Document Type
Thesis - University Access Only
Award Date
2001
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department / School
English
Abstract
In his 1963 Pulitzer Prize-winning book Anti-intellectualism in American Life, historian Richard Hofstadter observes that "Again and again, but particularly in recent years, it has been noticed that intellect in America is resented as a kind of excellence, as a claim to distinction, as a challenge to egalitarianism, as a quality which almost certainly deprives a man or woman of the common truth" (51). This anti-intellectualism has persisted as a theme in American cultural life; it is hardly surprising, then, that as a composition instructor, I encounter it in my students. In order to understand this attitude in my students, I examine the role that antiintellectualism has played and continues to play in American life. I include the observations of a number of culture critics and educators regarding depictions of intellect and intellectuals in popular culture and also conduct some of my own analyses of these images. I conclude that American popular culture both reflects and reinforces antiintellectualism. In reviewing the relevant literature within composition studies, I find little treatment of the role anti-intellectualism plays in the college composition classroom. Despite compositionists' failure to address this issue, I argue that the college composition classroom provides an opportune forum for introducing students to the history and existence of anti-intellectualism in America and its pervasiveness in their own lives. Finally, I propose ways of challenging anti-intellectualism that can help students combat its influence and can help cultivate an atmosphere in the classroom conducive to their intellectual development.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Popular culture -- United States English language -- Rhetoric -- Study and teaching United States -- Intellectual life
Format
application/pdf
Number of Pages
147
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Recommended Citation
Bradbury-Veldhuisen, Kelly Susan, "The Gump Slump : Challenging Anti-Intellectualism in the College Composition Classroom" (2001). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 796.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd2/796