My New Understanding of the Writing Process

Before I enrolled in English 225, Academic Argumentation, I thought I understood the writing process. However, two weeks into the class I realized I was completely wrong in this assumption. Slowly, throughout the semester I learned through the study of identity, about rhetoric, the art of argument, and how different rhetorical situations can be created in order to argue in very specific ways. I have come to understand the rhetorical situation of inquiry to focus on writing about the exploration of ideas and sources. Inquiry seems to allow the writer to explore a field of interest by evaluating what different sources think and then formulating an opinion based on all of the findings, leading to the formulation of a thesis. The writing process fully describes the writers thought process and details their comparisons amongst sources, their opinions on sources, and the progression of their ideas. Ultimately this type of paper gives a writer a free space to write about how they came to their thesis or conclusion on an issue. I learned that in this type of rhetorical format it is important to have strong transitions in order for the reader to clearly follow your thought process.

The writing process for the next rhetorical situation, convincing, was very different. This strategy required the formulation of a thesis, the defining of a specific target audience that needed to be convinced, and different academic sources to constitute the reasons and evidence of the argument. This process is unique because it only employs ethos and logos, and aims to convince the audience of the writers claim. However, the rhetorical situation of persuasion added the component of pathos, in order to appeal to the reader’s emotions. Once again in this writing process it was essential to clarify and define a specific target audience that needed to be persuaded in order to persuade them based on their common belief system. The combination of ethos, pathos, and logos can persuade an audience to not only agree with the writer but want to take an action. In each rhetorical situation the elements of clear transitions, defining an audience, and making revisions to drafts are essential components in the writing process.

Overall, the way I think about the writing process has vastly and dramatically changed after taking this class. Before this class I felt bound to the five paragraph essay format and had never written a paper longer than six pages. I also was afraid of writing and dreaded it. Now I feel I have acquired new knowledge that has allowed me to become comfortable writing longer papers that employ different rhetorical situations. I have also gained an awareness of my audience which allows me to more accurately write for them and create effective arguments. In addition, I feel my transitions and grammar have greatly improved, which allow my reader to follow my thought process with greater ease. The methods that we learned in class, such as theme/ new theme and nominalizations have allowed me to make my writing clearer and more concise, which make it more effective because the audience is better able to understand me. I feel that despite my thoughts prior to beginning the class, I have in fact greatly improved as a writer throughout the course of the semester, and am extremely grateful for this.