Samuel Landesman
English 11000
Professor Justin
12/7/19
Theory of Writing
Over the course of this semester, I have more strongly developed my theory of writing. Before this class, writing was to me a set of words in an attempt to share my thoughts, whether they be personal or academic. I did not necessarily give my writing context; when writing a political piece, I may not have changed my phrasing when appealing to different audiences. Now, After learning about how purpose, audience, and author play into context, I consider those three categories when preparing an assignment. For example, when attempting to use ethos to the more liberal-leaning community of City College, I would prefer to quote a democratic politician, not a republican one, even if the republican candidate might speak more to me. Also, learning about the different modes of persuasion, ethos, logos, and pathos, has encouraged me to shape an argument from different logical perspectives. For example, in my video about barefoot running, I mention the Tarahumara tribe as a successful example of barefoot running, I discuss scientific evidence as a logical argument to run barefoot, and I explain the pleasure of running barefoot as an emotional appeal. Tone also plays a big role in writing. I do not want to sound completely authoritative when writing about something I am not an expert in. But, after doing minimal research, I do attempt to imply that I have some credible right to voice my opinion on a given topic. Writing is not simply the expression of thoughts and ideas in a vacuum, but more often the platform for a sharing of those thoughts and ideas. Because it is a tool for sharing, the ideas must be put into context, and must be packaged in a way that is the most simple but also the most impactful. Over this semester my theory of writing has grown to include an infrastructure of writing strategies to allow for what I hope is an effective sharing of ideas.
