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Danielle Hanuschak

ENC 2135
Assignment Four: Reflection-in-Presentation
My idea of writing has changed dramatically throughout this semester due to the
knowledge Ive gained from my ENC 2135 class. Before I took this class, I didnt really have a
theory of writing. It never crossed my mind, and I didnt think it was important. I would figure
that any writing I did I would just simply answer the essay prompt without much thought
process. However, after taking this class, I learned the importance of each individual having their
own theory of writing, and what a theory of writing is in the first place. I was unaware of what a
theory of writing was before.
From this English class, I learned about a very important component to writing. I was
introduced to the fact that each author has their own individual theory of writing. A theory of
writing isnt just for professional writers, however. Its for anyone who has ever done any writing
or will be doing any writing. It was a surprise to me that students should have a theory of
writing. When I first heard the term, I thought a theory of writing was set in stone for everyone
who ever does writing. I didnt know that each individual could have their own unique theory.
When composing a piece, each author has a different set of goals and ideas of what they want the
reader to walk away with. This allows each author to develop their own theory of writing. The
uniqueness of each piece creates a way to personalize each theory. I understand theory of writing
to be a set of guidelines authors use when writing a piece. I also believe that it is what authors go
by in order to make sure their work is successful. With the right theory of writing, creating a
good piece of writing in inevitable, because these principles all work together and make
writing the best it can possibly be.

My theory of writing today is a set of terms that all encompass important factors that
authors should consider before writing. These terms that my theory consists of include genre,
purpose, medium, audience, reflection, knowledge, discourse community, and rhetorical
situation. In order for a writing piece to be successful, I believe all these terms must be first
considered by the author before they begin writing. Each term is important and works together
with other terms. If an author wants to move their audience, or have their audience gain some
sort of knowledge from their work, its important to consider these factors. Each term should be
thought of critically in order to execute the piece flawlessly. Additionally, I believe the theme,
message, and ideas the author have are more key terms that are involved in my theory of writing.
These extra terms provide components in which I believe are very important to have, and I
would consider the other eight terms first and then these after.
Each key term within my theory of writing overlaps with one another and works together
with each other. For example, my theory of writing consists of the terms medium and genre. I
understand medium and genre in ways that have similar components. When deciding which
genre to use in composition, its important to evaluate which medium you would want to use.
Each genre calls for a different medium, and different mediums only apply to certain genres. For
instance, if the genre an individual would want to use is a website, the medium would be the
screen. If the author wanted to use a magazine, the medium would be paper if it was a traditional
printed magazine. The magazine could also be digital as well. Therefore, I understand these
terms to be closely related to each other and go hand in hand.
Its important for an author to consider genre and medium before they begin writing
because these coincide with the next few important key terms in my theory, such as audience and
purpose. If an author wants to reach a certain audience, they must recognize the fact that each

genre and medium can help them appeal to their targeted audience. For example, a genre of a
business magazine would appeal to those who are involved in the professional world. Therefore,
if the author wishes to reach individuals who have business related professions, they could use
the genre of a business magazine. In my assignment three of ENC 2135, it was crucial for me to
choose the correct genre in order to get my point across. One of the components to my
assignment three was to inform FSU pre-health students about the importance of communication
skills in the medical field. In order to successfully introduce this information to my intended
audience, I had to think about which genres to use. I ended up deciding to use the genre of the
school newspaper, FSView, because my targeted audience would most likely be exposed to it,
and the content of the actual information is appropriate for it as well.
The medium in which the author writes is important to, as this can help target their
audience they want. The writer may choose to use certain colors and fonts in order to appeal to
them. For instance, an author for elementary school books will use the medium of playful colors
and fonts in order to appeal to children. Its also important for the author to consider their
purpose. Do they want to inform someone of something, or do they want to relay information
theyve recently learned. If an individual wants to inform students of a guest speaker, they would
use the genre of a flyer. For example, when creating my assignment three newspaper article that
was mentioned earlier, I had to carefully consider the mediums I was using. I chose to use FSUs
school colors, garnet and gold, because it targets my audience, FSU students, directly. I also
chose to use appropriate images of doctors and other medical related images in order to capture
their attention. Additionally, I varied the font colors, size, and style to make the article more
appealing. The purpose of the genre would help inform students of an upcoming event. Each

purpose calls for a different genre and medium. Each audience calls for a different genre and
medium as well.
Reflection and knowledge are another important two key terms within my theory of
writing that work well together. Before an author begins writing, I believe its important for them
to gather all their knowledge theyve previously acquired and write down their thoughts and
plan. This knowledge will help their writing have depth and context. As knowledge is something
an author thinks about before writing, reflection is what an author does after writing. Its
important to reflect and think about the writing an individual has done after they completed their
work. By reflecting, an author will be able to grow and expand their knowledge even more. After
reflection occurs, the process of transfer is enabled. The author or even the audience would be
able to apply their knowledge to different contexts in order to reach their full potential.
Additional key terms that are important in my theory of writing include discourse
community and rhetorical situation. A discourse community is a group of people who have a
common goal. The goal of each discourse community is to focus on one common interest. For
example, the discourse community of volunteer organizations have a goal to help others and give
back. This term is especially essential to consider before an author is writing a piece because it
helps them understand their audience on a deeper level, and even allows them to plan their
writing more critically. The author should consider what discourse communities their audience
may be involved in. Knowing this information would allow the author to better appeal to them
by reconsidering their genre or medium choices. Rhetorical situation helps explain why writing
is written in the first place, and why its written the way its written. Therefore, its an important
concept to include within a theory of writing. Theres reasoning behind why pieces of literature
are written and how theyre written. Its important to the author to critically evaluate the context

of their rhetorical situation in which theyre writing in because this can influence the other key
terms previously talked about.
Theme, message, and ideas, are a few extra key terms that I believe are important to my
theory of writing. Each writing has a theme, which is how it relates to reality and life in general.
The theme coincides with the topic of message because the theme of the writing piece gives rise
to the message. Therefore, I believe its important for the author to consider their theme and
message before they begin writing in order to get their ideas across correctly. Ideas are also an
important key term within my theory because each writing is composed of ideas. Each individual
author has a set of beliefs or information in which they want to relay across to a certain audience.
These initial ideas are what actually shape the type of writing in which the piece will be, and the
actual context of the writing itself.
Before coming into ENC 2135, I honestly didnt have a theory of writing. I didnt know
they existed at all. However, if I were to have a theory of writing, it would just simply consist of
components such as language, ideas, and message. I didnt think deeply about writing itself
before coming into this class. A teacher or professor would just give me an assignment, and I
would simply complete the assignment with little thought at all. With that being said, my theory
of writing completely evolved through the semester. I was introduced to interesting readings and
pieces that allowed me to see a side of writing that I previously did not know existed at all. With
each piece of writing in this course, my theory of writing was able to transform because of the
criteria the assignment would ask for. For example, in assignment three I was asked to appeal to
different audiences through different genres. As discussed previously, this challenged me to think
critically about each term in my theory of writing. I had to consider my audience, genre,
medium, and purpose thoroughly in order for each piece to be successful. These tasks allowed

me to think more about my theory of writing and how I can incorporate that theory within my
work.
My first key term map included eight major terms that were only slightly linked to each
other. These terms included author, ideas, theme, language, medium, audience, reading, and
message. Although several key terms that were written in my first idea of my theory of writing
are included in my theory of writing today, my theory still evolved significantly. Terms such as
author, reading, and language have either been replaced or removed completely. I decided to
remove author because I figured that almost as being redundant since the theory of writing is
specifically for authors in the first place. The term reading has been replaced by the term
knowledge, because I used reading as a way the author receives information they are going to
later write about. However, authors can gain information through other means, so I decided to
use the term knowledge because it provided a broader basis. I also decided to remove the term
language because it seems to be an obvious term, but it also has no deeper meaning. Each writing
is done in a language, so it serves no purpose to be in my theory. It could be viewed that the term
language has been replaced by medium because different fonts can be used in order to create a
successful work.
My second key term map of my theory of writing included even fewer terms. In this map,
I decided to include only six terms. These terms include knowledge, audience, genre, medium,
purpose, and reflection. In contrast to my first map, this map includes a lot more connections
within each term. Each term used is still important to my current theory of writing, however.
With my theory of writing today, I just decided to build upon those terms in order to establish
what I believe is important in writing.

This class overall has contributed to my theory of writing the most. Without this class, I
wouldnt have a theory of writing laid out at all. The readings weve done within this class, the
individual assignments, and journals allowed my theory of writing to be established and evolve
as a whole. Each reading was written by a different author and provided different information
and knowledge. With this information, I was able to think more about the terms and their
individual components. It allowed me to fully recognize each term and how it relates to writing.
Since each reading we had was written by several different authors, I was able to read about
different authors views, and then establish my own opinion on those views in order to create my
own theory. The individual assignments allowed me to put my theory into work and reflect on
how it went. The journals worked hand in hand with the readings and allowed me to develop my
own opinion on the authors ideas and grow as a writer as well.
The relationship between my theory of writing and how I created knowledge is that they
go together. For example, the way I created knowledge in relation to writing was through my
theory of writings evolution. Each time my theory of writing grew or changed, I was able to
gain knowledge from it and learn about writing at the same time. My theory of writing could be
adapted and applied to other writing situations within the classroom and outside the classroom
without a doubt. Different classes Im in all involve writing. For example, in chemistry lab I am
required to write a lab report. By assessing the terms I include in my theory of writing, Im able
to create a successful lab report. For example, I have to consider my audience. Although a
teaching assistant is grading my report, I have to write as though Im writing for a scientific
journal of some sort. Therefore, I have to use the correct terminology and be formal. I also have
to consider the purpose when writing it, which is to inform my audience of my findings during
the experiment. Another term I think about is genre. Since its a lab report, I have to be careful

with what I include and how I go about creating the actual report itself. Each detail added has to
be carefully considered. Outside of the classroom my theory of writing will also be able to be
applied. If Im writing an email to my professor, my important terms of my theory of writing
should be considered in order to properly address the professor and create a successful email. It
will also help me in other situations outside of the classroom in the same ways, whether if its
writing a resume or writing emails.
Overall, throughout this semester my theory of writing has been born, evolved, and
changed many times. Coming into this class, I didnt know what theory of writings were or that
they even existed. I didnt know where to start or even where this would be going. However,
upon creating and establishing my theory of writing, it still changed into the best version it could
possibly be for me. I was able to recognize important terms and implement them through my
writing. The knowledge Ive gained will be used in different contexts throughout my college
career and beyond.

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