditional method of rhetoric instruction was training students to write competent...