What is Composition? I like to think of composition and writing in terms of rectangles and squares. All rectangles are considered squares, but not all squares are rectangles. That said, there are many types of writing and sometimes writing and composing are synonymous, but not always. When you write a grocery list or a journal entry that is not composing. What separates grocery lists from books? A composition is an original and complete body of text that takes several factors, such as audience and purpose, into account to effectively get an original message across. A composition is a finished product, writing is the process taken to get there.
How Does Audience and the Rhetorical Situation Play a Part in Composition? As we discussed earlier, understanding your audience is key to most effectively getting your ideas across. You need to write in a way that the people who you intend to read it will understand. Audience is one factor of the rhetorical situation, and directly relates to you as the writer and the subject that you are trying to discuss. For example, I am a student writing to/for other students about things they need to understand for their first college writing class. This is the rhetorical situation of this website and each element plays a part in why things are written the way they are. I am a first year student myself so my knowledge is limited to the lessons and readings I’ve encountered since I’ve been here, as opposed to a professor who’s had years of experience on the topic. At the same time however, my being a student offers similar perspective and past academic experiences that make this site relatable and easy to understand. To sum it up, rhetorical situation, audience being a part of that, is the most basic building block or outline for all of your compositions. To most effectively portray your ideas on a topic, you must fully grasp these concepts before you begin. Put this knowledge into action, and you will most likely end up with a very complete and well rounded composition.