Why Comp Theory?

Why am I here?

I believe this course will provide valuable insight into modern academic scholarship in composition and rhetorical theory. Like most aspects of our rapidly changing world, academe has embraced technology and is moving faster than ever. Research is being completed by a growing number of scholars at an increasingly rapid pace, and the work is all being done online now. I look forward to using more technology this semester and blogging for the first time.

Rhetoric is the employment of specifically chosen symbols with the purpose of achieving a certain aim within a power relationship. Composition is the physical construction of words and thoughts in order to communicate ideas with others. The number of genres which now carry the moniker "composition" continues to multiply. Each genre lends itself to a different function though: some are academic, while others are purely social, some are formal, others informal, etc. Regardless of the specific function, the purpose of all composition is to communicate ideas. One expectation of mine is that we will study some of the various approaches to writing instruction in addition to effective strategies in communication and persuasion through writing.

Though this course is required, I feel it is critical for graduate (and undergraduate) students to be cognizent of the theories and ideas that shape the academic world, and therefore, their own educational experiences. As graduate students we are near the source of this fast paced world of scholarship, and it is necessary that we both study and participate in the discourse taking place.