Closing Reflection

Lauren Blais

Dr. Kara Taczak 

Writing and Rhetoric 

14 March, 2018

Closing Reflection 

The theory of writing is a reflection of who we are as a person. Writing reflects our emotions, beliefs, opinions and experiences. As writers, we have a situation we may be assigned to write about. We put this situation into our lives, if it isn’t already, and we decide on how it effects us or how we feel about it. This is how we decide to write about a specific topic and how to solve the situation. 

On a more structural standpoint, writing has six important parts that make up good writing: audience, tone, situation, rhetoric, revision, and good grammar and vocabulary. Audience is the people you are writing for. This is important because it influences your tone. Tone is the choice of words and phrases a writer uses to portray how they feel about a certain topic. Situation is the issue you are writing about. It is the story you tell and the reason you are writing. Rhetoric goes hand in hand with situation. Rhetoric is using specific language effectively and persuasively in written form. Revision is changing the idea and purpose of the paper. Some people confuse revision with editing. Editing is changing a word or a sentence. Revision is completely changing an idea. The last major key to the theory of writing is good grammar and vocabulary. This relates to tone. Good grammar gives the reader the ability to understand an author’s writing. Vocabulary sets the tone and can make a writing informal or formal. 

My prior knowledge has taught me how to write a basic academic essay. In high school, I mastered a five paragraph essay. I felt that the basic five paragraph essay could be used in every class. This will sometimes work in college classes but may only get you a grade of a C or lower. From what I have recently learned in college, I have now further developed my understanding of writing. I now know why we write and how to focus on a situation and its resolution, not on the number of paragraphs. 

The maps helped me connect specific terms that make up good writing. When making my map out of places at DU, I got to use my theory of writing in real life. I was most proud of the part of my map that represented tone and audience. I thought these were very good examples because tone was represented by the Newman Center, which is the building for the music school, and audience was represented by Magness Arena, which is where people go to watch sports. One thing I learned by using the maps was that rhetorical situation can be shown or represented in many different places. It effects everyone and everything. I was able to map rhetorical situation at DU and on an imaginary mountain. 

I use my theory of writing in my daily journal. Before this writing class, my ideas were everywhere. My writing was very random and unorganized. Now that I have taken this class, I can better express my thoughts and emotions, which will better help me understand my writing in the future. This will also help me clear my mind and organize my activities. 

I will use my theory of writing in WRIT 1133 because I assume we will be doing a lot of writing in the class. WRIT 1133 is also titled research, so I can use this theory of writing to be clear and precise about the topic I have researched. Long in the future, I hope to have a career in Criminology. I can use my writing theory to write police reports and other important documents.