At the beginning of this course, I had a certain idea of what writing should be. First of all, I believed that there were only certain things about which you can write – and none of those could cross the line of being too personal. Secondly, I believed that it all needed to be MLA format with an introduction, 3 paragraph body, and a conclusion that ended the paper. You basically stated your research in a very structured and bland way. After that, the idea was to be closed. If there was an open ending, then it was a bad piece of writing. However, through this class, I have discovered that this could not be farther from the truth.
The secret ingredient to a good piece of writing is character. What I mean by that is, if your piece can’t stand alone and have a voice, an arc, emotions, and a unique structure – being only unique because of your personal writing style – then you’ve done a great disservice to yourself as a writer. Your pieces deserve a hint of who you are. It is what makes the audience intrigued, what keeps them engaged in what you’re saying. Once you have that secret ingredient, your rhetoric follows suit. Rhetoric will adapt to its author – sometimes with a little mental push if needed – and you begin to create a piece of writing that is effective, yet still unique to your style.
These deductions can only be drawn from observation, analysis, and appreciation. Throughout the semester, we’ve had many opportunities to do just that with our readings. While each section of our curriculum has somewhat of a distinction between them, they all coincide with the composition of self. They all have something to offer that help us to compose ourselves in a literary manner.
Although I wanted to structure this response differently (for instance, my favorite to least favorite), it seemed to take away from the natural flow and progression that this course had, which would be a great disservice to the class.
Open Letter | “There is No Moving On, Only Moving Forward” – Kaitlin Roig-Debellis
The open letter was our first peek into a revolutionized style of writing. For the first time as a student, I was asked to write about something present. I was challenged to make my voice heard and to speak to a wide audience through one person. When explained, this challenge appeared to be bigger than I could handle. What gives me the right to speak on a conflict to a wide audience? And what time is a good time to do so?
This piece by Kaitlin Roig-Debellis is one that, while I didn’t personally like it, demonstrates a good use of a couple of rhetorical devices. The most apparent is Kairos. The letter is from teacher to teacher (both victims of gun violence in their schools), and it was written at the time of the Parkland shooting, which ended with seventeen children dead. Roig-Debellis speaks to Ms. Falkowski at Parkland, telling her the things that she never got to hear at the time of the Sandy Hook shooting five years prior. This terrible day was the perfect time to send this open letter. Ms. Falkowski and her fellow staff members were just in an environment that none of them had been in previously. Roig-Debellis offers words of advice to them in this time, which speaks to the “right time” that creates a good sense of Kairos in a piece of writing.
The author also demonstrates Pathos through her caring words. She sacrifices her sense of logic in order to give a good sense of her caring heart. Nobody in a mass shooting wants to hear about the statistics of gun violence moments after they’ve experienced this topic first hand.
This letter helped me understand these rhetorical concepts better in my own writing. While my Kairos was a little more on the less relevant side of the spectrum, my topic was still very new and fresh to me. I also implemented pathos into my open letter. I feel that through this rhetorical device, I was able to demonstrate the true intention of my letter, which was to inform a dear friend of mine. I am glad that I sacrificed some of my logos and ethos because I could have very easily crossed the line that separates discussion from criticism.
Personal Essay | “Only Daughter” – Sandra Cisseneros
The personal essay was very personal, no shock there. It taught me how to still use rhetoric while talking about a very personal experience, and how to drive home my point in a subtle way.
Cisseneros does this very well. She talks about her father and her experience growing up as his only daughter. She desperately wanted his approval and finally got it in the end, but before any of this story progression, she establishes her ethos, her credibility, and she does it boldly. Then she goes on to tell the story of her career and her pursuits, which take on a subtler tone.
I did the same thing in my personal essay, except I had no credibility to establish career-wise. I’m just a student, so it’s hard to say this is what I’m doing and here’s how good I am. Instead, I tied to write in a descriptive and artistic way, so that when I went on to tell my story of discovering film, my audience would believe that this discovery is something that should have happened.
Memoir | “Embalming Mom” – Janet Burroway
The memoir requires no point. It requires no persuasion. Instead, it beckons a certain versatility in its message in order to be recognized by a wide audience, but the avenue it takes does not necessarily need to be one with a linear timeline.
“Embalming Mom” is a great example of this sense of time being almost fluid. She goes back and forth between past and present. Its jarring to say the least, but extremely effective in what she is trying to convey. She’s looking at her mother in a reminiscing perspective after her death. It’s something that anyone who’s experienced loss can identify with.
I implemented the same technique in my memoir. Perhaps not as jarring, but I wanted to go back and forth with my perspective on time. I believe it offered the audience to see more into my life, and perhaps why coming out as a process was difficult for me.
Auto-Ethnography | “A Secret Life in a Culture of Thinness” – Lisa Tillman-Healy
And then, we have the Auto-Ethnography. A blend of all the previous assignments, balancing a personal experience, a point, and data all into one. The objective, though, is nothing more than to add to an overall conversation in an academic manner, all the while keeping your secret ingredient – character.
I can think of no better example of a personal story that adds to an overall conversation on a topic than this piece. Throughout the piece, we are taken from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, all the while experiencing different aspects of bulimia. Thillmann-Healy brings us into her experiences.
One thing I really like about this piece is the use of poetry intertwined with other narrative parts. This creativity is something that I want to implement into my Auto-Ethnography. One thing that my piece has in common with this one is that we are both a part of the community about which we write. Our authority comes from personal first-hand experiences that we have.
We all have a story that needs to be told, and it is not uncommon for that story to be personal. This semester, we have observed essays and official publications of personal experiences. These pieces of writing don’t hold back either. They are raw and painful and emotional and beautiful, and they had a colossal impact on me as a writer and a creative mind overall.
Composing Self - J. Carpenter 