WNA22 Part 2

  1. SITUATION:

Understandingthesituationinwhichyouare producing your writinghelpsyouunderstandthekindofrules youneedtofolloworthegenreconventionsthataremostimportant.Wealwayswriteina specificcontext; understandinghowthewritingtakesplaceina particularcontext helpsyouunderstandwhatyouneedtoshowthroughyour writing.Forexample,youmaywritetosimply summarize a readingforyourself, oryoumaywritetoprovetotheteacherthat youhavereadsomethingwell;thesetwoscenariosconstitutetwodifferentwritingsituationsandcallfordifferentprocesses anddifferentproducts. Thus,thecontext,orsituation,ofthe writingwillinfluence thewayyouperformthewriting.

Hereissomeimportantinformationtorememberaboutthevalueofanalyzingsituation:

  • Understandingsituationhelpsyoudevelopa clearersenseof purpose.
  • Knowingthecontextforyourwritinghelpsyoudevelopbetter ideasforthewriting,allowingyoutowriteinrelation tosome otherideas;ithelpswithtopicselection,research,composing, andrevision. Youneedinformationaboutthewritingsituation tobeabletomakekeydecisionsaboutboththecontentand thesequenceofinformationyouchoose.
  • Analyzing audiencehelpsyouunderstandtheinfluence situationhasonyourwritingchoices.

Herearesomequestions thatwillhelpyouanalyzethewriting situation:

  1. Whatdoesthiswritinghavetodowithyourcurrentsituation as a writer/student?
  1. Howdoesyourwritingrelatetowhatothershavewritten?
  1. Howdoesyourwritingrelatetothecurriculuminyourclass?
  1. Howdoesyourwritingrelatetootherworkintheclass?
  1. Forwhom areyouwriting?
  1. Areyousupposedtodemonstrateanythingthroughthis writing?
  1. Whatinthissituationhaspromptedyoutochooseyourtopic?
  1. PERSONA/ETHOS:

Thissimply referstothewayyouare representingyourself inthewriting.Aspeoplewhowrite,we havelotsofwaysofpresentingourselves:as expertsonfamily, as expertsonlaw,as someonesearchingfortruth.Thereisan infinitenumber ofwayswepresentouridentitythroughwriting.Ethosreferstothewayyoubuildcredibilitythroughyourwriting. Itisthewayyourepresentyourself inthewritingtogaintrust fromthereader.

Hereissomeinformationtorememberaboutethos:

  • Readerswillpayattentiontothelanguageyouuseinmakinga judgmentaboutyourcredibility.
  • Readerswillnoticethekindofexamplesyouuseas those examplessaysomethingaboutyourlevelofengagement withthetopic,aboutyourexpertise,orabouttheamount of researchyouhavedone.
  • Readerswillnoticehowwellyouexplainthings.Yourideas findtheirclearestexpression inyourexplanations.Themore developed yourexplanationsaboutthetruth-valueofyour claims,themorecredibilityyouhavewiththereader.
  • Readerswilldetectinaccuracyorlackofengagement witha topic

Herearesomequestions toask aboutethos:

  1. Whatimpressiondoyouwanttomakeonthereader?
  1. Whattoneofvoicedoyouwanttouse?
  1. Whoareyouspeakingforwhenyouwrite?
  1. Areyoupartofa largercommunitywhenyouwrite?
  1. Howcanyouletthereaderexperienceyourcompetence?
  1. MESSAGE:

Initsmostelemental form,messageconsistsofwhat youwanttosayabouta particulartopic,event,oridea.Itisthe controllingideaoftheessay.Messageistheproduct ofyour thinkingaboutpurposeandaudience;itiswhatyouwanttosay tothereaderorthepointyouwanttogetacross.Itisyourmost dominantclaim.

Hereissomeimportantinformationtorememberabout message:

  • Remembertoask theage-oldquestion aboutyourwriting:So what?
  • Messageisoftennotdiscovered untilafteryouhavedone quitea bitofwriting
  • Another waytothinkofmessageisas thelargestclaimofthe writing.
  • Rememberthatwepassalongalotofmessagesinourwriting, butinacademicwriting,onemessageseemstoprevailas the mostimportant.

Herearesomequestions toask aboutmessage:

  1. Can yousummarize themainpointofyouressayina short paragraph?
  1. Doesyourmessagesupport thepurposeofyourwriting?
  1. Doalltheevidenceandexplanationsyouuseinyourwriting relatetoyourmessage?
  1. Doestheaudienceneedtohearyourmessage?
  1. Is yourmessagemeaningful?
  1. Is yourmessageself-evident?
  1. Whathappenswhenyouapplythe“Sowhat?”question to yourwriting?

Nowthatyouhaveconsidered the“rhetoricalframework”foryour writing,developa setofinstructionsforyourself abouthowyouwill usethisinformationinyourfirstdraft. State these instructions briefly, in a few sentences, beneath your responses to the WNA22 questions.