concepts of composition

Post 1
What are the 3 most important concepts in composition would you say? These concepts might play a role in your teaching philosophy, so you might think of this question as what are the three most important beliefs about your own teaching do you have?

Of all the concepts that are involved in composition, it's hard to narrow the focus of importance down to three. There are so many aspects to think about when one is writing. For example, even now, I have to think about the people who will be reading this, my diction and syntax, how powerful I even feel about what I'm saying, analyzing and revising this piece, how reliable my words will be, how valid my words will be, and if, when reading over this, someone will think this piece could have been written better this way or that way. But, there are three concepts that I have always leaned on when writing.

First, I think the two concepts of power and voice tie in together. So, I'll say the most important concept is two-fold: my voice belies my power, and the power of the piece can be strengthened or weakened by my voice. And, to cheat a little bit more, I'll add that things like syntax, diction, and word choice all create the voice of the piece (so, really, there are 5 concepts in this one). As Peter Elbow states in his article, "People often lack any voice...[because they] worry and change their minds about which words to use." Students have become so conditioned to writing only to their teachers, that like Pavlov's dogs, they are losing themselves in the quest to get the product. Students have been taught that an essay is made up of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. When I taught high school English, it was amazing to see the light bulbs flicker on over all the students' heads as I enlightened them about research papers. I told them I was looking to read 140 different papers which would entertain me, certainly, but which would also reflect the entertainment the kids got from researching and finding out things about the topics they liked. They had no idea that they were supposed to write about their opinions and use the research to back up what their own thoughts were. What a novel idea! So, one of the things I've always looked for in compositions is voice. How drab to plow through articles which, yes, give information, but bore one to tears in the process. And when a writer can be read in such a way that the reader feels moved to think one way or another, that writer has succeeded in gaining power through his or her composition.

Voice and power come from the writer. But, where is the reader supposed to fit in? So many times I have curtailed my own opinions in writing so as not to offend my reader. But, even deeper than that, I have "curbed my own enthusiasm" because, as Elbow says, "they won't understand, they won't know how to deal with me, and I won't accomplish what I need to accomplish." But, power cannot be achieved without having some sort of effect on the audience. So, when one composes, he or she must be well aware of the audience because there is a direct connection between the success of one's own writing and the audience. Even if the reader does not agree with what I'm saying, I will have still succeeded in engaging him or her in my composition if I have elicited some sort of response from him or her. The purpose of any piece of composition is to relay thoughts, but also to stir up thoughts in the reader. So, the audience is definitely an important part of the composition process.

Obviously, if one has engaged the reader in one's composition, then one must also be aware that analysis and assessment is more than likely the next step. If I have succeeded in engaging my reader in my composition, then I must also expect my reader to analyze my words and assess them. At the most basic level, analysis and assessment refer to revising/editing and providing feedback. It's necessary to test the waters before going out to sea. A very important part of the process of composing is getting feedback and making changes along the way. On a deeper level, though, even if one thinks he or she is finished with a composition, there will always be a different reader in the future. In my film theory class, Dr. Baugh brought up the idea that an author needs to realize that the audience will always be different in some way. The audience might be happy or sad or enlightened or close-minded in any given moment. As long as the writer realizes that there will always be feedback from the audience, there will always be an analysis of some sort, the reader will always be assessing the writer's words, then he or she will know that there will always be one word, one paragraph, one idea to change. Also, part of Dr. Rickly's article deals with reliability in grading. The reliability of a whole staff of graders providing feedback on documents will give the writer something to work with on his or her next draft. And even when a final draft is turned in, the writer will ideally realize that his or her idea and how it is presented can always be improved.

A writer will always have a plethora of words to choose from, ideas to connect, changes to make. What matters most is that the writer realizes the importance of the concepts of composition and applies those concepts to his or her own process of writing. In essence, all of the concepts relate to each other in one way or another. There are not just three important ones that I can focus on. Voice, power, audience, analysis, assessment, reliability, application, and all the other concepts that relate are very important to the world of composition. My philosophy of these concepts might seem general. But, I agree with Latterell when she says that "technologies and their power in our daily routines are not centered on objects but in the ways those objects are used." Just substitute "writing concepts" for "technologies" and "in our compositions" for "in our daily routines" and you get my philosophy. (And please ignore that I wrote a typical introduction-3 body paragraphs-conclusion paper!)