Outlines of Rhetoric by John F. Genung

Dr. Jacobs let me know ahead of time that this work, printed in 1894, was most valuable to studies of composition theory because, even though it's more than one hundred years old, it still has several practices embodied within its pages that we teach today.

I found that to be true, and to try to catch every detail in one blog would be impossible. So I'll just give the highlights.

Genung describes what he feels are the leading requisites of composition. He believes that by giving these requisites in a numerical order, he is attempting to "bring the core of the rhetorical art into small and manageable compass, the rules being a body of precept to which constant reference is made" (iii). I found myself nodding along with this argument, as I try to break down writing into small tasks for my students as well. As they master and grow comfortable with one concept, I'll add another. By the end of the semester they've understood, if not conquered, several of the tasks that Genung describes in his work.

I liked that Genung mentioned that "composition is positive, requireing the constructive attitude on the part of the writer" (vi). I try to make composition positive for my students by allowing them to write about the subjects they find interesting to them, not those I prescribe. As Janet Burroway says about writing in her book "Writing Fiction", you have to write about what's in your heart and what you believe in. That makes it positive -- and interesting -- for those learning to write.

I liked Genungs definition of rhetoric, and I've found myself collecting different definitions of rhetoric, so I just wanted to document his here: "Rhetoric: its definition and aim. — Now when the words, the sentences, the plan, the various details of composition, are skillfully adapted to produce their proper and intended effect, we say the workd has rhetorical qualities. Rhetoric, therefore, is teh art of expressing our thoughts with skill, of giving to our composition the qualities that it ought to have in order to accomplish its author's design.

"For every author, if he works wisely, works with a specific design in view; a determinate object which he is aiming by his writing to effect (2)". This makes my planning stages, learned from Dr. Jacobs, important to my students, as they learn not just to compose, but to compose for an audience, to choose their words and points to a certain person or group of which they have knowledge. It's also important because so many writers have learned to compose "correct" sentences, but not adequate, powerful ones.