0 INTRODUCTION

4. RHETORIC AND THE WORLD OF SCIENCE IN THE EModE PERIOD
English men were illiterate, illiterate women reaching 90%. P. M. Jones adds that there
are significant variations in these percentages if one takes into account both social
position and geographical variation. However, this method of measuring literacy is not
exempt from problems. Reading was taught before writing, so it might very well be the
case that some readers could not write but yet could read. Other authors such as Salmon
(1996: 11) offer a quite different picture. She states that the EModE period was the span
of time when literacy in England ceased to be a privilege of the elite and spread to most
of the population. The causes of this spread are varied and are discussed in what follows.
As already pointed out in Section 4.3.1, Puritans played an important role in the
process of literacy in England. Their ethic encouraged personal and material success, and
literacy was considered to be fundamental in order to achieve it (Salmon 1996: 11). The
people who most profited from this trend were the middle and low classes since, unlike
aristocracy and upper classes, they could not have afforded the payment of school fees
(Bennett 1970: 82). At that time, the level of literacy of many tradesmen was very low,
many of them being unable to write proper English. However, this situation changed
when they realized that literacy would bring success in their business and also an
improvement in their social status (Salmon 1996: 11). Parents were advised to teach their
children how to read and write, so these skills could lead them to a more prosperous life.
P. M. Jones (2011: 32) follows Ford (1993) when distinguishing between
“functional” and “cultural” literacy. The former is “the acquisition of skills that enable the
individual to achieve basic goals that are suited to a particular way of life or occupation,”
whereas the latter “enables the possessor to read books for religious or literary
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