My English 103.11 Portfolio

This Ball State English Composition portfolio was created throughout the spring semester of 2009. Its contents are all the product of my original work during the course. Links to other projects during the year, such as my blog, can be found on this portfolio website as well.

Use the links at the top to navigate through the 4 different essays and my class blog.

Thoughts on Composition

Composition is the foundation of how we as a society communicate. The boundaries of composition are not limited to writing, but span the entire spectrum of forms of communication. I compose my thoughts into something coherent to share with my peers countless times a day. Composition is used in our daily lives to convert our thoughts into meaningful interaction with others. The ability to appropriately compose our thoughts separates humans from all other life forms. Composition is the critical element to the concept of history. Particularly through writing, composition promotes the spread of knowledge and preserves information. As a human race, we benefit tremendously from our effective use of composition, which proves the necessity to preserve and improve our means of composition.

The most common form of composition in the world today is the simple interaction between the thoughts of someone and their need to communicate. Animals communicate similarly to us; however, few express the same characteristics of conscious composition. For example, when I think that a parking citation is unjust, I compose my thoughts into a meaningful stream of spoken word that expresses my concerns with and feelings about the local parking system. While an animal, like a marmot, acting on solely instinct would communicate anger and frustration if they were victims of the same corrupt system, they would have no meaningful composition taking place to convey their thoughts as a function of their morals and ideals. Herein lies the separation between composition and basic communication; composition expresses conscious thought and morality.

Writing academically remains unique as a form of communication in that it always is a form of composition as well. Written word also has the quality of enduring presence. Unlike speaking, writing can be shared and stored indefinitely. Therefore, composition has far greater potential influence when in writing then when it is spoken. Developed composition skills are essential to writing effectively. Furthermore, to write effectively requires creative thought based on experience. The purpose of composition is to communicate thoughts to others, which writing promotes by having infinite potential for distribution. However, for writing to be an effective means of composition, literacy and compositional skills must exist in harmony.

I have so far explained the importance of composition to me. I feel that the importance of composition in my life is no major departure from the importance of composition to anyone today. Although I am going to college and will pursue a career, using composition throughout the process, my compositions’ only lasting importance will be the impact they leave on society. For this reason, my writing is of extreme importance to my goals of creating my impression on the world. A century from today, the compositions of my life will carry the same importance to everyone in the world, as the purpose of creating a legacy and sharing knowledge has no limits.

As a conclusion, the English Composition course I am now enrolled in is an essential step in improving my composition skills. Without the foundation for effective communication of my thoughts, I could not expect to have an impact whatsoever on the history of the world. Composition is necessary to express my thoughts and writing is the most enduring means to compose these thoughts. Therefore the importance of learning effective written composition is self-evident. In order to leave an impact on the history of the human race, I rely on the effectiveness of the proficiency of my composition.