Breathe In Breathe Out

Before this class, the most in-depth studies I had done in rhetoric and composition were in my high school AP classes. So you can only imagine the pace at which I have been going to catch up on all of this theory and new information. Therefore, this assignment is just what I need, a chance to slow down and pull it all together.

Throughout life,we are constantly making lists. To-Do lists, favorite movies, friends to invite to a party, gifts we want for the holidays, etc. In all of our lists, there are always a “Top Five.” For example:

Best Movies of 2010

(According to IMDB.com)

1. Inception

2. Toy Story 3

3. The Social Network

4. How To Train Your Dragon

5. Tangled

Best Restaurants in Tallahassee

(According to 10Best.com)

1. Ban Thai

2. Food Glorious Food

3. Andrew’s Capital Grill and Bar

4. Anthony’s Italian Restaurant

5. Mom and Dad’s Italian Restaurant

Top Downloaded Songs on iTunes

(According to AOLRadioBlog.com)

1. Black Eyed Peas: 'I Gotta Feeling' (2009)

2. Lady GaGa: 'Poker Face' (2008)

3. Black Eyed Peas: 'Boom Boom Pow' (2009)

4. Jason Mraz: 'I'm Yours' (2008)

5. Coldplay: 'Viva la Vida' (2008)

Canons of Rhetoric

Key Terms in Rhetoric and Composition

1. Invention 1. Rhetorical Situation

2. Arrangement 2. Audience

3. Style 3. Genre

4. Memory 4. Medium

5. Delivery 5. Remediation

Understanding the top five canons of rhetoric is imperative to being successful in rhetoric and composition. Aristotle introduced them and we analyzed them through or readings of Bizzell and Herzberg. The first, invention, can be defined as “the search for persuasive ways to present information and formulate arguments” (Bizzell and Herzberg, 3). The second, arrangement, is “the organization of the parts of a speech to ensure that all the means of persuasion are present and properly discussed” (Bizzell and Herzberg, 3). Style is “the use of correct, appropriate, and striking language throughout the speech” (Bizzell and Herzberg, 3). Memory can be defined many ways, mainly as “the use of mnemonics and practice of the speech” (Bizzell and Herzberg, 3). Last but certainly not least, delivery is “the use of effective gestures and vocal modulation to present the speech” (Bizzell and Herzberg, 3).

The five canons, though completely important, are not the only top five things we must know when analyzing rhetoric and composition. There is another top five list of key terms, which is more general but at the same time, specific to the concepts they are associated with. First is the rhetorical situation, which is presumably more complex than the rest because it is the setting in which rhetoric takes place and/or the reason for rhetoric to exist. Second comes audience. An audience is pivotal to both rhetoric and composition because an audience is “capable of serving as the mediator of the change which the discourse functions to produce” (Bitzer 7). Composers and rhetors both must understand their audience because the audience will have the most influence on the style and delivery of their compositions. The third key term in my list is genre. According to Devitt, genre is the “dynamic patterning of human experience, as one of the concepts that enable us to construct our writing world.” A medium is anything that contains content and can be remediated. Traditional mediums range form print to digital, with new vehicles being used to convey messages emerging as we progress. Number five in my list is remediation. This was by far the newest concept I have learned thus far, and it happens to be the most complex. Remediation is the recreation of an old medium in a new medium, while keeping the best parts of the old medium. This means the remediation carries the best parts of content and meaning, while still trying to eliminate the old medium completely.

Unfortunately, knowledge didn’t make it into the top five key terms for rhetoric and composition. For me, knowledge is very similar to the canon of memory. I think that though there is a certain amount of novelty in knowledge, most of it comes form past knowledge/memory/life experiences. I think that new ideas are always influenced from prior knowledge. Knowledge to me is a powerful thing, but it is more of a potential element. I know that I can learn new things, but then again, I already have some sort of experience (even if it is minimal) in what I am learning. I think that’s why, when teaching, many professors will relate the concept to an example of something in our lives; if we had that experience already, how new is the concept that we’re learning? Knowledge in this class is very important because our knowledge of the subjects allow us to exemplify the concepts and assignments we are required to do.

Another term that didn’t quite make the top five is reflection. Yancey views reflection as a means of go[ing] beyond the text to include a sense of the ongoing conversations that texts enter into” (Yancey, 5). I took this to mean that once a work is composed, its author must revisit the piece and contemplate the conceptual aspects of the composition, but also the process by which they reached their ideas. Reflection fits into composing because it requires a writer to objectively evaluate their piece and improve certain parts of their techniques. This type of self-assessment makes us better writers in the long run.

So whether or not we acknowledge it, these top five terms (both the canons and rhetorical key terms) are just as important as the other numerous "Top Five" lists we will encounter throughout life.