Hey, Y'all! How do we find ourselves this fine Tuesday afternoon? I happen to find myself with a figurative lighter in my hand standing near the bridge between rhetoric and composition ready to burn it. Of course, this is hypothetical and imaginative arson I am speaking about, however, after readings Crowley's piece, I can't help but feel like that. Which, kind of bothers me. She argues in a very persuasive way that rhetoric has little to nothing to do with composition. She does, however, state that intertwining of the two in their histories but moves to showcase how little composition has to do with rhetoric. Although, I am inclined to agree with her, particularly, when she denotes "modern" composition as the one with no ties to rhetoric. And she is right, composition the way it is today, does have little to do with rhetoric, but I myself feel icky about removing this bridge. I feel like this bridge between the two exists and it is important. Yes, it is maybe seldom used, but there is a historical intertwining that she even states that established this bridge so does that not show how these two are connected? I sit at the precipice of agreeing with her and disagreeing with her. The way in which she defines rhetoric is mainly where I find myself in issue. She states "stipulative definition of rhetoric: any theoretical discourse that is entitled to be called"rhetoric" must at minimum conceive of rhetoric as an art of invention, that is, it must give a central place to the systematic discovery and investigation of the available arguments in a given situation" but could not composition fit into this definition as well? Writing is an art form, writing is to discover, writing is to investigate, invent, and argue? I came into rhetoric and composition because I enjoyed that this field was so expansive, it felt inclusive to me. I started wanting to research creative writing and found myself reading scholar's within this field. I moved on to looking at video games and gamification, yet another area covered by rhetoric and composition. While, I understand what Crowley argues, and I do think she has very valid points I remain on the bridge between the two. I think that yes composition has changed and it is more separate from rhetoric, but I still think the two are intertwined historically and still do this day. I also think this idea of rhetoric and composition building bridges between other "disciplines" is what makes us, us.
