Theory of Writing is a description of what exactly we believe writing is and how we can reflect on how our writing has worked in the past, current and potentially the future. Developing many skills this semester, I have learned that it’s not only about meeting the requirements, but understanding the skills that you obtain from different types of structures and assignments. From pre-writing to formatting, I have learned the fundamentals of writing and the basis for clear writing.
As far as my knowledge of writing, I have always looked at my writing as just an assignment that needed to be done. Normally, I wouldn’t have outlined my papers, more so just wing it. I learned new formatting skills such as reverse outlining. The concept of reverse outlining helps us to understand a text through asking it questions and summing up exactly what appeals each paragraph approaches and their summaries. I found myself writing my papers and reverse outlining them to see what I was missing and what could be added. Reverse outlining made it easier to compare my paper to what I didn’t appreciate as much and make sure I removed those types of mistakes such as bias. Whether it had been new appeals such as logos or ethos, ultimately steering from pathos, I added those pieces of information. I was making sure that I kept my papers academic and professional. For example in one of my most recent assignments, the technical memo, I tried to focus more on facts without making it too scientific. I included statistical information about the effects on the amount of cars that are being purchased to connect it to the amount of carbon emissions, appealing to ethos as I appealed to logos. “Trucks and cars are actually responsible for more than 80% of carbon emissions meaning that it emits a large percent of pollution into the air raising many health concerns along with the chances of global warming increasing…mass transit systems such as trains and buses are not being utilized to their full and efficient potential.” Including this piece of information allows people to understand how their actions potentially affect the earth. Even when it came to researching, I was very selective in my sources as I didn’t want to confuse myself while writing. Using overly educated sources allows vagueness and using overly specific sources allow the reader to see exactly what is being talked about. I appreciate the fact that this class utilized outside resources that we had to find for our own chosen topic. It allowed a variety of topics and it didn’t necessarily have to conform to a certain standard. When I write now I consider all ways I can make my papers clear and hopefully this shows up in my future writing. I hope to make sure that I am not biased, using correct tones based on the medium of the paper and ultimately make sure that I enjoy anything that I put my hand to. This portfolio will exhibit my work throughout the semesters.
