Chapter 1
I felt that this chapter could be very beneficial
in helping to enhance my writing. Often times in class when I am told to write,
I begin without consideration for my audience or genre, instead hoping to
impress the reader with vast amounts of extraneous details. I thought it was interesting
that depending on the intended audience, sometimes simplicity can be a better
method of explanation rather than lengthy detailed sentences. This ideal
completely contradicts everything the average student has grown up learning. In
high school we were taught that in order to pass an AP exam, we must keep
writing. “Write until you run out of time”, our teachers would say. It seems
here that the importance is more placed on the quality of contents rather than
the quantity. An interesting theory to
me is that when a seasoned writer begins their work, do they stop to do a “checklist”
as the book suggests or is their ability to understand their audience a natural
progression. In other words, do they make the conscious decision to target
their audience, or does it just happen without any thought.
My standard
English education up until this point has emphasized the importance of
structured, narrative essays, never mentioning the variety of genre options
that can be used to connect with an audience. The visual and audio modes of
media stood out to me as a way of communicating not solely dependent on written
text, contrary to what I have been taught. However, I am familiar with the
rhetorical strategies Ethos, Pathos and Logos. These three concepts played an integral
role in my writing in literature class, as I am sure they will be just as
important here.
I know what you're saying in regards to being told how to write and not considering anything about the audience or such things like that. In my previous English classes the teachers always outlined it as one certain way to write all papers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this article helping to better understand the audience. It helps me keep who I am writing to in mind.
ReplyDeleteYour comment on the commonly used phrase "write until time runs out" is probably one we have all heard. I also feel as though that always placed more emphasis on quantity over quality, and within this particular chapter, interestingly, the emphasis is placed on the quality rather than the quantity.
ReplyDeleteGood point about how they told us to write until we ran out of time, that usually frustrated me as well because of the quantity>quality thing. I'm glad that this class will focus more on actually improving on our writing and considering the best ways to reach our audiences. There are many more methods of writing than just essays, so I'm hoping we get to explore that with different media.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you pointed out that you have tried to use lots of details in your writing before, and then realized that sometimes simplicity is the better option for your audience. I have definitely done the same thing. I agree that it us important to keep your audience in mind throughout your writing.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome to see how the reading has spoken to you and taught you so much. Indeed there are several ways in which a writer can approach a text. Writers most definitely consider their audience in their writings, which is interesting to think that the writers we love actually had a target audience in mind. Wonderful reading response.