Blog Post 14: Elements of Writing

My writing skills have been greatly improved by this class.. Before I began this class I was a "last minute" writer, I would put off an essay until the day before it was due and I would sit down for 3 hours and complete every step of the writing process all at once. I would decide my subject, do my research (if needed), write my paper from word one to the end, reread what I've written and in the process edit it, and finally I would format it correctly according to the teachers expectations. During this class my process has been greatly altered, now I still can't say I'm not a "last minute" writer but I for sure can say I've improved. I still tend to procrastinate the writing of my papers but not quite cutting it as close as the last day. My skills at writing have developed greatly and because of this I spend more time on my writing to guarantee the best possible outcome.

Through this class I've learned that the best way to introduce yourself is to know about who you are, as in a paper the best way to allow your audience to know what you're going to talk about would be to simply know what you plan to talk about. To succeed in doing this I now begin the physical writing process by writing the body of my papers first which gives me a baseline to follow in the conclusion of my paper and in the process giving me the information to allow me to introduce my subject more thoroughly. By writing my papers in this way I feel like I can more freely write without watching as closely for my mistakes in the first draft because I return to the body when I write my conclusion and also for my introduction. As I reread my paper once for the conclusion I the errors I've made that are more easily recognized as I would normally in the old ways I wrote. I would then read it over once again to more accurately catch the intricate mistakes I would make and at this point I would have produced a paper close to my previous abilities but in this new process I have inserted a third editing into my process to verify the cohesive elements throughout the paper. For example do my transitions throughout my paper allow it to have a natural flow. This change in the way I write my papers is a major change to my writing and has helped me improve but it is not the only thing that has helped me gain a better understanding of how to write a successful paper.

Rhetorical tools like Definition, Division and Classification, Narrative, and Visual Gazes have taught me how to include bits and pieces into my writing to help my audience understand what I'm trying to portray. Definition seems like a simple tool but after learning how it can be used more easily allows the audience to understand certain subjects without any background knowledge needed. The tool of Definition consists of a more accurate explanation of the details behind the meaning of specific phrases and words and does not rely on a definition from a dictionary. Next are the combined tools of Division and Classification which serve to organize your paper separating your points, processes, and subjects into different sections to allow the audience to take in one subject at a time while still focusing on the overall basis of the paper. This in theory would allow the audience to more deeply understand the main subject of the paper. The use of a Narrative allows your audience to relate on a more personal level, if written well the audience may include themselves as a spectator or even placing themselves into the position of one of the characters within the narrative. The final tool that has helped me improve in my writing has to be the use of the visual gazes: National, Consumeral, and Familial. A gaze is a symbol, name, or event that an audience can relate to on a deeper level because of feelings, memories, and associations that have been previously established within the audiences own minds. The different gazes are determined by the original intended use of the symbol, name, or event. A National Gaze  happens to be something very well known and most can relate to that in some way some examples  would be the US Marine Corps, the Taliban, the American Flag, a Stop Sign, 9/11, or WWII. A National Gaze is not however specific to things related to a specific nation, when I think national it leads me to think of things specific to the US but this type of gaze uses national as a general statement meaning to be wide spread. A Consumeral Gaze is similar to a National Gaze but it includes one other factor which is that it's original purpose was to sell a product through reminding consumers of a specific brand of products. For example Apple, Inc., Microsoft, The Trix Rabbit, The Red Sox, etc. A Consumeral Gaze can be wide spread or local but always includes the aspect of trying to sell a product or service. The last gaze is the Familial Gaze which is a more intimate type of gaze that would be things that only a specific group of people would understand the full meaning behind the symbols, names, or events. Some examples of familial gazes would be "inside" jokes between friends, a family trip, an heirloom, a specific location, etc.

Through all of these things and more I have been able to improve my writing skills and gain a better understanding into how to reach my audience to allow them to fully understand what I am trying to communicate.