Mental Clarity

In this class I have been asked to take a deeper look into what composition is and how I compose. Throughout the process my definition of composition has evolved. Just a month ago I defined composition as:

The art of composition is just that - an art. It’s difficult to define because everyone has a different process of creation and each writer’s individuality influences their approach. Composition is a means of expression, a profound creative outlet. It’s a process that involves harnessing inspiration in order to convey an idea to others. A clear topic, defined audience, and organic structure are just a few of the many elements present in good writing.

I still relate to this definition of composition. By having a deep understanding of your skills, opinions and style, you can better relate your message. A writer must work to discover their voice and develop their skill in order to create a shared experience and communicate on a meaningful level with their audience. For me the major key terms of Composition are audience, rhetorical situation and remediation.

This is my favorite reflection song, it relates to understanding yourself.

The situation is necessary in order to begin writing. If you don’t know what you’re writing about you can’t really compose an effective message. In addition if you don’t know and understand you audience than your message will be ineffective. It’s easy to see the importance of these two key terms. The third term I feel is necessary for any writer to understand is remediation. This is the process of transitioning your message into a different medium while still preserving some of the original intent. With the prevalence of technology and the ever changing ways we communicate the ability to create a message that can transcend mediums, and still be effective, is essential.

We’ve been covering a lot of new topics very quickly. It’s important to take time to digest everything and make sure we understand the fundamental concepts as we move forward. Reflection is the last step in the composition process and adds value because it allows a writer to understand their style and how to improve it. Likewise reflection is a necessary teaching tool. It offers us the opportunity to look back as we prepare to venture forward. Although I feel that much of the basic knowledge in the world already exists as we grow and the world around us changes, our knowledge grows and changes. We perceive the world differently and our perceptions are altered. This class has made me take a deeper look at how I compose and what I consider to be effective communication.

Stop and Stare

Its crazy to me how much can happen with in 6 weeks, my best friends and I moved into a new house, I’ve had 4 exams, two projects, read 3 books, turned a year older, and flown to Los Angeles. Aside from personal things I have learned so much in such a short time. Everyone just needs a second to stop and stare and think back on experiences, memories, findings, and learnings. 

Knowledge always exists, whether the knowledge is correct or relevant is another thing. At some point in time though someone had to create knowledge of things we currently know now. We create our own personal knowledge about things through preconceived notions and personal experiences. While certain knowledge might not be “new” to the world as a whole it can definitely be new to an individual. As a child we gained knowledge of some many things constantly as we learned from our parents/guardians. Think about all the things we have learned thus far this semester, not just in this course but also in all our courses. Most days of the week I learn something new, and that becomes new knowledge to me. In relation to this class knowledge is everything, like it should be with any of our courses. This has allowed me to apply meanings to words that were just a small part of my vocabulary. When I hear the word “voice” more comes to mind than just your vocals but rather it is a medium of expression that authors use to help convey their messages. We are expanding our knowledge/understanding in this class to allow is to progress in the EMW major.

A month ago in this class I couldn’t even pin point exactly how to define rhetoric. I has piggy-backed on Sammi’s definition of composition as “Composing is indeed the combining of parts or elements, but it is also the creation of something new, something original from those parts." I still agree with this statement but only wish to add that composing is also a talent and an art form. To effectively compose a piece that gets your message across to an audience precisely is so few and far between that it should be considered in the same regard as a magnificent painting.

Reflection fits into composing because it allows the author to consider the message they have sent or are sending to an audience. It is important because the whole point of rhetoric is to use language effectively to communicate a message. It takes reflection on both parties, the audience and the composer. Reflecting on a piece I feel is really important for the audience because it’s the emotions you get with our words. If you just read a piece over and then put it aside and never thought of it again you would never be able to get all the meanings and symbolism that may exist. 

online class blog

For the past six weeks, my knowledge of composing and rhetoric has continuously grown immensely. Many key terms have been brought into light, reflection of course being one of them. What comes to mind when I think of rhetoric are the five cannons, as determined in the time of Ancient Greeks; arrangement, invention, style, memory, delivery, and rhetorical situation. Rhetorical situation, Bitzer tells us, is everywhere. Rhetorical situation is surrounded by context, and made up of three important constituents; exigence, audience, and constraints. According to Bitzer, rhetorical discourse comes into existence as a response to situation, and speech is given rhetorical significance by the situation. It is also important to know that rhetorical situation is a condition of discourse, and many rhetorical situations remain unsolved thus, it is not always necessary to come to a consensus, but I think that is the aim of rhetoric; persuasion. Rhetorical situation invites discourse capable of participating with the situation, rhetorical discourse is considered a fitting response to a situation, and the situation controls rhetorical response. Rhetoric, as we have established, is not only present in speech, but actually many different mediums, almost anywhere you find composition.

Composition is one of those things that is simply hard to define in it’s own nature. Something so omnipresent, with so many different variations credited to remediation, is made use of everyday. Words that come to mind are print, word-processing, and literacy. Kathleen Yancey determined, in her Keyword Moment, that “Literacy today is in the midst of tectonic change.” This is true. As a class, we had talked about how earlier forms of composition are on the brink of extinction. Technological advancements are everywhere, and they are changing everything we know about composing. Among other things that come to mind when I think of composition, are the names of different mediums employed specifically in this class. This became apparent when the Digital Studio came and gave their presentation, and we all became familiar with all these different computer programs waiting to be taken advantage of, that gave us an advantage in composition. Many classmates seemed to have taken that advantage in everything from glogsters, vuvox, and prezi, to more advanced programs like publisher, indesign, and photoshop. These experiences I found to be very valuable to my understanding of composing.

My idea of knowledge is conceptual of my own. It seems that knowledge is something that is self-sustaining, and the more of it you have the better. Knowledge can only be considered new in the sense that before you had it, it wasn’t yours. It is important to have prior knowledge before you can learn more about a particular subject. This is why college course are labeled appropriately; introductory, 2000’s, 3000’s, 4000’s. It’s importance to this class is simple, you want to possess more knowledge than what you had before the class. That knowledge then becomes useful for the next endeavor, and that’s the great thing about knowledge, you can only get more of it and more out of it.

Reflection is possibly the most important part of composition, and I’m not just saying that because it’s my keyword, and if I am, oh well. The three components of reflection are projection, retrospection, and revision. Each one I recognize as I analyze my own process of composition. Projection, to put it simply, is an considered an important process to reflection because it begins when we project ourselves onto what we compose, and see it as though someone else would see it if they were to examen it for themselves. Retrospection then shows us the importance of looking back, to the time when we were composing, and determine whether or not we are satisfied with the composition. If we are not, revision comes into play, and we change what we intend to see differently with our composition.

As of this present moment, my own theory of composing consists of inspiration, integration, and execution. To start with, before I compose I try to find inspiration from all the things that surround me. Then I put them to work by incorporating my own thoughts, this is what I mean by integration. Lastly, I execute my composition after I think I have it all figured out. I can’t really explain the rest, it just happens. But those first few things seem to be the most important, and most consistent, when approaching my own theory of composition. Composing is truly an art, as it is something that gives form to expression. I’ve said before, in previous journals, that an important element of composing, is the ability to spread democracy. Writing over the internet specifically has given democracy as we know it, a new voice. It’s as if the grassroots movement has gone completely digital, and I am a big advocate of this. I encourage everyone to stay updated with things that the government has been trying to impose, like blacklisting certain websites. Who is to say what is and is not appropriate to share over the web? In fact, I am going to be so bold as to post a link to sign a petition, time sensitive, if you believe what I believe about our freedoms of speech and composition.http://demandprogress.org/blacklist/

In sum, it is really so important that we understand that with this knowledge of composition comes a lot of freedom of expression too. Especially with the internet.What better way to, formally or informally, have our ideas shared with the world? And who knows what might someday come of that.

Looking at the (wo)man in the mirror

Reflecting upon the past six weeks, I’m thinking about the various terms and definitions we have gone over. We have plenty of information available to us to fully understand, learn a little bit of history, and even get a peek at what’s to come with rhetoric and composition. Even though it is so important to know these terms and really understand what they mean and how they work in our lives, I think it’s most important to actually put them into practice and watch them work.

To me, rhetoric means speaking or writing persuasively using an organized method. That definition best sums up the few that are offered in the Rhetoric Introduction reading we were assigned at the beginning of the semester. The best keyword I can think of for rhetoric is invention. While I think all of Aristotle’s five canons are important (like, really important), invention is the life of the whole argument. It’s where your thoughts, ideas, and opinions really develop; where the piece gets its momentum. I also think Bitzer’s theory on constraints is a key idea linked to rhetoric. Whether you agree with his concept of the rhetorical situations and its three parts, it’s true that any audience is going to have a few things in their way before they can do whatever it is you want them to do. Thinking about what constraints could come up will help you build a more powerful and useful argument. Thus, audience is an important keyword as well.

My definition of composition is the expression of thoughts or emotions throughan art form. One keyword that comes to mind is social. Like Yancey said, circulation is so important. Today, we are an especially social culture. We post our pictures, thoughts, ideas, etc. online for the world to see every day. Another keyword is definitely organization. While the composition process might be messy, the end product should always be a coherent and well thought-out piece. Perhaps my favorite key term that goes with composition is revision. As someone who likes to edit, I think this is one of the (if not THE) most important parts. Editing allows you to catch errors, make sure the piece is coherent, and even develop new ideas.

My theory of composition is that composing involves the creation and development of ideas and thoughts. Each person’s composition process is different, but I believe it should always involve revision (more than once). A composer has a responsibility to think about the various ways they can express their intended message, whether it be through a written form or a more technologically advanced form. The life of a composition really starts when it circulates, whether it’s within a classroom or a whole community or the entire world.

Rhetoric and composition are complex concepts with a lot of baggage. After spending some time learning about these concepts last semester and for the past six weeks, I understand my composition process more and more. Plus, I’m figuring out ways to make it stronger and more efficient.

Reflection

Looking back on all that we have covered up to this point in the semester I am surprised how much I have learned. I mean usually at this point the professor will ask you what you have learned so far and all I will be able to give is a half sincere utterance about what I have learned so far in the class that I didn’t know before or that I actually cared to know about. Before this class I knew what rhetoric and composition were, or at least I knew what they meant to me but I didn’t know what they were called or what the different parts of them were.

    

 Key terms for rhetoric are; rhetor, audience, constraints, rhetorical situation, discourse, and exigence.  The exigence is the problem, conflict that is presented to the audience. I always think of the problem at the beginning of the scientific method when I think of the exigence. The rhetor is the person who presents the exigence to the audience. I always think of some politician getting up before people to present a speech. The audience is the group that listens to the exigence and presents possible solutions to the exigence. Discourse is the active discussion between the rhetor and the audience where the audience presents their ideas to the rhetor. The constraints are the things that prevent certain solutions from working. They surround the situation. Constraints can be a person’s morals, ethics, someone’s religion, gender, race, etc. Rhetorical situation is the situation where all of these elements are present. According to Bitzer there can be no rhetorical situation if the exigence leaves no room for discourse. It’s all good and well to know what these terms mean but unless you know what rhetoric is you won’t have a context in which to place the terms. Rhetoric is using discourse or discussion to persuade and audience to your way of thinking.

     Composition to me can’t really be defined. I mean I know that there are theorists that have defined it and all power to them but when I think of the word composition I just think of the process. The steps I go through when writing a paper, the steps that are unique only to me just as they are unique to everyone who composes anything. The process of thinking of the topic, what to write about, debating ideas, finally picking one, writing a page over and over again the idea changing every rewrite and finally the final Composition key terms are genre, medium, language, audience, and organization. Genre is the classification of a composition piece. Can it be classified as fantasy, science fiction, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, novel, etc. Medium deals with what media the piece is presented in, is it a painting, a novel, a short story, a drawing, a poster, etc. Language ties in with audience. Whatever language you use depends upon who your audience is. It can’t be really complicated language if your audience consists of children and it can’t be simple language if it’s an article written for the academic community. The audience is of course whoever will be seeing/reading the piece. Organization deals with the flow of ideas and how well you flow from one idea to another, or in the case of a drawing how well the artist organizes the subject of the drawing to make your eye move around the page.

     There are several terms that overlap for both rhetoric and composition but the one that sticks out to me the most is audience. It’s really important to keep in mind who your audience is for both rhetoric and composition. Writing something for the correct audience could make or break your point.  

     There are more terms for each that I didn’t mention but I picked the terms I did because those are the ones that come to mind when I think about these topics. They are the ones most important to me in my work or the ones that I need to learn to address better.

     I don’t think that knowledge can ever really be ‘new’ anymore. It’s kinda like medias that have been remediated so many times, there are no real beginnings or ends anymore only a continuation of what is already there. Yeah someone may say that they have come up with a ‘new’ idea but have they really, isn’t it more accurate to say that they have taken someone else’s idea and combined more elements to it to make it evolve and change into something unique rather than new. In this way we constantly rely upon other peoples knowledge to go off from. Knowledge to me is information about anything that people take and interpret in their own way to have it make sense to them. In this class knowledge is the conclusions we draw on what we are learning and why knowing it is important to us and our future careers.

     Reflection is the last step in the composing process. It’s when you take a deep breath, clear your mind, look back on the finished piece and think about it. What could you have done differently? What could you have done to make it better? Did you get your message across to the audience properly? These questions and many others are the ones you ask yourself during your reflection. It’s important because after its been turned in you can make yourself an objective third party and see the project in a new light which may call your attention to things that could have been better or things that were really well done. You can then file those thoughts away for the next project and improve while you think about what you could do to make your work better you file those ideas away in your

A Winded Recollection

Image by Polandian.com

Looking back on this road to understanding rhetoric and remediation, it seems like it all happened so quickly. We've been painfully deriving the meaning and significance of the key terms we've studying closely enough to form meaningful relationships with them. We first met them with fear and resistance, unfamiliar with their nature. Over time, and after putting them under our analytical microscopes to see their structure, we've been able to carefully examine their applications. Not only for a classroom or scholarly setting, but how to utilize them in everyday life to really exercise our intellectual muscles. This class thus far has been like a child eating their first steak. We cut off large chunks and forced them into our mouths, underestimating the toughness in comparison to the sharpness of our proverbial teeth. In our excitement to consume (or understand) something new, we got a little ahead of ourselves. Looking back on it now, I feel I’ve chewed, churned and digested the concepts so repeatedly that they’re second nature now. 

Image by blogs.the217.com

There are a few concepts that stand out as especially important. These include: composition, the rhetorical situation, and remediation. I was naïve enough to come into this class thinking that I had a steady grasp on composition. I mean, I did take about a million classes to study the English language and “how to write” through my compulsory education. I’d been taught to compose all sorts or mind-numbing essays for an audience comprised of folks who would judge my ability to inform or persuade on a scale of 1-5. Of the classes I’ve taken in college, none have given me the ammunition to blow an audience away quite like this class has. The study of rhetoric goes hand-in-hand with successful composition. Even with all of the emphasis on creating something meaningful, the greater role is played by the revision process, where we learn to become more flexible with our work. To break apart what we’d spent so long crafting, chipping away at imperfections to reveal of piece of work that is all our own. 

Image by thesis.virginiasasser.com

Rhetoric has got to be the scariest word we’ve had to define. Rhetoric is the small and mighty of all the concepts we’ve been working with thus far this semester. It packs a heavy punch, carrying a fist full of vocabulary that no one with a formal background on the subject had been exposed to. Of those, the rhetorical situation encompasses the nature of rhetoric best. By understanding the rhetorical situation, we can examine a situation at face value and below to surface to write or create something that will impact an audience. The rhetorical situation puts the power in the hands of the composer to influence an audience. When done correctly, and with passion and charisma, there is virtually nothing that a rhetor can’t accomplish. 

Image by thirdworldtraveler.com

Media. When an unexposed person thinks of this word, they think TV, news, “big brother,” and so on. In this class we’ve learned that, while all of these things are media, it isn’t limited to the traditional understanding of the word. Media is the medium, media is all around us. Media is the building block of remediation. The little scavenger hunt that we did on Tuesday was a lot of fun. Not only because we were using what we’d learned to get creative under a time constraint to reveal that remediation is all around us, but because I realized that (like myself two months ago), most people don’t have a clue what it means. Remediation is like evolution, essential to our growth and survival in a changing world. Remediation allows us to take an original copy of something, duplicate in into another medium, and have a completely different perspective on the original concept while still retaining its integrity. 

In retrospect, I've personally gained a wealth of knowledge, as well as an entirely new perspective of composition as a whole. I know that this is just the beginning and I'm excited to use this knowledge as I continue to expand on it to become a more powerful writer, composer and orator.

reflecting on our progress... and the process.

i'd never realized how difficult it is to explain rhetoric... until i started taking classes in it. when i find myself trying ro explain the concept to my friends or family, the importance of key words becomes blatantly obvious. even the use of the word 'argument' takes on a completely new meaning when used in the context of rhetoric. each "key word" carries a meaning much deeper meaning in rhetoric than it does in other fields of study or language. having a thorough understanding of the words we've learned has made a huge difference on the way i see and use rhetoric. the word 'compose' has made an especially big impression on me. the composing process is something we've been foreced to think about over and over again, and ive truly begun to see my own process in a new light. i realize now that my complete lack of organization isn't neccesarily a bad thing, but that my free-writing style is actually ok. my own key word, process, is something ive certainly fomed new opinions about. i no longer see a process as just the means of arriving at a product. the process is actually a defining factor itself. your product IS your process.

knowledge? i guess the word goes deeper tahn jus being the comprehension of facts. its about knowing what to do with those facts, when and how to apply them. rhetorical knowledge demands the rhetorician's undertanding of context, content, and audience. the same should be applied in all situations.. knowledge can come from a lot of places. it can be discovered or relearned from an existing source. however, knowledge can be invented (and i think this is what heppens when we write freely). this is especially so in design and the arts. when you create something completely new, you create the knowledge of it, that others in turn will come to discover later. technology and evolving media are completely revolutionizing the way we go about aquiring or sharing knowledge. at the same time, this search for knowledge also demands literacy, or knowledge ad understanding, of the new tools that accompany it. in the past few weeks, my own computer and digital literacy has been tested (and im a little embarassed about the results). i think that when it comes to new media, learning by doing is the best way to get familiar with such interactive technology. this class has shaown me that.

i honestly expected that this class would be more technical, more of learning how to use certain programs, techniques, that sort of thing. but we've gone much further than that, actually involving ourselves creatively with one another (and technology!). i havent even thought of blogging since high school, and i admit i've kind of been having fun getting into it. i'm glad this class is actually going to be so useful to me, now and in the future. as an ewm-er, ive got to be ready to handle digital media and literature; something i knew very little about until somewhat recently. as online media is becoming the dominant medium in our socety, i cant help but feel that this course is going to prepare me for a pretty immediate future. its funny to see the way all of our "key terms" can be applied to rhetoric and composition in the past, but also now. these terms and all the context and meaning they carry with them are going to determine what literature and media become in the future. its all about how your audience gains the knowledge they need in order to process the argument you've composed.. with style. :)

Breathe In Breathe Out

Once I saw this class' description on the Blackboard "Course Search" application, I decided that this had to be the first class I took out of all the required courses for my EWM major.

So far this class has been somewhat fulfilling of my expectations. While I thought this class would be a lot more editing than writing, I like the projects we've had to do so far. I'm not a big fan of the whole

rhetoric and re

mediation aspect, considering that I never took the rhetoric course so I have no history to help me unlike some of my classmates. But I've learned to embrace it, I like a challenge.

But anyway, moving on to the good stuff...

Knowledge

I believe that knowledge always exists. It is everywhere, not only because it exists in books and scholarly materials, but also in life and experiences. We live everyday, therefore we learn everyday. I definitely agree with the saying:

You learn something new everyday.

I personally learn something new everyday, whether it be small, like how to make rice, or of greater significance, like what is rhetoric. Knowledge is always new, that's what makes it knowledge. What helps gain more knowledge is older knowledge. The more connections you can make with prior knowledge, the more material you can grasp and keep with you. That's why tactics like cramming doesn't work. When you study something at a glance, simply memorizing rather than really making connections with prior knowledge, you don't really learn it, that's why right after you're done with the examination, you can't remember anything you "learned" for the life of you.

Knowledge relates to this class simply because this class has so much of it readily available. Prior to this class I wasn't at all familiar with rhetoric and writing tactics, now I feel like with this knowledge I have gained, I can be a much more effective writer.

My Theory of Composing

A month ago my theory of composing was:

Once you begin to compose, you break free of outside influences, strip away bias, rules, and confinements until you’re left with your naked thoughts and inspiration. Composing is the art of creation and a part of you will always live within your piece. It is a reflection of you.

I still agree with this theory. I believe that composition is a form of self-expression and a part of you lives in it. Your personality or voice (my key term for our newsletter) should be dominant in your pieces and distinguishable from other authors.

Reflection is really important within composing because it gives the author room for improvement. When you sit down and think about the process in which it took for your creation, whether it was effective or not, etc, it becomes easy to sort out the do's and don't's for your next piece. Reflection does nothing but help.

So far this class has helped me a lot, and I see it continuing to help me in the same effective way to my ultimate career goal. I liked this particular assignment, gave me a chance to breathe... A little.

♥

My reflections from a day off...

When I think of composition and rhetoric, I think of audience. Its all about the audience. Everything I write is geared toward the audience and how they will perceive it. This is why my key terms when composing are logos, ethos, and pathos, brought to us by the great, Aristotile.

Ethos may be the most important. It is based upon how the audience will perceive us and our credibility as a speaker or a writer. Ethos is the most important to me as a member of an audience.

Logos is what is needed in a rhetorical situation and in a composition to seal the deal. The writer needs to let the audience know they are a credible person through ethos, and then back it up with evidence through logos, by giving facts and support to their idea.

Pathos is another important key work to me in the world of rhetoric and composition. It appeals to the emotional side of the audience. Appealing to emotions of the audience can be accomplished when ethos and logos are both used effectively. You get inside the audience on a deeper level in order to reach your goal.

These three key terms overlap, in the way that they all work hand in hand to create a common goal of reaching the audience. With one of these terms not into play, the full effect of the argument trying to be proven will not set into place. These also support eachother, there is a little bit of ethos in logos, when establishing credibility. They collide creating a rhetorical masterpiece of composition.

Knowledge to me does not always exist. I believe if it does exist, it will be found, it may just be hiding. If it existed once however, I believe it is always there. There is always new knowledge all around us. It stems from new people with new ideas. Knowledge can also stem from remediation, as it also spreads remediation. I rely on prior knowledge in everything I do. If there is none, I search elsewhere if find new knowledge. Knowledge to me is just another checkmark on the list of things I know, which will someday lead to wisdom. I like to gain as much knowledge as I can, this will lead me to become a better composer and person. This class has much to do with knowledge. Knowledge to me is not just knowing things. In this class we use a lot of our own ideas and findings, we do not just memorize facts (knowing things). We can pull things out of our bag of tricks and engage other creating new knowledge, while we share our knowledge.

This reflection day has been a great way for me to sit down and think about what is most important to me in rhetoric, and I have also been able to think about knowledge in our classroom, I appreciate the set up of the class, and that you challenge us to think deeper and not just memorize facts!

Reflection: As A Composer & A Person

Like reflecting on our

work we also reflect on our past. They may be linked as each one influences the other, but what is clearly evident is the difference between where we once were and where we are know. I look back on the composer I was when I entered room 317 and as I look in the mirror now, that person has matured and adapted to the world of rhetoric, composition and knowledge. We often take for granted those who help us get where we are today, but when the time is taken to look back over the path we’ve chosen, we truly appreciate those who influenced us. We may have never met them, like theorists we read about or artists who appeal to us, we may be the closest of friends, like your roommate who’d look over your papers and projects for you providing the bluntest yet most important critique. Whoever they may be they have provided us with certain paths and given us certain choices based on their experiences.

When it comes to the process of composing, we have all of history to look back upon and watch the progression that, whether we acknowledge it or not, has put us where we are today as composers. Those that have come before us have outlined the certainties and uncertainties that we may choose to use or ignore. They have provided the links between subjects that we may not have noticed, for instance Aristotle’s analysis of ‘The five canons of rhetoric’. They may seem to apply only to the rhetorical situation but he clearly recognizes the connection between rhetoric and the composing process. This past knowledge, whether invented or discovered, an issue I will address later, has an affect on ourselves as composers. We may disregard some of it, refashion it to our liking or stand by it word for word, but we appreciate its influence.

http://rhetoric.byu.edu/canons/Canons.htm

In terms of rhetoric, I often look to Bitzer’s analysis of the rhetorical situation and it’s importance to addressing forms of discourse. By identifying an exigency, a composer can work from there as to who is audience is, what style and structure he will approach it with, and finally how he is going to revise or reflect on his work. There is a strong relationship between the importance of rhetorical terms and terms used in the composing process. For instance, with regards to audience, a term that may seem difficult to define with regards to both rhetoric and the composing process. In rhetoric, Aristotle notes that speakers often choose persuasive strategies that correspond with “emotions and moral qualities” of the chosen audience. Though, as a composer, I appreciate Aristotle’s provided knowledge regarding audience, I sometimes disagree that these ‘strategies’ are chosen by the composer himself. Often it may end up being that the ‘strategies’ coincidentally appear in my composing process and may address a completely different audience. It is only after I reflect on my work that I notice them.

This leads to the importance of revision and reflection in the composing process. Revision may not coincide completely with reflection as a composer, however both entail similar aspects. Donald Murray defines revision as “what the writer does after a draft is completed to understand and communicate what has begun to appear on the page.” The two key words that appear in Murray’s definition do hold some relationship to the process of reflecting on ones work, understanding and communicating. As a composer, when one reflects on their composing process it provides the time to understand and communicate with one self and analyze their own providing one of the most truthful critiques one can receive. Where revision and reflection clash heads in the composing process is the negative effect revision may sometimes have on the composer. Revision can often stir up and worry the composer with regards to his choice of style, structure, tone and even coherence among his work. Reflection on the other seems to generate confidence within the composer or at least allow them to notice where they have made the right decisions or where they have gone wrong.

The process behind both composing and rhetoric may vary between composers however they are often based upon prior knowledge or experiences. However it is often debated whether this knowledge has always existed or was it discovered through the application of what was already known. This can often come down to the relationship between human sciences and natural sciences, human sciences being history, arts, morals and humanities, natural sciences being mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, things that have existed long before mankind and needed only to be discovered. The following video provides an easier way to think of the progression of knowledge and help differentiate between knowledge that has always existed and knowledge that has been discovered.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZIw4JbkV0k&feature=related

As a composer reflecting on my progression and my experiences with rhetoric and the composing process I have come to acknowledge the importance of reflection. It has allowed me time to gather my thoughts, clear my mind and appreciate the prior knowledge I have used to get this far. I may have seemed frustrated with myself earlier on but after looking back I have noticed the changes and what I may still need to work. I have been able to understand my work and communicate with myself regarding where I have gone wrong and where I have succeeded.