Chaos

I found, ironically, the selection by Ann E. Berthoff to be a little chaotic to interepert. I just used the word chaotic to reflect the state of confusion I was in, which is only one of its meanings. Here are additional meanings of the word chaos: a state of things in which chance is supreme; the inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a complex natural system; the confused unorganized state of primordial matter before the creation of distinct forms. It is the last definition of chaos which is applied to Berthoff's theory of teaching composition. The "primordial matter" in this case are the thoughts, memories, conversations, and ideas that when bound together to form language come to convey meaning. "Meanings change as we think about them; statements and events, significances and interpretations can mean different things to different people at different times" (649). Only when I was able to define chaos in the way that Berthoff does did I find meaning in her language.

Towards the end of the selection, Berthoff reveals a passage similar to one of Bruffee's in stating that, "A writer is in dialogue with his various selves and with his audience" (650). We'll remember that according to Bruffee, "We converse; we internalize conversation as thought; and then by writing, we re-immerse conversation in its external, social medium" (551). The more I read the more apparent it becomes that incoporating a forum of discussion within composition courses is not only crucial but neccessary if the composing process is to successfully exist.