Reflections on class discussions

At the end of class a few of us were discussing "TRUTH". My personal reflections center on the fol owing. There is the truth accepted on faith-the sun goes down every evening and the moon comes up every evening. Some truths change over time-the positioning of the planets and the changes in classification (the theories of Copernicus or poor planet Pluto). I believe the communication of the truths through written words, oral dissemination, and visual representations (music and dance are to be included) connect us to a past while living in the present and allowing for multiple possibilities of the future.

Bertolt Brecht wrote an interesting essay in the Laughton English Version of his play, Galileo entitled Writing the Truth: Five Difficulties. I mention this essay, not only because of the content, but as an example of the art of Composition. As the art and craft of composition mention must be made on his writing and rewriting of the essay. Originally it only contained 3 difficulties and was titled: Poets are to Tell the Truth. Then as his world around him changed his work became LIVING language.

An examination of the truth in communications as stated by Bertolt Brecht, I believe, follows what we are discovery in English 507. Kinneavy's encoder, decoder, signs, and reality diagram Brecht's essay on truth. He examines the connection between the writer, the reader, and the composition. Connecting our readings with this essay could possibly be the courage to write truth by the encoder using recognizable symbols. A keenness to recognize truth connects writer and audience. The skill to manipulate truth and therefore reality requires a knowledge of a recognizable personal knowledge of the words. Motivation (or what Brecht calls cunning) to write and the genre used requires a judgement on the part of the encoder to select the audience and the medium used to showcase the information. All of these methods find a technique in the study of Composition.

The reader should never forget that it is my belief in the importance of interdisciplinary connections that provides my personal connection with the written word, verbal rhetoric, and visual rhetoric. I offer the following images for books, plays, paintings, prints, as well as an audio book and music based on this play. All these works encourage the audience to know "the story". This story is about imagination and discovery.

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Help! How do I save my changes to my blog so I can use the pages as a journal? I want to save the compostition of the complete page to document all my thoughts.

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I pushed post instead of save as draft. Therefore the font is small and the "check out" sections are inconsistent. Hopefully, the other errors you find will not detract from my content. Next week's entries should be better for this lady who "would rather be at the beach . . . " watching the full moon on the water.

Week I: Connecting Through Rhetoric and Compostion

Composition Theory provides teachers the tools to teach methods that enable an individual to communicate with others and function within their community. The foundation of grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure offers a unifying structure to day-to-day communication. An ability to read and interprete remains essential to the act of communicating.

check out: The Patriot News, your mail, and your bank statement

Because communication in "terms of discourse" requires a writer, reader, and a text the student must be encouraged to critically examine "who writes", "how they write". "to whom they write", and "why they are writing" is a skill that I believe has a place in the pedagogy of rhetoric and composition.

check out: Armed Forces Recruitment Posters and Democratic Election Posters.

All of our readings allow for an look at what happens to the purpose of the discourse when someone outside the intended audience brings their own point of view to the interpretation of the text.

check out: Letters to the Editor in Sunday's New York Times.

As an older student, I am excited to learn that Kinneavy connects the old liberal arts tradition and the new interdisciplinary humanities tradition that "coalesced into the trivium of of grammar, rhetoric, and logic or dialectic. . . " as the "study of literature, the study of persuasion, and the study of scientific and exploratory discourse" (Villanueva 138). This connection allows "writing across curriculum" to expand our first hand experiences and opens our imagination to unlimited possibilities. What we write for ourselves connects with what we write for others. Education offers students and teachers to "experience" life outside out immediant community.
Berlin's exploration of the today's composition pedagogical theories centers around "teaching a way of experiencing the world, a way of ordering and making sense" (Villanueva 168). One method he describes promotes the "making connections with others in dialogue and discussion" (Villanueva 255). I believe that our knowledge of the past adds to the reality that the encoder is trying to explain The decoder as the audience brings a connection to different public, private, and political connections.

Check out: Archeology Magazine, Langston Hughes' poetry, and The Saint James' Bible.

"Discourse-language in use-that acknowledges the power of rhetoric to help create a community's worldview, knowledge, and interpretive practices" (Bedford/St. Martin 9). I suggest that Composition Theories as taught today requires a new commitment to the student outside the "average". Teaching that is inclusive and not exclusive requires a commitment beyond the teacher into domains of public education and political funding. ESL is not just for Mexicans. Speech limitations do not equal mentally challenged. Learning Disabilities are not only related to intelligence. All these students need to integrated into our communities. Teaching so many different personalities with different learning requirements is a burden with large class rooms and limited resources. Our commitment to providing access to the tools of communication requires more than State testing and Federal rhetoric. For the students outside the average there is a lack of access to the tools they need to communicate within their communities.

Check out: Your school's budget for Special Needs, Gifted, and other challenged students

Landmark School, Pride's Crossing, Massachusetts.

My last observations for this week are on new technology. The use of short concise communicationof instant messanger and cell phone texts are an abnomalty to educatioin in rhetoric and compostion when applied to living language. Subgroups to a community increase. Not only are the foundations of language changed, but traditional revisions and proofing no longer exist. We can no longer take back the words. The tradition of face-to- face has been weakened. Media makes us believe a strange, ever-changing TRUTH. What remains consistant in even this strange rhetoric and composition is the who, how, why, and to whom. The new technological writer, audience, and text developed a new grammar, vocabulary, and structure that includes as well as excludes.

Check out: Your last two text messages, one voice mail, and an e-mail.

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Mary Elizabeth