Running Head: THEORY OF WRITING 1

Theory of Writing

Jami Chung

Arizona State University

THEORY OF WRITING 2

Abstract

This paper is a reflection of the development as a reader, writer, and critical thinker throughout the

assignments using rhetoric and dialogue. Learning about my process in the projects have helped discover

the theory of writing. This provides preparation for future academics and successful engagements with

the writing tools and skills that are learned. Skills have improved throughout the assignments by

researching and gathering credible resources. The goal was attained as the theory of writing was obtained

to make a claim and provide supporting evidence.

Keywords: ​Reflection, Development, Skills, Reader, Writer

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Theory of Writing

When I began writing this semester, I struggled to find the correct words to connect the

audience on an emotional level. It was challenging to create insightful sentences that would

explain the topics efficiently. ​Throughout my writing, I have learned to form better sentence

structures to connect with the audience with the help of “WPA Outcomes” and “Habits of Mind.”

In addition, the books, “Rhetoric: A Short Introduction” and “On Dialogue” helped this process

by providing great details to help understand the meaning of each word.​ By focusing on these

sources, I have improved as a reader, writer, and critical thinker while discovering my theory of

writing.

“WPA Outcomes” and “Habits of Mind” have taught me how to achieve my challenges

by using engagement, creativity, persistence, and most importantly rhetorical knowledge and

dialogue. When I first began writing each project, I struggled to think of what to write or how to

structure my papers. The sense of creativity helped develop the projects by producing unique

details to keep the audience intrigued. This habit of mind helped me stay engaged and persistent

in my topics throughout the process.

In the beginning of the semester, I wasn’t fully aware of the significance of rhetoric and

dialogue. I thought these were just simple words with little meaning. In the process, I composed

several writings about specific situations in Arizona using rhetoric and dialogue. Composing is a

strong skill that enforces critical thinking and a theory of writing. With these factors, I gained

the ability to create and understand the true importance of rhetoric and dialogue while

understanding my own sense of writing.

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Rhetoric is a form of language or art of writing that uses figurative language and

connections to persuade an audience. It is used to convince and influence an audience to follow

emphasized ideas. This has a major effect on writing because the language used in rhetoric gives

off an emotional impact. Writing helps communicate a message using a form of language and

emotions. Dialogue is a conversation or discussion between two or more people about a

situation. These both are important because they provide communication with different kinds of

language. Visually, it is important to notice how the development of rhetoric and dialogue effect

writing skills by making it better.

Coming into this course, I did not know what rhetoric was or even heard about the word

before. After hearing the word “rhetoric,” I knew it related to the written language. I wrote

project 1 about a visual analysis based on rhetoric. This assignment helped me understand the

meaning of rhetoric better. It​ breaks up a whole into parts and then explains how the parts work

together to persuade, entertain, or inform the audience. In project 1, I described a mural using

rhetorical analysis by discovering the importance and the meaning behind the colors, texture, and

background. This helped my writing skills by understanding how to write rhetorically.

For an overall understanding of rhetoric, I focused on the importance of each part. By

doing so, I was able to determine the real significance of the whole mural. I understand that

rhetoric forms parts into a whole, but I needed to understand the reason it is important in

composing writing. With rhetoric, I can use it in class as I solve a difficult problem. Breaking

down sequences into parts can help define a whole factor. Out of class, I can use rhetoric as I

persuade someone to do something in my favor.

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Project 2 and 3 focused more on the dialogue aspect. We focused on a large problem

effecting our world and used dialogue to speak about it. I learned that dialogue emphasizes the

word “thought.” By focusing on thought, we could look deeper into the tiny details of objects

and discover different aspects of a situation. Dialogue also points out that listening to other’s

perspectives can impact our thoughts and help our thinking process. It can help us see other

views on a topic. In class, we performed dialogue by each presenting our own opinions without

any judgement or interruptions, and it made me realize how nice it was to freely express our

voices. This activity made me discover how other views are similar and different than my own.

As I learned and understood rhetoric and dialogue, I was able to improve as a reader,

writer, and critical thinker. In each of those categories, I focused more on the different

perspectives, persuasion, and really listened to the opinions of others. By doing so, I improved

in the projects assignments by thinking in another light to write significantly.

When I began reading, I had a difficult time thinking about the information the author

was trying to explain. It was challenging to comprehend the stories the author described. As I

learned about rhetoric and dialogue, I began to focus on the details and fully understand what the

author is conveying, which improved my reading skills.

My critical thinking skills were my main weakness before learning about the topics. I

struggled to think of what to write or how to acknowledge the information given. Through the

process, I have learned to create a stronger essay by seeing other perspectives and focusing on

the thoughts. As a writer, I have improved the most. I learned to structure my essays efficiently

by forming a claim with evidence and warrant the ending with a counterclaim and closing

statement. This has evolved my theory of writing.

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My theory of writing is structuring my projects with several supporting evidence with

strong diction and examples. This provides a way to present to the audience that my sources are

credible and reliable. With several credible sources, it proves that the evidence is factual. This

makes me a better writer because it shows that I put in effort to find the reliable sources to

explain a situation to the audience. Because I discovered my theory of writing in project 2, I was

able to write project 3 easier. It was easy to read my own work and to see if it made sense,

critically thinking about the words and evidence used, and writing efficiently with structure and

strong diction.

Developing each project was challenging in the beginning. But once I discovered my

theory of writing, my skills became more confident. I can use details and small parts to

determine a whole aspect while listening to different perspectives. In doing so, I improved skills

in my writing tools. The skills I learned in class will help my writing abilities in the future as I

apply for jobs or perform research.