Composition (language)

The term composition (from Latin com- "with" and ponere "to place"), in written language, refers to the body of important features established by the author in their creation of literature. Composition relates to narrative works of literature, but also relates to essays, biographies, and other works established in the field of rhetoric.

In narratives (primarily fiction), composition includes, but is not limited to,

In rhetoric (primarily non-fiction), composition is the arrangement and strategic use of written, oral, visual and/or digital in order to inform, persuade, or motivate an audience in a given situation.

Traditionally, oratory, or classical rhetoric, is composed of five stages, or canons:

Typically, in any speech classroom, these stages are still prevalent in the composing process. Other such qualities to be included, especially when considering ones' audience and methods of persuasion, would be the rhetorical appeals:

As oral discourse shifted to more written discourse, the stage of memory and delivery began to fade, yet the first three stages hold its rank in the writing process of most composition classrooms. The rhetorical appeals also prove important in written texts, as the strategies of using these appeals become more complex as writers understand their audience's needs when not in physical view.

Composition, which includes the language of visuals is a recent development in composition studies. Sonja K. Foss argues that visuals are a valued component of rhetorical study, and to only focus on verbal discourse, limits the opportunity to engage in multiple symbols that create meaning and speak rhetorically. In thinking about how visuals are used and communicate, and how one composes or analyzes a visual in a rheotrical work, she argues that one consider the focus:

Foss, who acknowledges visual rhetoric, demonstrates that composition studies has to consider other definitions and incorporations of language.

This composition refers to work produced in digital spaces. The writer or speaker must not only consider all the composing processes of the above-mentioned discourse (like purpose, arrangement, etc.), but the relationship medium plays in the composing and decision process of that work. In digital discourse, the fifth canon of delivery takes on new meaning, and digital spaces change how traditional views of authority, circulation, and context are understood, like composing in a . Thus digital rhetoric, or eRhetoric offers new ways of composing.

...
Wikipedia