Reading and Speaking with Distinction: English at the Core of the Curriculum

Despite competition among schoolmasters to recruit students, most agreed that one mark distinguishing an educated from an un-educated person was the ability to speak English “with propriety.” This is the kind of distinction that sets people apart as members of an elite, or “polite,” class. This chapter examines how instruction in English (which included grammar, reading, and the interpretation of literature) and the marks of distinction it offered were central to the core curriculum offered by most types of schools.