Is everyone an author? Chapter one in the textbook took a very interesting point of view concerning this question. I almost felt like instead of completely and directly answering the question for us, it gave us the tools and examples to allow us to come up with an informed answer for ourselves. After reading the chapter and comparing it to my original thoughts, I would feel confident enough to say that yes, everyone is an author. Every part of our lives depends on communication, either verbal or non-verbal, to act as a bridge from person to person on a local or global scale. These bridges are what allow us as a species to continue on and create, innovate, and succeed. Even if the communication is spoken out loud, written down, or signed, it is still a work by an author. We need to think of rhetoric less as physical written words, and more as ideas or beliefs expressed by a person or peoples. If I was sharing my ideas to a group, I would be the author of those ideas. Every time a person or group express thoughts or conclusions that are unique to them, they become authors. Every spoken word, relayed thought, or even concern, is a new work. In casual conversation, as I tell my parents about my day, I inform them of authors I encountered. Saying "Oh, today in class I was talking to my friend mikaela, and she said ..." is a way of citing an author. Each idea and expression, is a literary work. They invite others to analyze their work rhetorically, leading to debates and connections, not unlike those created by the rhetorical analysis of writings. From the day we are born and start communicating, we are authors. The textbook touched on this, the different ways we use rhetoric to achieve goals, and even how thinking rhetorically can lead to success in all areas of life, from a simple discussion, to avoiding war. This process of determining how thinking rhetorically can change outcomes, is another way of stating that every thought is a deliberately penned piece, and each piece belongs to the person who created it. Even though it may be happening in our heads, or spoken into the world, it still adds to the authors portfolio of work. In my way of thinking, everything that we do as people, is a work by an author. If I choose to accept this as truth, I must also choose to accept that everyone indeed, is an author.