Writing to change the World

Introduction and chapter 1: Writing to connect

Part 1: SUMMARY
In the introduction of Writing to change the world, Mary Piper talks about how humans are
mostly unaware of what are happening around the world and how their knowledge is limited and
their senses are connected by the technology. With advancing technology, the quality having
experience, knowledge, and good judgement are declining. Piper proposes that good writing
enlarges the knowledge of the readers who are with their own point of view about the world, and
it connects people to one another. The use of language is also important in change writing. All
kinds of writing can change the world. A lot of writing in the past such as, Anne Frank and Upton
Sinclair, has been able to make a big change in the world.
Part 2: OUTLINE
I.

II.

In the Age of Information, technology has been influencing our knowledge, thinking and
lifestyles.
A. Our knowledge is limited by technology
1. We see what the Television providers want us to show us.
2. We see some parts of the world in destruction, yet we could do little to
help.
B. I-it and I-thou relationships introduced by Martin Burber
1. I-it relationship is a relationship to serve our own purposes.
2. I-thou relationship is where people show respect whatever they are
interacting with.
Good writing can help change the world.
A. Good writing increase readers knowledge of the world.
1. It connects people to one another.
2. It is change writing.
B. Language of power and greed can destroy us, but language of reason and
empathy has the power to save us.
C. All writings can change the world
D. There are a lot of obstacles when we write to change the world.
1. Discouragement is enemy that will stop us from doing our work.
2. Most of us are too busy to write or read.

Part 3: KEY TERMINOLOGY WITH DEFINITIONS

1. Enlightenment means knowledge about and understanding of something.
2. Nuance means a very slight difference in meaning, sound, color or somebodys
feelings that is not usually very obvious.
3. Language is weaponized is used to describe how language can be used objectify,
depersonalize, dehumanize, to create an other.
4. Illegal alien is a powerful use of language use to separate people despite the fact that
we are all human being living in the same planet.
5. I-thou relationship is where people show respect whatever they are interacting with.

Part 4: Discussion Questions

1. Why does Mary Piper compare change writers to therapists?
2. How can you say if a writing is good or bad? Does the reader or writer decide if a writing
is good or bad?
3. What does Mary Piper mean by otherness takes root on pate 6?
Part 5: Analysis
Piper proposes that good writing can change the world. She believes that even a short
sentence or a phrase has the power to change the world. No matter what type of writing or
how long it is, if it is written intentionally with powerful and effective words, it can change
the world. What matters is the writer to put his knowledge, view and thoughts effectively in
his writing. Change writing is sharing not only information but also feelings and thoughts of
one own. There are a lot of people out there who share the same feelings, ideas and thoughts.
Black Men and Public Space, written by Staples, is an example of change writing that
shows the feeling of black men being discriminated as muggers and rapists, and the fear of
people when they see a black man. Change writing is powerful, and it is more powerful
when the intention of writer meets the need of reader.

Part 6: External Source

Staples, Brent. Black Man and Public Space. Reading Critically Writing Well. Ninth ed. 2011.
150-153. Print.
Summary: Brent Staples, an African American man, wrote about how he had been mistaken for
criminal because of his race. The first time he was mistaken was in Hyde Park with a white, well
dressed, 20 years old woman. He saw her giving him worried glance and running away in earnest
after a few glimpses. He was seen as a mugger, a rapist, or worse in her eyes and in peoples
eyes who hammered down the door locks when he crossed in front of a stopped car at a traffic
light at dark, shadowy intersections. He was familiar with that language of fear everytime he
walked at night because of his race.