A Look Inside Kairos's Cranium

Kairos pictured as a mythical god.

During the process of brainstorming about our schema, Joe and I both felt some resistance toward the Sheridan et al. piece. In my case, while I valued some of the terminology and components of their theory, I disliked being given two different models representing the ideas within the text, as it limited the way I could think about "kairotic struggle" to only the relationships they articulated. Instead, we opted to create a schema for Kinneavy's version of kairos, partially because we were really interested in the idea of Kairos as a mythical being, but mostly because we were interested in exploring the subtle ways he explores the two possible meanings of kairos: 1) the appropriate or opportune time and/or circumstances and 2) the appropriate measure (80). Because he asserts that kairos has been neglected in composition studies, Kinneavy attempts to demonstrate the importance of classical rhetoric in modern composition, to present an extended definition of kairos, and to advocate its use in the composition classroom.

The first meaning of kairos, "the right or opportune time to do something," seems pretty straight-forward at first. Kinneavy articulates that kairos concerns the "appropriateness of the discourse to the particular circumstances of the time, place, speaker, and audience involved" (84). This definition appears to be much like Bitzer's "rhetorical situation," in terms of which elements comprise the context of a specific exigence (though Kinneavy doesn't discuss kairos in terms of exigencies). Kinneavy refers to these elements as situational context, rather than an ecology, which strikes us as a significant distinction. We complicated these terms by thinking of context or situation as having the particular text at the forefront with the surrounding materials as background. We imagined an ecology as having no one particular text emphasized over another; all elements would be treated as equally significant. Kinneavy's choice of words implies to us that he conceptualizes kairos as the surrounding materials that supply context to one particular text, rather than taking all the elements as a holistic ecology. This situational context is deemed necessary for kairos because it leads to historical, cultural, or social consciousness, without which, the composition will be ineffective or ill-rendered.

Our "brainstorm" for the schema. 

We viewed consciousness as the central theme or Kinneavy's exploration of kairos. As we developed our schema, we found that other terminology contributed to the development of consciousness or were products that could only be achieved with or through consciousness. Without consciousness, one would be unable to effectively persuade an audience, but even more significantly, one would not have sufficient knowledge to invent. This was where our diagram started getting sticky. As soon as we plotted "consciousness" on the whiteboard, a series of arrows connecting the term to several others sprung up. The term seemed so inter-related to the others, it became central to our schema. Circumstances/occasion, situational context, and the social all contribute to consciousness. Consciousness is required for knowledge, which is needed for invention, which allows for one to determine and participate in a "critical moment" (89) of the text.

Our final schema of kairos, of course, with a forelock!

The second meaning of kairos, "the right measure in doing something," is particularly interesting. Kinneavy explains that kairos encompasses an ethical component, and is closely related to justice: "Justice, therefore, was determined by circumstances: justice was kairos" (87).  Joe and I considered the inclusion of ethics to represent a sort of collective consciousness that was related to the social. Without the presence of a collective, there could be no ethical considerations. We also considered that kairos as justice may have to do with reciprocation. If it is the right measure of justice, it alludes to the same idea as "a punishment fitting the crime." Kinneavy does not discuss justice in terms of reciprocation, however, but leaves the ethical dimension of kairos as amorphously defined.

In creating this schema, we realize that we might have read more into Kinneavy's definition than, perhaps, he intended. However, we found it both challenging and useful to map out the connections that relate the components of kairos. We began to see kairos as a network of inter-relating, mutually defining parts, rather than a discrete element of classical rhetoric. After charting the complex folds of Kairos's cranium, we feel that there may be a place for kairos in modern composition classrooms. We need only "take the opportunity by the forelock" (93).