Rhetoric... I think I am going to like this class.

Thank you Jason Bybee for commenting on my last post. Someone does read this thing!! Well, has read. haha

This was my first journal entry for advanced comp....

Rhetoric is an art/discipline that I really want to master. It is quite possible that this class will advance me further down the path to becoming an advanced rhetorician than I have ever imagined I might go. If I fully take advantage of this class, it will be a launching pad for me; it will only be the beginning of the adventure.

I like the fact that rhetoric is refered to as an art and a discipline in the first sentence of chapter one. (I already read the first chapter. I thought it was our homework for Wednesday.) I like that it is refered to as both because each description appeals to me in two different ways.

Rhetoric as an art creates a mental image that excites me. One that sends an inspiring chill through the core of my being. I like to mold and shape things. I love to harmonize. I love to blend my voice with another in ways that both contrast and compliment. I love to hear a violin as it is being tuned. The hand of the musician slowly shapes the sound until it is beautiful. I love seeing myself as a piece of clay being molding in the hands of a potter. I love art. An artist of words has much influence; I want to be an artist of words.

Rhetoric as a discipline doesn't invigorate me with the same sort of passion, but it puts reason behind that passion. It puts a concrete element into the equation, and an individual needs to have something concrete to stand on. Discipline seems to be the foundation that the rhetorician can build his art on. That image excites me as well.

I know that I can become an advanced rhetorician. It is in this class that I hope to be prepared, tuned, and molded.