Thursday, January 24, 2008

Recap on Rhetoric

To be totally honest, sometimes I feel like I should not be an English major. For starters I don't enjoy reading. I am starting to like it more than I used to, but it still isn't my cup of tea. Also, I can't spell to save my life. Until last year I actually thought the popular phrase "for granted" was spelled (and said for that matter) "for granit." In addition, I don't have an incredibly insightful vocabulary, and I usually forget impressive words after I hear them. But to top it all off, despite the fact that I am majoring in composition and rhetoric (and I like it, I really do), yesterday in class was the first time I have ever come across the Rhetorical Triangle. I know, right?! But here's what I think, take it or leave it: I think that English needs people like me (conceded I know). I think that while every discipline has people with natural talent, people who are good at what they do because God liked them better, I also think that every discipline needs people like me that are intrigued and fascinated with the things they didn't know. People who not only want to become better, but they can't wait to share that knowledge with other people. They can't wait to start helping other people see literature and English in a new light and express themselves in ways they had never came across before. Because I don't have the vocabulary or the reading background, I think I can approach topics with somewhat of an innocence, the freedom from preconceptions. I am not merely a compolation of somebody else's ideas and theories, but I am learning those theories for the first time and manipulating them to fit my world.

Ok well now that I got that off my chest, let me quickly say what I thought about this Rhetorical Triangle. I think that audience is very important to any writer/communicator. The professor I interviewed said that we couldn't have "good writing" if the audience wasn't moved to read it; our "good writing" would fall on deaf ears. With that said, as I consider the rhetoric of the essay our class is about to write, I want to maintain a close relationship with my audience. I want to appear a reliable source as I detail the opinions of my professor, but I also want my audience to know that I too am still analyzing my results. We tutors are in a sense in this together (to be as cliche as possible), deciding what works, what does not, and why in order to help our future students in the most effective way possible. I want to lead my audience toward an opinion, but I will try to remain open-minded as I construct my thoughts.

No comments: