Jessica Bronstein

Florida State University

Tallahassee FL
April 20, 2015
Ms. Workman
Theory of Writing Final Reflection

Dear Ms. Workman,

During the course of ENC1145, I have acquired numerous new writing skills that I will
carry with me throughout my college years and for the rest of my life. Whether these skills
pertain to school or work, I have come to see a side of writing that I never knew existed prior to
taking this course. From your instruction and classwork I understand the great importance of
reflection. I have reevaluated the infinite value of reflection. Reflection is looking back on your
work and trying to change it for the better. Reflection is a huge part of the learning process, and
without it our writing would not be as commendable (mid-semester reflection). Now I can
clearly see that reflection helps us to understand and interpret our work in more efficient and
meaningful ways.
In addition to reflection, now that I have completed ENC1145, I have been able to
comprise a theory of writing that accurately relates to my own writing. This theory of writing
encompasses all elements of writing that are most essential. I have also been able to break down
this theory through multiple key terms and have a deeper understanding of; genre, reflection,
audience, and rhetorical situation. I had taken a look at these key terms beyond a surface level.
Consequently, I have an extremely in depth point of view when reading multiple passages and

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April 26, 1015
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articles, participating in various class activities (i.e. discussion and journals), and completing the
four assignments.
My previous theory coming into ENC1145 included the statement As a writer I would
say that I try to think more creatively and less factual. I connect with my theory in terms of
addressing the emotional side writing brings out. I would characterize my identity as a writer as
someone who writes to tell a story rather than just sharing facts. I write to be able to voice my
own ideas and opinions. (Original Theory of Writing). My current theory of writing would be
that when writing a piece, the words must come from
within. Writing should be passionate, intriguing,
intuitive, and developed. After revising my theory
further, I have come to the conclusion that writing
cannot just be emotional. Even if I want to appeal to
the emotional side of writing, having evidence and
facts to support your opinion is extremely important.
For example, after completing my research paper, I
realized that I contradicted myself when stating that
writing should only be creative and self-expressive. I
can now see that incorporating others works into your own writing only makes for a stronger
paper. By including proof of knowledge (i.e. data, and charts), you avoid having the reader
become bias based on the authors own opinion. As the map on the left-hand side of the page
shows, my original idea for my theory of writing was stemming off of the individual
characteristics that I thought made up good writing. I was trying to show that good writing

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April 26, 1015
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consists of being imaginative, creative, and passionate. Also, in order to have acceptable writing,
you must keep the four key terms in mind when composing your work. This helps it to become
developed and focused. What this key term map was missing though, is the facts. This map does
not include the evidence you must pull from other works of writing which is a key factor in
producing most well-written papers.
With each piece of writing my theory has evolved. For example, with assignment
number one, I had one key term to work with and we had to come up with a creative way to
explain what this
term meant to
our group. After
this assignment
was complete, I
had the
impression that
all writing had to
be creative and
original. Moving
on to assignment
two, the research paper, this exercise helped me to modify the belief that all writing has to be
pulled from other sources and put together in your own words with citations and reputable facts.
Instead, I learned that research allows the writer to incorporate new ideas with facts. Finally,
after completing assignment number three, I have come to the conclusion that my theory of

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April 26, 1015
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writing includes both factual and creative aspects. Now, as you can see on the above diagram,
my new key term map combines both sides to comprise my new definition of good writing.
Overall, I would say that reflection was term that contributed the most to my theory of writing.
Ultimately, I leaned the most about my writing theory from reading articles such as
Yancey and Bitzer. These literary geniuses have been able to uncover the key to what makes up
good writing. By evaluating these articles and responding to them through Tumblr journal
entries, I have a better understanding of these authors intentions. Likewise, reading these
passages have helped to unravel my once fuzzy definitions of more difficult terms such as genre
and rhetorical situation. Bitzers Rhetorical Situation and Yanceys Reflection in particular,
have helped me piece together and connect the key terms to one another. I now understand that
GENRE is the medium for which you place your writing in to appeal to a certain AUDIENCE
and that is what makes up the RHETORICAL SITUATION for which you are writing in. Then
you REFLECT on the work you have done in order to further learn from it and revise it for the
better.
The relationship to writing and how I have created knowledge, fit together on the notion
that you cannot create good writing without a sufficient amount of facts and evidence. This all
plays into the idea of knowledge in writing. In Journal 6: Knowledge and Circulation, I defined
knowledge as: a deeper understanding of information that you have obtained. As something
implanted in your head for a lifetime. Knowledge never just disappears unlike information,
which is looked at as more of an independent term. Subsequently, I have also created
knowledge within my theory of writing when talking in terms of reflection. Reflecting back on
your own work helps to generate additional knowledge by teaching you what you did wrong and

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April 26, 1015
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showing you how to revise it. Similarly, having peers review your paper can also add into the
creation of knew knowledge within your work of writing.
My theory of writing can be adapted and applied to other writing situations both inside
and outside the classroom by taking what I have learned and applying it to real life situations.
First off, inside the classroom I am able to apply my theory of writing by being an intriguing, not
biased writer. I can apply my theory to not only ENC1145, but also to other classes as well. This
year alone, I have already used my theory of writing when composing three of my History of
Modern Music papers. I made sure to cite sources, use interesting facts, and fully develop my
writing.
In terms of outside the classroom, my theory of writing can be adapted through different
genres. For example, when we did the activity with the car crash, writing a letter explaining the
crash to multiple audiences really opened my eyes to the different types of genres that actually
exist. This can be applied in the outside world when writing papers for family members, friends,
and persons of higher status. By obtaining the skill of writing in different genres, I can easily
target my desired audience. Even when writing about the same topic, I now know how to modify
my work in order to address the individual reader.
Overall, I really have enjoyed the course ENC1145 and would highly recommend it to
others. I feel as though it has really helped to shape me as a writer. I have become a more
rounded writer because of this course and I really enjoyed my time here this semester. Writing
my reflection in the form of a letter really helped me share my experience to you. As the teacher
who led me through the course, I felt writing a letter to you would be most appropriate. It allows

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April 26, 1015
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me to personally share my ideas and successes. My chosen genre affects the outcome of my final
reflection because it demonstrates the role genre plays in writing. Without putting my reflection
in the right genre, I would not have been able to adequately explain to you my increased
knowledge in writing.

Sincerely,
Jessica Bronstein