Violet Soliz JR #2

I have the privilege of being a member of my sorority’s Executive Board, my position being Vice President of Ritual and Fraternity Appreciation. Every day I have to consult a book titled Ceremonies of Alpha Chi Omega, which details ritual and ceremonies specific to our chapter. The purpose of the book is to teach an understanding of what it means to be in a Greek Panhellenic community and our chapter itself, and how to appreciate the meaning of our ritual and what it means to be in our particular sisterhood. This book does more than just teach special information, it persuades me to remain an active member because it teaches me our core values, that I then choose to uphold. The Symphony of Alpha Chi Omega, the very first work in the Ceremonies book, is a prime example of this. I have a copy of it hanging in my room, so I see its powerful message everyday: it lists and details ways to live harmoniously with ourselves, others, and the world. Lloyd Bitzer would agree that this follows his theory of rhetoric as a means of provoking “thought and action” (Bitzer, 4) to its audience. One reason I chose to run for my position was because I read the symphony and I thought it was a beautiful guide on how to live, not just as a Panehellenic Woman but also as a proactive and contributing member of society. The symphony persuaded me to run for my position because I wanted others to think about the meaning of the words and how to reflect them in their own lives, as they have been reflected in mine, an example of Bitzer’s thought and action. This would also be an example of how Jenny Edbauer views rhetoric, a social process that does rather than is. Edbauer says that writing is “more than a matter of discrete elements in static relation to one another” (Edbauer, 13) and therefore rhetorical writing is “a mixture of processes and encounters” (13). The Symphony details a social process on how to encounter others, the world, and even ourselves. “We do rhetoric” (13) and in this case, I, and my fellow sisters, do the Symphony.

Symphony is located on the bottom of the page:

https://www.alphachiomega.org/meet-us/our-history/symbols-and-traditions/#.V9g_z_krKUk