Writing on Purpose

Research Bibliographies
The purpose of this annotated bibliography is to offer a wide variety of influential and important
opinions pertaining to purpose in writing. Some of these authors include, Arthur Walzer, Grant
Wiggins, Jonathan Swift, Leonard Baskin, and Jeff Zelaya. Through these works, we can see that
purpose is directly related to audience. The purpose of a work is contingent upon the audience in
which is being addressed. An intended audience determines the language, diction and overall
purpose of a piece.
Every rhetorical situation encompasses an event or occasion that created it (Bitzer 1). Rhetoric is
created upon an instance that causes a need to construct an argument. On the topic of Chicana
oppression and discouragement of culture, Anzaldua describes her obscure situation of being a
minority in America, while asserting her thoughts on cultural oppression in America. Anzalduas
purpose was to describe her situation and rhetorically reflect on her experiences as a little girl. In
A Modest Proposal, it is suggested that in every writing there is a purpose that supports and
encourages the work.
When writing about purpose, one must reflect on why they are writing, to whom they are
writing, what situation is the writing responding to, and what form should be used to discuss
purpose. Purpose provides students and writers with awareness and competence that can
illustrate a clear understanding of how to relate back to audience and genre. Writing about
purpose not only serves to distinguish one's knowledge but allows them to reflect on the meaning
of their writing and the context. These required reflections relate purpose to not only audience,
but genre as well. Even though genre might restrict the meaning of a purpose, this does not that
the purpose cannot be achieved through other genres as well. For example, if someone wanted to
teach an English class about purpose, he or she could either create a PowerPoint or make a poster
to achieve the same purpose.
The identification of purpose does not have to be at a specific time. In Katrina and Matthews
summaries of The Meanings of Purpose and Real-World Writing: Making Purpose and
Audience Matter, respectively, both text differ in when purpose should be known. One text said
that purpose should be identified during writing while the other said before. However, it has been
agreed upon that purpose should be known before, during, and after writing. This allows the
writer to focus more on how he or she is writing rather than what they are writing.
Although some writings have essentially no purpose, such as an essay prompt for the FCAT,
many others have purposes that can redefine the world. Depending on the writing, ones purpose
could be solely to make a difference in some aspect of life. This can be seen through movements
such as the Feminist Movement of the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement in 1964. Although
all writing does not have to revolutionize the world, all writing should have some purpose behind
it that attempts to send a message to an audience.
Many publications on purpose in composition have echoed brief thoughts on reflection. As a
result of this, reflection and purpose have been associated to work with one another. Reflection

can be seen as a way to look back at what we achieved. In this case, a writer would reflect on
whether or not the purpose they were trying to convey was successfully received by the
audience. However, reflection is also important in respect to the audience. The audience must
reflect on what message they obtained from the authors portrayed purpose.
All audiences end up reflecting on the authors intended purpose. However, the authors purpose
might be interpreted in many different ways by different individuals. Depending on the context,
genre, and audience, one reader could identify an authors purpose to be rather subtle while
another reader could think that the authors purpose is radical and strong. However, the purpose
that a reader gets out of a piece of writing might not be what the author intended to portray. This
is why the main goal of a writer is to make his or her purpose as clear as possible.
Purpose does not just add to what is taken out of writing from a reader; It also gives support to
what the author is trying to write. Once a purpose has been identified, the organization of the
writing will come together smoothly and naturally. In this sense, it adds organization. Purpose
also adds authenticity and a sense of realism to writing. If an individual were to write without a
purpose, the writing would be flat and the lack of passion for the subject would be obvious.
Although purpose adds to other elements of writing and those elements support purpose, they all
equally contribute to writing. Without purpose, no specific audience would be addressed and the
piece of writing would be a flop. However, without an audience there would no purpose of
writing. This type of cyclic relationship occurs with all of the elements of writing and without
this relationship, no piece of writing would be significant.

Katrina Miller
ENC2135
Walzer, Arthur E. The Meanings of Purpose. Rhetoric Review, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Autumn 1991),
pp. 118-129

The definition of purpose in writing has gradually been changing for years. According to
Walzer in The Meanings of Purpose,the theoretical understanding of purpose and the
language used to discuss it evolve out of the attempts to classify discourse, typically in
categories such as persuasive, expressive, expository, and literary (118). The meaning of
purpose has been questioned and criticized by many great writers and teachers. The purpose
can define the tone, the genre, and the idiosyncratic features. Purpose should be identified
during the writing process and not before. Kinneavu wrote the textbook, Writing in the Liberal
Arts Tradition: A Rhetoric with Readings. Kinneavy suggested, linking purpose to genre
implies that works have singular purposes when really all text pursue multiple purposes. Some
purposes may be strained and hard to acknowledge because of personal constraints such as
school, or assignment. People think that writing is explaining what you know and what you want
to know. They say that you must think about what your main purpose is now and what it may
become after the writing is complete. There are specific distinctions of purpose. Some of which

include but are not limited to, internal, operational, conventional, and external. These
distinctions are the components of communication

I agree and disagree with this article. I do believe there are many types of purpose and
that there are many ways of discovering them. However, I do not believe that it is easy to find
the purpose of your writing after you have written it. I believe it is a lot easier to write something
you know and are passionate about rather than to complete improve writing. It is important to
know the purpose of your writing before and during it. How else would you know what to focus
on and elaborate in the text? It is I have learned that purpose can mean anything you would like
it to mean. To everyone it is different. Although there is a collection of research on it, the true
meaning will probably never be discovered.

Ricky Morris
ENC 2135
Group Assignment
Purpose: The Feminine Mystique
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W. Norton, 1963. Print.
During the 1960s in America, a female's role in our country was perfectly
mapped out for her with no exceptions. Women were placed in a world of
expectations and domestic responsibilities, while being deprived of higher education
and opportunity in the work force. In a painfully patriarchal society, a mans job was
to further his education and career by working, while a woman was forced to stay
home and tend to her husband and kids. The idea of a domesticated woman was
glorified and made out to look glamorous, however many housewives were not
happy with their comfy life at home. Millions of women in America wanted the
same opportunities for jobs and education as their husbands received in our
country.
As many women did not speak out against the social pressures of the
American society, Betty Friedan did. Friedan wrote a book in the year 1963 titled
The Feminine Mystique. This book created a new stride for equality and women's
rights after exposing and revealing how millions of housewives in America felt about
their lives during this era. A new support and voice formed through Friedans work
that sparked change in our country during the 1960s. Her purpose for writing the
novel was to shed light on the rarely talked about misconceptions that are
associated with a woman's life during the 1960s. Not even able to divorce in most
cases, woman did not have rights or a voice in the hardly progressive society known
as the mid-20th century United States. Because of Friedans purpose for writing,
iconic figures such as Rosie the Riveter emerged to represent the power woman
have in the workforce and how they are equally of value in our society relative to
men. Friedan talked to many housewives to get their inside opinion and feelings on
their domesticated life as a woman, while linking together psychological studies on

the effects of the American lifestyle on women. Instead of writing a book strictly on
her opinion of the oppression of women, Friedan included studies and quotes from
American Woman in her book. This creative angle of writing to attract more
attention can be compared to that of Jonathan Swift in A Modest Proposal. Instead
of just griping about her opinions, Friedan included shocking studies and facts about
women in her book as well as making (what were unconventional to many) powerful
arguments in her book about women being equally efficient in the workforce. Much
like Friedan, Swift made unconventional shocking statements and suggestions in his
work as well, which attracted a large amount of attention. Through her extensive
work in the field of feminism, even being the first president of the National
Organization for Women (NOW), I believe she strongly demonstrates purpose as a
writer. Her purpose was to expose the overly glamorized, constructing life of a
housewife, and because of this she opened the eyes of millions of people across our
country. Many saw women's roles in the 1960s as wearing pretty dresses, always
having perfect hair, and sporting a set of beautiful pearls while living a comfortable
and ideal lifestyle. Her purpose was to use the medium of writing as a platform to
create change for herself, other women and future generations. Often writing is for
entertaining purposes, however a strong purpose can lead to great change in our
country as well as across the world.

Matt:
Wiggins, Grant. Real-World Writing: Making Purpose and Audience Matter. English Journal
98.5 (2009): 29-37. PDF.
In Grant Wigginss Real-World Writing: Making Purpose and Audience Matter, Wiggins
discusses the downfalls of teaching students to follow formulaic writing styles instead of those
that will allow them to be prepared for a career. The writing being taught in preparation for
standardized tests, such as the SAT, has no actual purpose; it has no real world consequence. It is
not the student's fault for feeling the need to write mediocre and dull work but most educators
that force students into writing based off of prompts. In real-world situations, purpose and
audience are task-defining (31). Educators need to guide students in a direction that allows
them to communicate an idea or thought without having to feel like a slave to an open-ended
prompt. As writers, we must recognize that our audiences are not large groups of people that
consist of every category possible but that they are subgroups and individuals (33). Our
audiences are made up of a variety of different people with many different perspectives; not all
pieces of writing will be appreciated by the audiences within our audience. Wiggins suggests that
in order for writing to have authenticity, it must have both a purpose and an audience whom he
or she can emphasize with (33). Once these are both achieved, then a writer can get feedback
that is both supportive and constructive. With this feedback, writers can understand the
difference between result and effort.
Purpose is a writers ability to make a difference and say something, according to Grant Wiggins.
The reasoning behind Wigginss article was to attempt to make a difference in how educators and
standardized test creators influence a students writing style. Even though his purpose was to
emphasize purpose and audience, Wiggins also makes connections with other aspects of writing

to purpose. Wiggins is able to establish his purpose by blatantly stating how an articulated
purpose adds authenticity to writing. His purpose is further supported by the fact that this piece
of writing of his was published in the English Journal. The English Journal is a resource for
scholars and students where only well peer-reviewed and strongly supported scholarly articles
are published. This makes his direction and point much more valid and clear. Purpose is not a
sole entity, but provides material for the articulation of other aspects of writing such as audience.
Purpose can also be directed itself by things such as genre.

Ricky Morris
ENC 2135
Group assignment
Purpose: A Modest Proposal
Swift, Jonathan, and Leonard Baskin. A Modest Proposal. New York: Grossman,
1969. Print.
With every great work of writing comes an underlying purpose that fuels an
author to produce his or her work. In many movies, music and other forms of art
that we can see in modern times, a central purpose is what motivates an artist to
create impactful art. In A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, we can see a
satirical tone mocking the way an unfair Irish society operates. In a time of
extreme famine among middle class families in Ireland, Swift proposes the idea
of fattening up and selling babies to rich Irish landowners in order to survive the
hard life many citizens came to know. Babies, obviously a very sentimental and
important part of a growing society, were turned into a commodity for the purpose
of their parents survival. Swifts main purpose for creating this piece was an
effort to make the world feel bad for the lower Irish class. This purpose was used
to convey the harsh attitudes towards the poor that Irelands upper class held.
Swift suggests in his writing that rich Irish landowners, the individuals partly
responsible for the deteriorating economy in Ireland, would once again be
unaffected by the selling of babies, and would even benefit from buying and
eating them. This satire piece served as an anonymous outcry to display the
hopelessness of Irelands citizens during a hard time. Swift explores the rarely
touched on genre of satire when he created A Modest Proposal. I personally
believe that he used the genre of satire to attract more attention to his work. If
Swift wrote an essay griping about the treatment of the lower class in his country,
he would be among thousands of writers in the world. His ridiculous satirical
suggestion caused a stir around Europe; this work would not have caused the
same reaction had it been more conventional and not in the genre of satire.
Swifts outlandish suggestion or proposal showed the desperate times
Irish citizens went through during their period of depression. A Modest
Proposal had a strong central purpose in Irish Society. Through the art of
writing, Swift opened the eyes of many readers, including myself, to the hard

times that working class Irish citizens faced. Through satire, Swifts purpose was
to catch the attention of his readers to raise awareness in hopes of creating
change. In a time when the working class was as poor as ever, and the upper
class was richer than ever, problems in Irelands society had to be brought to the
forefront for discussion. After reading this piece, Swifts purpose was impactful
because it made me think of our current times and economy just a few years
ago.
Queen:
Zelaya, J. (2013, March 29). Our Life is Like a Seed. Retrieved from jeffzelaya.com:
http://jeffzelaya.com/our-life-is-like-a-seed/
In the article, Jeff Zelaya stated that Inside each seed there is an unseen potential, a big
strong tree is metaphorically inside this tiny seed. Thinking about what he stated, I immediately
thought about what I learned in elementary school. We all learned in school about
photosynthesis, which is the process that a seed goes through to form a plant/tree. Even though
people are fully aware of the outcome of a seed, it doesnt travel through their mind when they
see a seed or have one in their hands- they think of it as merely a small, useless pebble. People
have altered their state of mind to think of a seed as something other than what it truly is.
The most important statement that Zelaya made was that Inside of us there is unlimited
potential. What I concluded from the statement was that inside of us is a tiny seed, just like a
plant or tree. That seed can grow into something big and great or you can allow it to die. You
have the choice or opportunity to grow that seed into what you want- the same thing goes for
your essay or form of writing.
Throughout the article, it describes the purpose of a seed and even a human being. This
shows that purpose connects to writing because it proves that you need a purpose to create an
overall product. In other words, you cant have a finished essay or product if your paper doesnt
have a significant purpose. For example: if a professor is reading your paper and there is no
purpose, there isnt a real essay- just words. Your purpose of your essay basically pulls your
writing together. It allows you to have something to refer back to instead of having your ideas
scattered in different areas; it creates a sense of organization.

Lore, B. (2007, August 7). The Ultime Purpose of the Bee. Retrieved from beelore.com:
beelore.com/2007/08/07/the-ultimate-purpose-of-the-bee/

In this article, the author uses different scenarios to represent what a bees purpose is. To
a child, a bee exists to sting people. To a beekeeper, a bee exists to gather honey. Then she
goes on about the opinion of different people: a botanist, another beekeeper, one studying plants,

and so on. As I am analyzing the text, I notice that each one of these people have a different
opinion as to what a bees purpose really is. The most powerful statement that she said was the
higher the human intellect rises in the discovery of these purposes, the more obvious it becomes,
that the ultimate purpose is beyond our comprehension. I concluded many ideas from this
statement. The first one was that as we increase our knowledge, our understanding of the bees
purpose would be more obvious. After I read the remainder of the statement, I realized that she
meant that you will never fully know what the true purpose is.
This scenario relates to purpose because it shows that everything has a purpose to you,
even if the purpose of it is wrong or right. Just as the child thought that the purpose of the bee
was to sting him, you may only see that object or piece of writing as just that. The purpose of
something is really what you make of it; it depends on what it means to you. I related these
observations to writing by seeing that what your piece of writing means to you may not be what
it means from someone else. That is one of the beauties in words- every word has a different
meaning to different people. What you have been through in life, how your day is going so far,
etc. all have a lot to do with the way you interpret things, situations, or texts.