Rhetoric is commonly defined as the art of persuasive writing. In my time at Georgia State University, that definition has evolved into something far vaster than I had previously thought. Before I began my concentration, my impression of rhetoric had always held a notion of being convincing and getting your audience to agree with you or change their collective opinion on something (usually either a political issue or taboo subject). To me, rhetoric was always trying to sell something to an audience; something that they necessarily weren’t interested in buying.
As I began my studies in the Rhetoric and Composition concentration at Georgia State, my perception about rhetoric began to shift. I began my introductory concentration class (English 3050) in the fall of 2014. There, we began with the foundations of rhetoric and critical thinking, starting with the early greats like Plato, Aristotle, Socrates. At first, this class did not change my feelings about rhetoric. To me, it still gave me an uneasy feeling. Was I ready to study persuasive writing? Could I write this way? Could I convince an audience to change their perspective on a topic?
The Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric course helped educate me on early rhetoric and rhetoricians that laid the foundations for critical writing today. What I learned was that rhetoric not only consisted of persuasive writing, but rather all types of writing. Every choice a writer makes in his or her writing is a rhetorical choice: tone, mood, structure, etc.
As helpful as the introductory course to the Composition and Rhetoric concentration was, I was still a skeptic. During the same semester, I was also taking Multimodal Design. This class grabbed my attention while registering for classes. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what multimodal composition was when I signed up. Looking back almost two years later, I am glad that I took the two classes in the same semester. Both classes seemed to sync up with one another: I was learning about the history of rhetoric and its importance in writing (both for personal and professional use) while applying different types of rhetoric in different modal settings, including web and blog sites.
The following semester, I took Digital Writing and Publishing and it was one of my favorite classes that I’ve taken during my time at Georgia State. Multimodal Composition was a great introductory course that really prepared me for this class. I knew far before I registered for this class that writing has been written down on a physical medium (clay, papyrus, paper) for thousands and thousands of years. Going into the twenty-first century, everything is rapidly going over to a digital platform. This course was especially essential in developing the skills I would use to write in a digital setting. It also taught the different mediums that can be used to present rhetorical pieces. One such project involved Google Maps as a rhetorical choice (I would have never previously thought that this was a viable option).
I took Practical Grammar and Editing For Publication last semester. Again, these two classes worked well together and in unison. Practical Grammar was a very dense and extensive class that I struggled in. However, it really helped my understanding of its importance in writing and how having proper grammar skills can help the way you write and can keep things uniform. The Editing For Publication class was also very useful for my Rhetoric and Composition concentration. Aside from learning basic mechanics and grammar procedures, I also learned how editing is different than proofreading. There are many different levels of editing that may come into play. Does the client want a light hand or a deep, heavy editing job performed on a piece? It also taught me to keep a writer’s integrity at the forefront and to not let one’s own ego or opinion get in the way of that. Another essential component that contributed to my learning was that the editorial process is often a group effort. I’ve always enjoyed individual work that I could work on myself, but working as part of an editorial team helped me become familiar with what could be part of my career one day.
My definition of critical thinking has also shifted since beginning the Composition and Rhetoric concentration at Georgia State. Naturally, I’ve written several term papers on critiques and analyzes of literary works since early college. I had also been taught to compare and contrast, to find motifs and explain them, and to criticize works in general. During my time at Georgia State, I began to realize that critical thinking means so much more. Critical thinking no longer means critiquing a work and explaining it to your audience, but asking questions and challenging a work or idea and never stop asking questions and exploring new ideas.