Invention, in my opinion, is the most important and can be the hardest part. Invention is where you begin, it is putting words on the page, and it is finding something to say. Aristotle also states that invention is "discovering the best available means of persuasion."
In ENG 102, invention will also include research. For academic papers, research is how we find what to say. We must first consult what others have said, written and argued on a topic. Only after we listen to what is currently be said and written can we insert ourselves into the academic conversation. Here is a metaphorical description of what you will be doing:
"Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality of your ally's assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress " (The Philosophy of Literary Form 110-111).
Your blog is where you will prepare to enter the conversation; it is your place of invention. There will be required assignments, but I encourage you, as scholars, to do more than the required. Your blog will be where you collect your ideas, your thoughts, your words and your research.
Good luck! I will be blogging with you.
