Wooosssaa...Let's Reflect.

If I am like anyone else in a scholastic crisis, having many things to do at the same time and learning as much as the 10 percent of my grey matter can hold, I can’t do much outside thinking. So as you can ascertain, my life is on the go. However, I do look forward to those few times when I can completely relax and reflect on what I’ve done that day, what I need to do in a few minutes, how I can possibly fit the time in to do some eating(or heaven forbid Sleeping), and most importantly, what I have learned for the day. Like I stated previously, those times are few, but they’re always treasured, I’m not going to infringe the details of where or how this reflection comes to be, but I will say that it is much appreciated.

There is no doubt in my mind that I am a different composer than when I walked in class on my first day of WEPO. Previously, I had a no clear theory of composing. My process was simply writing, and I had no words to describe each step I was taking. But now I’ve realized that WEPO has provided me with some key terms that I feel enhance both my knowledge and also refine my own theory of rhetoric and composition. Like In the last seven weeks, in our WEPO class, we’ve been on the go, learning as much as we can, and cross referencing these terms to our jobs as editors and composers. We began on the first day of class, reading and breaking down the term, “rhetorical Situation”, which in Bitzer’s attempt, he seeks to revive the notion of rhetorical situation and establish it as a “controlling and fundamental concern of rhetorical theory”. I agree with his position wholeheartedly, as he sets up the argument for rhetorical situation and how all of modern composers use this in the composition process, I began to see how it is essential to recognize as a writer where he or she is in relation to the material; not only objective measurements, but subjective things like, “How do I feel today?”. Some other terms that I feel, collectively, are important in the field of rhetoric came into the picture around the fourth week of classes in our Key Words and Composition text; coherence, audience, collaboration, form/structure, freshman English, process, revision, rhetoric, and style. I would consider audience the most important and relevant term to our work in rhetoric, not only because the primary goal of any rhetorician is to persuade, but also because in order to be an effective writer, one must know his or her target market.

I believe in these key terms, there is an overlap between the two themes of composition and rhetoric. For example, audience is not solely applicable to a rhetorician’s job but also to a composer’s. Many times, a composer will find themselves creating for the general public in an attempt to persuade or give an opinion, however in the scholastic arena, many times a composer will be writing for a grade- they must know who their audience is, regardless of their area of literature.