The proposition can be offered that the notion of "the plant" should be the paradigmatic metaphor for modern conceptions of the composing process. Various forms of the metaphor are found in classical and eighteenth century writings alike. A modern shift in focus from writing product to process has brought to the fore the dynamic organicism view which capitalizes on the mysterious, idiosyncratic, yet orderly growth of the plant. Further, the metaphor allows promoters of the "New Rhetoric" to associate themselves with Nature. While organicism can lead to the demise of autonomy, it can be reworked to put the "rhetor" (speaker) back into rhetoric. Proponents of the political goals of the New Rhetoric should direct efforts toward developing strategies and attitudes which capitalize on the revisionary opportunities of writing and which aid the student in incorporating the properties of speech in the composing process. (Twenty-one references are attached.) (SG)