Arrangement

Chapter 9 is another meaty chapter, but it I found it refreshing to transition out of Invention and into Arrangement. I thought Crowley and Hawhee did an interesting job of explaining the various aspects of argument. The chapter expanded the importance of kairos from previous chapters to include its importance in arrangement, in that kairos in arrangement means knowing when and where to marshal particular proofs (p. 293), as well as weighing the merit of using a proof at all. With attention once again emphasizing the importance of a rhetor knowing how to approach topic with a select audience, as well as choosing and arranging the order of proofs to include in an argument, this chapter cements the idea that rhetoric is indeed an art form.

I found several sections of this chapter to be of particular interest. Page 295 states that, “Cicero warned his readers about the futility of composing the introduction first. … you can’t introduce arguments haven’t yet been composed.” I completely agree with this approach to persuasion as an adult, while the same time, as an elementary teacher, I find myself wondering if this might be a new approach to teaching our persuasive essay. (You know, the infamous five-paragraph essay?) Perhaps fourth grade is too early to make this type of distinction when teaching the basic modes of writing, but perhaps not. I’ll have to let the idea ferment for a while…

Another interesting, and helpful, part of this chapter was the example of, “Keeping Parents Off Campus.” After reading in detail about the various parts of a rhetorical piece, I truly found that labeling the various parts in an actual example helped bring the pieces together. After analyzing the example as presented, I found myself trying to figure out how I would change the information presented if the audience were to change (as suggested in one of the post-chapter activities).

Finally, my favorite sections of the chapter, while obviously not the most important focus, were the sections on imitation, reading aloud, and copying. In reading texts for other writing classes, these ideas resonate through authors such as Elbow, Fletcher, and Goldberg. Even prior to taking classes on writing, I found myself keeping a notebook of words, phrases, and sections of writing that I found interesting or intriguing for one reason or another. It’s a great place to go back to and reflect on some previous readings, as well as write down ideas for future writings. Additionally, while I already read aloud daily to my students, and most days to my own children, I’ve never considered the idea of reading my own writing aloud. I have, however, tried reading students’ works aloud to them in an effort to help them listen for strong and weak points in their pieces. I look forward to further pursuing these ideas in my classroom, and in my personal writing.

This idea of rhetoric might be growing on me -- scary!