Writing Theory

Rhetorical Knowledge:

A proficient writer uses rhetorical knowledge to identify and apply their own strategies for multiple

situations. They must focus on understanding, rhetorical situation, genre, purpose, and audience.

Understanding how genres are shaped allows the writer to decide how they should write to attract their

audience and keep them engaged. Writers need to consider what their purpose is before they write,

otherwise it would be meaningless. Knowing what the audience wants is helpful towards the writer since

they can keep them hooked. The rhetorical situation is the combination of the strategies mentioned above

and being able to tie everything together to form a solid structure helps the writer plan first.
These two examples are from my thesis, which is about the possibility of music reducing stress and

anxiety in higher education. From my survey, I learned most people did not know a lot about music

therapy. I figured I needed to include an explanation of what music therapy is. The first example is

mentioned near the beginning of my thesis, so readers are introduced to what exactly is music therapy.

This prevents readers from being confused while reading my thesis, providing them with a basic

understanding of my topic. The second example discusses two specific types of music therapy, which are

active and passive music therapy. By mentioning these two types of music therapy, the reader is able to

gain a deeper understanding of my thesis.

Critical Reading:

An articulate writer uses critical reading to help them understand their research and how their research

can connect with each other. Critical reading is an effective skill to have while researching a topic.

Reading sources and determining if they can connect with each other can help create a sense of flow in

your writing. When you find two or more sources that connect or share the same voice, being able to

connect each source in your writing will improve the point you’re trying to make. Another thing to

consider while reading different sources, is the credibility of the author. The majority of the research

articles you find are written by experts in the field, however some authors may be writing about a topic

that is not related to their respective field.

This example is from my thesis and I was able to find two sources that shared a similar voice. These two

sources both agreed that music therapy can help students and teachers relieve stress and improve

performance. At first, I did not connect these two sources until I reread my research summaries and

discovered the similarities they shared. Going back to my research summaries helped me create a sense of

flow in my thesis as I organized my whole thesis based off of similar voices or contradicting sources.

This is another example of how I used by research to further my discussion. I discovered the differences

between these two sources, which led me to connect them in my writing. I was able to discuss a topic
which was very important to the overall structure of my thesis. These two sources disagreed about the

existence of long-term effects of the Mozart Theory.

Knowledge of Conventions:

An articulate writer uses their knowledge of conventions to understand who the audience is and how they

should write in consideration of the audience. This can be seen in sentence structure and the overall flow

of the paragraphs. Sophisticated words should only be used if the intended audience is for others in the

same field. If the intended audience is towards the average audience than a normal vocabulary should be

considered. Connecting back to rhetorical knowledge writers should define certain terms to prevent the

reader from becoming confused.

In this example, I mentioned my own experience about the effects of stress and anxiety. I did this to relate

to readers that may be experiencing the same thing or know what about it. This also strengthens makes

my stance on how music therapy is beneficial towards reducing stress and anxiety.
In this example, I used MLA to cite my sources and to include in text-citations. When a source has more

than one author, then the proper way to address all of them is by taking the first authors last name and

adding “et al” to it.

Composing Processes:

A good writer uses composing processes to start, review, edit, and finalize their writing. Many writers

usually have their own way of starting an essay, such as researching or starting a draft. Writers should be

able to review feedback and edit their writing to create a final paper. Ways to review feedback is to

consider the writer’s credibility and determine if you should use their feedback.

During peer reviewing, I was recommended to explain what music therapy was so the audience would not

be confused. During the draft, I assumed everyone would have an idea of what music therapy was, so I

did not include a definition for it, however I did define the two types of music therapy, active and passive

music therapy.

When I was researching my topics and writing my synthesis, I tried to connect sources with similar

voices. By doing this it allowed me to create a simple structure in my draft. When I finalized my thesis, I
completed the overall structure of my paper by starting with a broad topic and gradually getting more

specific towards the end.

Whenever I try to review my essay, I have trouble finding any problems since I believe it is fine and that I

should not change anything. Meanwhile, being able to have another person read over my essay without

having a bias helps me discover and problems in my writing. Another helpful thing is when I receive

feedback that points out the good parts of my essay, which tells me that I should continue what I am

doing.

Critical Reflection:

A proficient writer uses critical reflection to collect everything they used to create a well-written paper.

Being able to reflect upon what you have learned from feedback or simply reading can further develop

your skills as a writer. Not only is this important but you can use what you learn to provide effective and

useful feedback to your peers.

After writing my inquiry proposal and receiving feedback about it was very useful since I usually do not

catch all the mistakes in my writing. Including this reflection after writing my proposal allowed me to

take peer reviewing in consideration when finalizing my thesis. I took all the feedback into consideration,

which proved to be beneficial towards my final thesis.

After reading “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” I was able to discover what the overall meaning and reason

why King wrote the letter. Rereading the document and going back through to see the small details King

uses showed me the significance and how effective of a writer he was. King was able to engage his

audience towards a troubling issue at the time that affected a large population of the country.