Composition is art

Writing composition is about an attempt through Rhetoric to change the world. Language allows for abstract thoughts and allows humans to conceptualize a world where people fundamentally love one another rather than constantly run over each other in a survival of the fittest game. (Garrison) Composition is the ultimate human attempt to change the world through language. Rhetoric has changed our world from cannibalistic to human. Rhetoric has been defended as, “a mode of altering reality” (Bitzer). Andrea Lunsford says it best when she describes “Rhetoric is the art, practice, and study of human communication” (Lunsford). In our readings we learned of Joseph who longed to communicate but could not. The human being is not mindless or mentally deficient without language, but they do have a severely restricted range of thoughts because the world they know is so small. Therefore, language transforms human’s experiences

The power of language is the power of rhetoric. How does language work to change our world from cannibals into a working society of one? Language is about persuasion which is the key element that separates animals from humans. Is our entire life about persuasion? Unfortunately, I find this to be true. In every aspect of our life to break down moment by moment we need to ask our self’s Why am I doing this, Why do I think this way? We have and are constantly being persuaded every moment of our life even with the tiniest elements. However, even though we are persuaded by the world we do have language which allows humans to change the world, once again through persuasion. Society is constantly trying to get people to change their ideas to fit into the norm. I thoroughly enjoyed the readying A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. Even though Swift’s ideas where insanely bizarre he made valid arguments that could potentially persuade humans to eat babies. This is a perfect example of how we are persuaded through rhetoric and how language is so powerful we can change the world.

The Greeks root of “technology is techne, an art or craft. For writers not always does writing come easily but according to the Greeks our technical relationship to writing is always with us. Before we can understand writing we have to realize that language existed way before writing. Language is powerful but writing is extremely powerful. One of the most interesting and thought-provoking aspects of writing is that writing allows humans to connect to people we have never met and we will never meet. Writing allows humans to transform their world into another.

James Berlin talks about writing and the pedagogical theories in writing courses as grounded in rhetoric theories and rhetorical theories do not differ in the simple undue emphasis of writer or audience or reality or language or some combination. This is why students hate English. People do not understand the power of language or grammatical elements also English composition is not like any other subject because its abstract and subjunctive. Teachers need to understand that writing is a self exploration a way to change the world through written dialect that last forever.

Composition allows students to open their ideas to explore new ways of expression. Teachers should teach expressivism to students and let students see where writing leads them. Elbow describes one form of self writing as freewriting to help students learn ways to express themselves and learn to that writing is unique.
I believe that composition is the creativity of writing in dialect by expressing ideology and exploring personal movements in writing and finding one’s self.

There is value for educators to teach composition in the 21st century. First off, composition can be extremely exciting and has great power. Composition has the power to change the world and if teachers could show students that with writing students can develop skills for life as well as express their own ideas. Language, rhetoric, ethos, logos, pathos, Toulmin Argument, print, Internet 2.0, all have shaped composition and are the fundamental elements of composition.

I have a completely new outlook on what composition is and how a composition course can and is exciting and interesting. I have a greater appreciation for language and the power of writing.