The Importance Of Expressive Writing

Writing is a powerful tool for communication and connection. As an extension and expression of the mind, writing is as much about the mental processes of the author as it is about the final marks laid to paper. As we write, we hold in mind our own thoughts on the work, anticipate the reader’s thoughts, and think both in concrete and abstract ways in order to accomplish the task at hand. Whether an academic research paper, a novel, or text message to friends, writing seeks to engage, persuade, or impress concepts upon an audience. Like language and other art forms in general, the practice of writing is ever-evolving and is subject to cultural and contextual influence, expectations, and conventions. Each writer holds a theory

Chris Anson shares his experiences as a graduate student TA many years ago reflecting how his teaching strategies evolved from the “current-traditional paradigm” to an expressive pedagogical theory and practice. The paradigm shift focuses on the process of writing instead of the final product. Donald Murray is an experienced journalist who joined the movement to embrace the process of writing to open up the writer’s creativity and pull from their own knowledge allowing for more freedom and expression. During this process movement there were numerous researchers who studied the various instructional methods and were able to collect data and provide a meta-analysis which is named “Hillocks’ Research

Writing varies from a text message to a novel. Writers often have a difficult task in creating a piece of work that truly identifies the meaning of good writing. Every good writer usually starts with the basics such as genre, audience, rhetorical situation, and reflection of the piece. Throughout this semester, we have gone through all of these key terms in great detail with each new assignment that has come our way. In doing this, not only as students but also as writers, we have come to create our own theory of writing. Every writer has a different theory of writing though most are very similar. Now, at this point in the semester after doing countless journals, in-class exercises, and final assignments, I think I have figured out my own

I feel like most teachers worry more about grades and getting the writing done as soon as possible and not taking their time in helping students gain better writing skills and improve themselves. Students should be able to choose what they want to write about so that we can feel inspired in our writings thus having a better end product for teachers to read and be satisfied with. If teachers are constantly criticizing our writings and telling us what to write about then they never really know what a student’s potential really is because most likely they will rush to try to satisfy the teachers needs than theirs. I also agree that teachers should worry more about a person’s writing than about the mechanics of a paper, however; I also realize that in today’s society free writing isn’t really “approved” in almost every class. In every English class I have had my teachers focused more about the end result that is timing us on essays, and grading our papers based off grammar/mechanics and not the process writing

In the 2011 article “Helping Students Meet the Challenges of Academic Writing”, educators Linda Fernsten and Mary Reda offer innovative self-reflective writing exercises that post-secondary instructors can employ to help students improve writer self-image and academic writing. The authors’ rationale for reflective and practical writing strategies were developed from direct classroom experience, and are based on four (4) assumptions. Their claim that self-reflective writing can aid student writers in overcoming conflict (due to dominant culture, upbringing, former writing experiences, gender, and other marginalizing factors) to improve writer self-identity is plausible. However, their argument that cross-curriculum academic writing can be improved through self-directed, self-reflective writing requires further investigation.

Arguably, there are situations where the tone in the text betrays the author’s insistent perspective concerning writing. For instance, the author argues that a student can pass through the writing process successfully if the teacher chooses to shut up and allow the student to write. In reviewing this particular text, one may argue about the choice of words, however, the tonne also elucidates the author’s viewpoint on the involvement of teachers in the writing process. One of the questions the author has prompted but not answered is how the education system as a whole can be transformed to embrace the concept of writing being a process rather than a product. While the idea is sensible and well thought, its applicability in the education system is a challenge, which the author has not highlighted despite writing being under the umbrella of

I 've always liked writing. Even before I knew how to write I would make up stories and pretend to write them down. Each year in high school I 've written a multitude of essays on varying topics. I have selected three of these writings from each of my years in high school to examine as part of this rhetorical analysis of my writing history. As I 've grown older, my writing style has changed and I 've learned more about the world and developed my own personal writing voice more and more.

In the article “Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively,” Kantz explained to students as they write, how to use current texts to build a new original one. She argues that many undergraduate students cannot perform this idea correctly, because as they write they never had the opportunity to get taught to examine and synthesize a piece of writing correctly. Students need to understand how to view facts as claims, or view writing as a serial of creative ideas and drafts that drive to a final distinctive piece of work. In this article Kantz described how students think as they are writing, she used personal experiences, introduces “rhetorical situation,” and used

Throughout this semester I’ve been able to grow as a writer, I’ve come to understand how rhetorical strategies come into contribution when it comes to expressing yourself as a writer. One thing that has come perfectly clear to me is that there is different forms of writing and each form can express and show different meanings.

In the last three parts of this paper, I described how my own literacy history has affected my pedagogy as a future teacher. As I looked closer at the different theories of rhetoric, I believe that I fall between the expressivists/new romantics and the cognitivists, as I explained in part two. I believe that when writers are able to become comfortable forming their own opinions in their writing in a writer-centric environment, they will be more likely to succeed in doing so with writing that has an intended audience. I believe this line of thinking or pedagogical approach will work best for developing writers, as it focuses less on the technical side of writing and more on the content- or being able to realize their own

Have you ever wondered whether a writer’s voice and the standard rules of academic writing can exist on the same page? According to Dr. Debra Pena, English Professor, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Mathew Teorey, English Professor, University of New Mexico and the author of "Using Freshman Composition to Analyze What Students Really Know about Grammar" a writer’s voice and the process of academic writing can exist on the same page (Personal Communications February 13, 2017, Teorey 2). However, my first essay In Freshman Composition II titled, “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE): Is it the New Death Sentence for Future Athletes Playing Sports in America?” where I lost the power of my voice to the process of academic writing.

As a student experiencing formal education for over 15 years, writing essays, research papers and narrative stories presents itself as nothing new. Every student has a specific writing method ingrained in his or her brain and after years of practice, very little thought goes into creating a formal literary piece. The Lunsford humanizes the methodology of producing quality writing and it characterizes a piece of writing into something more than just a class assignment. Rhetorical situations delve into the complexity of communication through writing. Surrounding the context of a piece of writing there is a topic that needs to be clearly stated, an opinion to be portrayed, and an audience to be thought about. An appropriate topic for a writer to elaborate on is one that either puzzles or interests them. This allows the writer to be engaged in his or her writing and provide a method of effective communication. The opinion on the topic allows the writer to be individual and portray the

Writing is a form of communicational practice that grants the writer the ability to provoke conversation. Communication is the way that we are able to voice our ideas,” I wanted my students to find a way to talk back to those other writers.” (426 Sommers) Sommers wants her students to be able to develop the skills to debate and to not accept the social norm. She wants her students to be able to think on their own without others thinking for them,” Borrowing words from authorities had left me without any words of my own.” (423 Sommers) Being

As I signed up for a class called “Embodied Discourse” I had no idea what to expect; the only informatioin I knew was that I was about to take a Goal 1 course. If someone asked me on week one or even two what “embodied discourse” meant in terms of this course, I believe my response would be something along the lines of: “I don’t know, but we do yoga every day!” As the course progressed, if someone asked that same question, my response transformed more to: “It’s about integrating your mind and body into writing,” but I always remembered to mention we did yoga every time we met as a class. It has taken me awhile to realize that embodied discourse is more than just a class I’m taking to help me incorporate my mind and body together into writing. Much of the content we have discussed has been eye-opening to me, regardless the topic, or of it was a discussion, listening to an interview, or digging deeper into my thoughts through meaning making journals. By living our lives in ways that de-center ego and create a sense of integration, we free ourselves from a “default” mode that David Foster Wallace articulates. Realizing that college graduates are equipped with an educated mind, Wallace encourages us to think about our thinking. Since thinking inwardly is natural, it requires refocusing of ego to think outwardly. Wallace’s ideas are a leap towards a better sense of integration of the mind and body. Acknowledging that our minds and bodies are subconsciously weaved together means

During this class I expressed the use of rhetoric in the four major essays I wrote, including the Narrative Essay, Rhetorical Mode Essay, Argumentative Essay, and Research Essay. Being able to think critically is a crucial part of success when it comes to writing these essays. At the beginning of this class, I had a much less understanding of this particular area. I struggled with being able to use research effectively to persuade others of a certain argument. I also had difficulty with grammar issues, and paying attention to my overall “voice” of an essay. I believe that I improved significantly in all of those areas because in each essay I have learned to put myself in the audience’s position and view the piece of writing in the reader’s point of