Sitting back and Catching my Breath

Rhetoric;

Let's talk about the base of just about anything and everything. From the beginning of the semester until now, we have discussed a variety of different terms, each term pertaining to a different meaning in the world of composition. Rhetoric according to theorists Bitzer and Herzberg is like I started earlier, the basis of everything. It has multiple meanings, but within each meaning it always involves persuading one's audience. According to two theorists Bizzell and Herzberg, language is power. It involves the use of "proper language" (1) whether it be the study between a person's knowledge and use of language, persuasion in proper effect, what is true and what is not; the list goes on and on. That's the beauty of this complex word. It allows us as students to explore through our mind, the mind of others, and through the power of language. Then we have rhetorical situation which goes hand-in-hand with rhetoric.

Rhetorical situation...

...is what I like to call an act. It is an act of a medium which creates the effects as to why the written word, or spoken word was produced in the first place. According to Bitzer, rhetoric is affected by the situation. According to George W. Vedtz, situation is affected by the rhetoric itself. The art of persuasion is the general dynamic between rhetorical situation and rhetoric. Aristotle, the father of rhetoric believes we use three things: logos, pathos, and ethos. With these three dynamics, the composer creates opportunity for logic, emotion, and authority.

Then we have composition...

...which is the arrangement of something 'put together'. I believe that when we establish our rhetorical situation, we can now compose. Composition is so important to be able to engage an audience. Who would want to read something with no meaning, a bunch of words written on a page, or something with no point of view that is completely disorganized? Chances are, not too many. The idea of concrete composition is all about the audience. "Audience adressed" is a term used by Lisa Ede and Andrea Lunsford. They state to, "emphasize the concrete reality of the writers audience, and to assume that knowledge of the audience's attitude, beliefs and expectations is essential (2)."

I believe that knowledge...

...always exists, no matter what. What if we had no brains? We would has humans have knowledge what so ever? I believe everyone has some sort of knowledge in them, always. We create our own knowledge, and it can definitely be new. We have old media vs. the new, our professors and teachers, and our inner imaginations working every single day. Reflection fits right into how we build up our knowledge when we compose. We can all learn from each other, and reflecting on our composed pieces we open up the opportunity of becoming more wise, more educated, and more enhanced in the world of language and communication. When we reflect, we do so to make things better. How would things be recreated without reflecting? How would we reflect if we did not compose?

My theory of composing...

...is all of the things that I have listed above. Without rhetoric, there would be no purpose. Without rhetorical situation, there would be persuasion. Without audience, there would be no reason to persuade or to compose. Without reflecting, we would have nothing to build off of; to better our compositions. And without knowledge, the world of composition would not even be possible.