Usage of "manifesto": does it matter?

[Vark]

In an essay, one of my students used "manifesto of" (e.g. "... was a manifesto of the discontent of the underclass"). Is this perfectly acceptable, or should I suggest a correction to "manifesto on"? Does it matter?

[Parasaurolophus]

On, yes.

But was it even a manifesto? That seems like a more significant issue to me.

[Vark]

He wasn't writing about an actual manifesto but making the point that something was a metaphoric one.

[Hegemony]

I think he meant "manifestation."

[Caracal]

I think he meant "manifestation."

Not necessarily. If you were saying that, for example, a workers strike sent a powerful and coherent ideological message, it could make sense to say it functioned as a manifesto. Manifestation in that context would have a very different meaning. For this to make sense, however, you would need to be actually making that point about the strike in a clear way, otherwise, it's just confusing.

I don't think it is ever worth worrying too much about preposition usage. If you actually think about it, the way we use propositions in English is pretty arbitrary. As long as it doesn't sound completely wrong ("a manifesto around the discontent of the underclass" isn't something anybody says") it isn't worth being persnickety about it.

[Hegemony]

Sure, you could use "manifesto" in the sentence. I still think the most likely explanation is that the student meant to write "manifestation," and got a little confused about the difference between all those long words.

[Langue_doc]

Sure, you could use "manifesto" in the sentence. I still think the most likely explanation is that the student meant to write "manifestation," and got a little confused about the difference between all those long words.

Autocorrect might have had a hand in this; I've seen too many autocorrected words in student assignments.

[Caracal]

Sure, you could use "manifesto" in the sentence. I still think the most likely explanation is that the student meant to write "manifestation," and got a little confused about the difference between all those long words.

Fair enough...

[jerseyjay]

Whether "manifesto of" or "manifesto on" is correct depends on what we are talking about.

Their essay was a manifesto on the discontent of the underclass.  Their protest was a manifesto of the discontent of the underclass.

If we are talking about a non-literal manifesto (i.e., not a written declaration), I would probably prefer the verb form: Their writing manifested great concern on the discontent of the underclass. (Though I think I would prefer demonstrated, illustrated, highlighted, or some other verb, but that's me.)

As to the original question, I think it also depends what the class is and how closely you mark students' papers.