Harvard Tradition

Question 1: These texts, from the Harvard tradition, focus primarily on adherence to certain rules of style. Style is not something independent of the writer, but rather the writer must depend upon the set rules and traditions. One of the complications of this simple understanding is that what the Harvard tradition wants is to build off of early adherence to rules. As Wooley says, "the student, in order to progress in the art, must for a certain time treat the rules as stringent and invariable; the variations and exceptions are studied only at a later state of progress" (360).
Emphasis on valuation of student-writing: "more practice, more daily drill, and severe discipline are required" (113). This should happen in preparatory schools. Blame is clearly shifted from universities to preparatory schools, as the Harvard committee attempts to unpack the problems of the teaching of composition.
3. Rhetoric as tied to the rising-middle class. Mostly preparing for office work and other non-academic disciplines. For example, Carson puts a heavy emphasis on using the right kind of paper, ink, how to address an envelope, etc. Thus, composition in these texts is often seen as preparing and developing members of this rising middle-class.