Essay 1

Alexis Lund

Mary Hays

Rhetorical Analysis Revision

May 2, 2016

Put on Your Dancing Shoes and away We Go!

A Rhetorical Analysis

 

Going to college is one of the most exciting, scariest, and nerve- wracking experiences that I’ve ever been though. During Welcome Week of my freshman year we did not receive anything like the Illini Wise booklet that the University of Illinois provided to incoming freshman woman in the years of 1944-1960. The booklet included dress codes, curfew times, academic information and much more. A lot has changed in 56 years that would affect the validity and effectiveness of the booklet because the equality of men and women has changed and as Americans, we now value freedom more in the 21st century. It is not acceptable to enforce dress codes similar to the ones they did 50 years ago, or curfew for legal adults.

The Illini Wise is a handbook, specifically for freshman woman, written by the Student Committee of Freshman Advisors. The thesis of the handbook is clearly stated in the introduction and it reads “We prepared this handbook to answer any questions woman may have about campus life including customs, appropriate dress attire, grade requirements and welcome week activities” (2). The Student Committee of Freshman Advisors wanted to make the transition into college life as easy as possible, so they created this handbook for guidance. My Illini Wise edition was from the school year of 1951-1952; it’s pastel blue and about the size of a pocket book so woman could take it anywhere they went. It only contains around 30 pages. On the cover it reads “ILLINI WISE: a handbook for freshman women” in a maroon color and a font similar to Georgia. It also includes an illustration of a young lady, assuming it’s a freshman, in the rain, carrying two suitcases with the University of Illinois logo on them. The booklet includes illustrations, graphs, rules and guidelines to the university. Information that the handbook includes are grade point averages, study hints, minding your manners, curfew and visiting hours, and appropriate dress attire for each occasion.

To support the thesis of the handbook, which is to answer any questions the incoming freshman women may have, they created an itinerary for each day of the Welcome Week which includes activities and mandatory events. In the book it states that “because activities offer opportunities for leadership and companionship, they should play an important role” (9).  From this statement, I inferred that Welcome Week activities were highly encouraged. In the 1950’s, it was common for the average American woman to get married at the age of 20, so the university held dances and “hops” to meet new people and look for eligible bachelors, which also incorporates why dress codes were enforced. In this case, the support could also be used as backing because even though the university strongly supports academia, they also encourage individuals to go out and enjoy their time. Because we see that the university encourages individuals to go out, we can conclude that they value student relations. That’s why they have enforced curfew rules and visiting hours for fraternities so that people enjoy their time out, but in reason.

A strong value that I inferred the university had based on the handbook is self-presentation. In the handbook they made an entire chart of what you should wear to each event that goes on at the University of Illinois and when it is appropriate to take certain actions. For example, to “Saturday night hops” it recommends that you “show off your prettiest date dresses” (31) and wear gloves, even if it’s not cold. I believe that this dress code chart serves as a warrant to the handbook because the authors went on for numerous pages about the expectations of dress wear and what attire is appropriate at each event.

We can assume that everything stated in the handbook is valued by the university and are the warrants. Obviously education is strongly valued by the university, so the enforcement of a strong standing grade point average is one of the first topics in the handbook. Since 1951, a lot has changed in calculating grade point average, required grade point average to stay enrolled at the university, and even the letter grades have changed. The handbook tells you how to calculate your grade point average, and it states that if you don’t meet the minimum grade point average of 3.0, you will be placed on probation for a semester and if you fail to raise your grade point average after that semester, you will be dropped from the university. They only way to regain admittance is to write a petition to the dean of your college, and it is not guaranteed that you will be readmitted into the university. To make sure that your grade point average is where it needs to be, they’ve provided pages of helpful study tips and resources on campus.

The handbook does not include a qualifier because the thesis is given the first few sentences of the book stating that “We prepared this handbook to answer any questions woman may have about campus life including customs, appropriate dress attire, grade requirements and welcome week activities” (2). Not many restrictions can be put on a thesis like this but if there was one, it would say something along the lines of scenarios. They don’t include the numerous amount of scenarios that could happen at college, and who to contact regarding the incident. If it were to include this information, it may say something like ‘perhaps’ or ‘might’ when referring to each incident.

A rebuttal to the Illini Wise would be if the handbook was enforced today. If the university tried to require a dress code, some of the student body would feel that it would be a restriction on freedom of expression and that would cause a huge uproar. Another rule in the handbook that would cause problems for the university would be curfew. At age 18 you are considered a legal adult, so how can the university place restrictions on you if the government can’t? The university’s main priority is academia, so what you decide to do in your spare time should not regulated by the university, and it isn’t. The University of Illinois wants to maintain its prestigious title and by placing restrictions on students like the ones they had in 1944, would only lead to negative publicity.

The Illini Wise provided helpful information and resources to incoming freshman women. Over time the validity and effectiveness caused the booklet to not be printed any longer, but it is an excellent artifact to keep so that we can look back on all the changes and improvements this university has made. The handbook included a thesis, a lot of support and warrants that I inferred based on my knowledge of the time period and the school expectations the University of Illinois still holds today.