Mike Calou

Research Proposal

Rhetoric and Why We Use It to Teach Writing:

A New Composition Teacher’s Quest for Understanding

 

            As a new teacher to the field of English and composition I have recently started studying rhetoric: what rhetoric is and how it applies to the teaching of composition.  I am starting to understand the connection between rhetoric and composition, but I don’t have a theoretical background in either the former or the latter.  I think that because of my lack of foundational knowledge in English language teaching that this research paper will provide some of the foundation that will eventually enlighten and guide my pedagogy. This research paper is my attempt to better understand the two disciplines of rhetoric and composition.

            The answers to the questions; what is rhetoric? How does it apply to the task of writing? These are the answers I am attempting to find during the process of researching this paper.  I would like my research to primarily help me understand the writing process and guide my teaching methods.  When I first started teaching eleven years ago I studied the various teaching methodologies: for example Piaget and Bruner.  I will start with a brief history of rhetoric and trace its connection to the development of composition instruction.  Ultimately I would like this research to inform my approach to the teaching of composition because my ultimate goal is to teach composition to freshman college students.

The research will begin with a history of rhetoric and the major authors and texts that provide a foundation for understanding the meaning of rhetoric: from the ancient work of Plato and Aristotle through the middle ages and the work of Augustine to the Renaissance and the work of Erasmus and Thomas Wilson to the modern era.  The next section will continue with a review of the three kinds of oratory or branches and the five major categories or canons of rhetoric: the judicial, the deliberative, and the epideictic branches and the categories 1) invention, 2) arrangement, 3) style, 4) memory, and

5) delivery.  The next section of my research will relate rhetoric to the teaching of writing.  I will explore the connection between speaking and writing abilities and the notion of whether or not either is naturally acquired or can be developed through education; the idea that “instruction in theory, coupled with practice, can complement native ability and lead one to excellence in speaking and writing” (Silva Rhetoricae).

            The sources I expect to use will come from the disciplines of both rhetoric and composition.  For example, the book “A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers” by Erika Lindemann will help establish a link between the discipline of rhetoric and my own teaching pedagogy for writing.  My review of this book has inspired more questions than answers.  The study of rhetoric is the study of language; language is what separates humans from less sophisticated beings.  I think rhetoric is a difficult term to define because it encompasses the use of language as “culturally determined” (37).  Depending on the situation and the people involved in the type of communication rhetoric is applicable to describing the use of language.  My primary interest in writing this paper is to learn how to apply theories about rhetoric to the task of teaching people to write.  First, I need to understand what rhetoric is and the cognitive processes involved in applying rhetoric to the social situation of composition.

 

 

 

 

            Another source reveals the application of rhetoric to the learning of writing.  In the book, “Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student,” Edward P.J. Corbett expounds on the benefits of rhetorical knowledge for the teacher of composition.  Corbett cites an awareness of the principles of rhetoric equips the writer to respond critically to the rhetorical efforts of others (30).  According to the author writing ability makes for better readers and vice-versa.  The ability to create discourse to a definite audience has rhetorical roots.  Our students need to have an awareness of the audience in order to persuade or to reject the discourse of others.  This book provides analysis and examples of each of the modern aspects of rhetoric: invention, arrangement, and style.  For example, the section on invention includes references to real world situations and references to help in the development of writing topics.  I have selected this book because I would like to incorporate examples for teachers to use to assist student writing improvement.  As mentioned previously, I am writing about this topic because I want to inform not only myself, but other teachers as well.

            Also included in my literature review is a book titled, “The Classical Theory of Composition,” by Aldo Scaglione.  This text provides a history of rhetorical structures: word order, sentence movement, the use and meaning of compositional forms.  I also want to include a chronology of composition from the ancient (Aristotle) development that logic and language are the same (12) to the Renaissance period and the effects of the Enlightenment on composition (159).

Concluding my literature review are two journal articles.  The first is titled, “The Usefulness of Classical Rhetoric,” by Edward P.J. Corbett (College Composition and Communication).  In this article Corbett presents two reasons why knowledge of classical rhetoric is useful:

 

  First of all, the classical system engages the whole man in the

   writing process. All the classical rhetoricians recognized

the part that the three modes of appeal played in effecting

persuasion-the appeal to reason, the appeal to the emotions,

and the appeal exercised by the speaker’s ethos.  Secondly, the

classical rhetoricians kept constantly in mind the audience toward

which the discourse was directed. I suspect that one of the reasons

why our students find theme-writing so unrealistic is that such

writing is directed, if it is directed at all, toward a vague,

faceless audience (162).

 

The importance of audience is an essential component of ancient rhetoric (oratory) and it is still relevant today, as the author of this article points out.

The next article is titled “The Relevance of Rhetoric,” by Barry Ulanov (The English Journal).  According to Ulanov the logic of the classic rhetorical arrangement is indisputable (403).  A writer starts with invention; the subject of the writing.  The subject is chosen with the idea that it must persuade the audience for which it was written.  After invention comes arrangement.  According to Ulanov this is what composition teachers emphasize.  If the invention is adequately completed then the arrangement will follow.  Arrangement of a piece of writing is different than the style employed by the writer.  The arrangement of the writing has to do with the organization of the argument.  Style is the technique the writer uses to convey an experience or message.  A writer’s style is as unique as a fingerprint.

In conclusion, my primary goal is to learn the theories behind rhetoric and apply those theories to my teaching of writing (composition).  So, I will be attempting to answer these questions during my research: What is rhetoric?  and What is the relevance of rhetoric to composition study?