Alexander Bain and the Modes of Discourse

Horner’s “The Roots of Modern Writing Instruction: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth Century Britain” explores writing pedagogies pioneered and fostered in the Scottish universities, and identifies three key figures as having a lasting impact on future writing instruction: Edward Edmonstone Aytoun, Alexander Bain, and George Jardine (41).  I would like to focus specifically on Bain in my reflection today, he of the ironic name, who arguably left us with the bane of the modes model—and perhaps by extension, the five-paragraph essay. 

Bain taught during a time of changing university populations: younger students, less traditionally prepared than former classes, and more prone to “rusticisms” that were unacceptable within the framework of the cultivated, London-standard English (Horner 41).  In response, Bain came up with a counter-measure pedagogy; according to Horner, he is “generally credited with originating the 'modes of discourse' which he delineated as narration, description, exposition, argument, and poetry” (41).  Above all else, Bain’s pedagogy stressed the importance of grammar through repetition and drill. While Horner notes that this “mode of teaching was as unpopular for his nineteenth-century students as his methods are with twentieth-century composition theorists” (41), in my experience the legacy of this paradigm can still be found in educational spaces, particularly in classrooms that adhere to current-traditional paradigms.

Years ago, during my own undergraduate career, I took a course that followed the modes model of instruction.  Our syllabus was divided into units named for Bain’s modes: a narrative unit, an exposition unit, argument, everything but poetry.  I later came to identify this class as following certain elements of the current-traditional model as well, which in my understanding can be characterized via the following criteria:

·      A focus on the written product as opposed to writing process

·      Formulaic organization – i.e., the five-paragraph essay

·      Assignment of topics

·      Concern with mechanics, style 

This course did stress the importance of revision, drafting, and pre-writing, so I would not classify it as an exact mirror of Bain or the current-traditional model.  However, I think the point stands that elements of Bain's modes do survive today despite the challenges of modern theorists, and I would suggest that one can observe the impact of the modes model in high-stakes genres like nationwide writing assessment testing.  I find it interesting that, of the three innovators of the Scottish system-- Aytoun, Bain, and Jardine—it is Bain’s pedagogy that was so widely adopted into the American composition classroom, and wonder what would have happened if we never experimented with themes or the five-paragraph essay or current-traditional pedagogy at all, and started immediately with someone like Jardine, who focused on peer evaluation and writing as a way of learning (Horner 41)?  

Question for Discussion

I wonder: are we living in a post-modes pedagogical landscape? My experience suggests we are not, but perhaps I am an anomaly.