Definitions:
Composition: A composition is a product in any medium that is created by an “author” with the intentions of having an audience and conveying a message. In other words, it is anything that can be analyzed for rhetorical significance. And for the most part, this is anything. It could be a building, a space, a podcast, a video, an essay, etc. The difference, for me, between composing and writing is that composing has an intended audience and an intended message. Writing is a mode in which people often compose. Writing can be very informal. Also, compositions can exist in forms that are not language-based.
Text: Anything that can be analyzed for rhetorical purpose. Any mode, any object. Almost anything is a text in my book.
Read: The act of analyzing any “text”. So engaging with the “text” in whatever mode it should be engaged with.
Why Composition?:
To me, the goal of any writing, or composition in any medium (a video, a song, etc), is to take a person on a journey that changes their mind about something because of the experience the author provides for them. Sometimes I start reading a poem thinking that no one in the world has ever felt what I am going through, and by the time I finish the poem, I have connected so intimately with the character that I no longer feel alone in my situation. Or I start a story in one place, gain a whole new perspective and have changed as a person by the time I finish it. This feeling–the feeling of getting to see the world from a different point of view because the author has connected so intimately with me– is what I feel the following video is demonstrating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27qSU2HDZjE
There are really only three steps that go into creating any great composition: (1) understanding the audience, (2) meeting the audience where they are at, and (3) guiding the audience through experiences, emotions and knowledge that will lead them to where you want them to end up. This short video below, I think, is an example of this composition process reduced to a few minutes:
I believe that this process holds true for any piece of communication in any medium and of any genre: fiction, nonfiction, or academic. I believe that even when creating what seems to be the most mundane research report or the most technical directions you must still go through this process of meeting your audience where they are at and affecting them until they see the information or situation in the way that you see it, or in the way that gets them to take action.
I believe that this process of connecting to and affecting an audience are the goal of communication in any medium. And thus, teaching this goal (as much as one can in one semester) is the purpose of any composition course. In a more general sense, this ability to connect to and affect an audience gives people a greater capacity for empathy and self-awareness, which is valuable in any endeavor inside or outside the university or industry. (And that’s why people want you to take this class).
If you don’t believe me, read this article that discusses how people who read fiction have a greater capacity for empathy. And/ or read this article about how texting emojis of daily feelings to a bot helps people to better understand themselves.
So, how do we teach this? (bold represents official language):
1. We teach that connecting to and affecting an audience is not an easy task, and we teach achieving it as a process that can be practiced, instead of a singular text that demonstrates it. ie: Engage in writing as a process, including various invention heuristics (brainstorming, for example), gathering evidence, considering audience, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading.
- Discussion and Development of ideas
- Practicing peer-review skills
- Drafting
2. We practice interacting with each other so that we can observe audience perception and practice affecting audience, with immediate and tangible responses. ie: Engage in the collaborative, social aspects of written composition, and use these as tools for learning.
- Discussion
- Learning about ourselves and other various people and their social concerns
3.We look at how other texts achieve this goal with a eye towards imitating practices that work. ie: Use language to explore and analyze contemporary multicultural, global, and international questions.
4. We learn the expectations of an academic audience and how to find out these expectations. ie: Demonstrate how to use composition aids, such as handbooks, dictionaries, online aids, and tutors and Use grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate for a variety of audiences, but in particular the formal academic audience that makes up the discourse community with which you will also become more familiar in this course.
5. We learn what the conversation that is going on is so that we can connect to it when we attempt to enter it. ie: Gather, summarize, synthesize and explain information from various sources.
6. We learn how to speak to each other and ourselves about our work. ie: Critique your and others’ work in written, visual and oral formats.
7. ie: Produce coherent, organized, readable compositions for a variety of rhetorical situations.
8. ie: Reflect on what contributed to your composition process and evaluate your own work.
Read pages 7-13 of The Guide to understand LDS’s stance on what this class is and why you take it.