Development as a Writer - Essay Example

Development as a In order to be a good and creative a person has to do several things that increase the creativity and other several aspects that constitute a good writer. To start with, practice in writing is a basic and good way of perfecting the art since continued practice enables the learner to gain experience in the field. In addition, it is important for a student writer to be informed on the subject to write on as well as read extensively to be informed on the various styles and ideas used in writing. Of more importance is that a student writer must keep on assessing and re-assessing his work to gain mastery in the art of writing. On this basis, this essay will explore the different concepts, ideological shifts and strategy changes in writing application that I have learned in this course. Firstly, I learned that writers are motivated by particular situations or incidences to come up with creatively written information. This makes sense because writers can produce good quality of written art only when they are interested in the subject they are writing about. For example, considering the Muller’s argument on “Nuclear Waste”, it is evident that the writer was responding to issues concerned with the risks posed by nuclear energy waste material to human beings. This shows that the writer was motivated to research and identify the dangers caused by nuclear waste material. In addition, it is important to note that writers are able to get good quality materials concerning a particular topic that they are motivated to write about. Secondly, I learned how to construct an account of an argument when writing about a particular topic that is argumentative. In constructing the account of an argument, a writer must evoke several things to engage the reader of the information. To begin with, the account of argument must present the purpose of the writer in presenting such information. For instance, it is possible to identify the purpose of Muller in his argument about “Nuclear Waste” because the writer challenges the “paradox of public safety” in relation to nuclear waste management. In addition, an account of an argument signifies what the writer wants the readers to do with the information presented and also tries to earn the trust of the readers. This is important because the account of argument presents the “problem” to the reader and further states some information in order to earn the trust of the reader. On this note, the information used to earn the trust of the reader is presented in a logical manner from one idea to the other so that the reader can compare or relate to the previous knowledge of the same issue. For example, considering the Mullers argument on “Nuclear Waste”, the writer engages the trust of the readers by presenting his position about the dangers of nuclear wastes and supporting the position by use of evidence. Of more importance is that the account of an argument engages the readers to relate the information presented by the writer to their previous knowledge on the same topic. This also enables the writer to win the trust of the readers because the readers start to evaluate the logic behind the reasoning of the writer. For example, in Muller’s “Nuclear Waste”, the readers evaluate the reasoning of the writer by comparing their previous knowledge and stand on nuclear waste material management. Further, the account of an argument makes the readers to evaluate their stand on the same matter and develop more interest on the writer in order to get new material on their stand or get the argument presented by the other side. Thirdly, I learned on the methods used to analyze an argument. In the analysis of arguments, various components making the arguments are broken down and analyzed on how they relate to provide meanings. In order to analyze an argument, one must identify how the article is constructed, the purpose of the author and how the author connects to the audience by creating an account of the argument. One should also consider definitions terms in the context of the argument and also compare with the definition presented in the dictionary. For instance, in the Deborah Tannen’s“Agonism in the Academy: Surviving the Argument Culture”, agonism is defined as the metaphorical battle in the intellectual inquiry while a dictionary definition refers agonism to be an animal behavior that includes aggression. In the analysis of an argument, one has to identify what the “problem” is and how the writer thinks on how to solve the “problem”. Identification of the problem enables the reader to link the information presented by the writer to the existing knowledge on the subject. For instance, in the analysis of “Agonism in the Academy: Surviving the Argument Culture,” by Deborah Tannen, it is evident that the problem presented by the writer is the agonism in the academic world. In addition, Deborah Tannen suggests that the academic world requires a new approach in which the intellectual interchange is flexible and not based on falsified structures that promote agonism. Considering the analysis of how the writer engages the readers, Deborah Tannen has engaged the audience creatively in the rhetorical précis of “Agonism in the Academy: Surviving the Argument Culture”. The writer engages the audience by explaining how agonism affects the world today. For instance, she explains that a graduate is given a good job because of his or her good performance in studying scholarly works other than interrogation of ideas in the articles and open-mindedness in thinking about what is written in the article rather than criticizing it. Further, it is important to consider the kind of support that the writer places as evidence in the argument. This is because clear evidence in support of the argument enables the writer to engage and win the trust of the reader in the argument. In this case, Deborah Tannen supports her arguments with solid evidences that are logical in connection to the agonism in the academic world. For instance, she explains how scholarly articles are based on opposition of other peoples’ ideas. Further, she argues that in a class set up where learning is the main objective, most students do not learn from debates since agonism in the arguments is rampant. These arguments provide a strong basis of support for the main agenda of the writer. Structuring of the information and use of language styles by the writer are important factors to consider when analyzing the argument. The structuring part involves the presentation of the “problem” and the logical solutions for the same. Good structuring of the information enables the audience to identify the ground on which the writer stands and further evaluate the reasoning of the writer. Considering the language style, it is important to find out whether the writer has used appeals such as ethos, pathos and logos and also evaluate the rhetorical strategies used such as descriptions, definitions, listings and rhetorical questioning. For example, Deborah Tannen defines academic rewards to be good grades and good jobs. Lastly, I learned about the language, audience and context in relation to the development of good introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion with significance to the content written. The language used in writing information signifies the nature of the writer in respect to the kind of words chosen. For instance, in “Language and War”, Hardman argues that certain metaphors have been widely used in the contemporary day language justifying the happening of war, and even advocating for war in one way or another. This is not good because a writer has to consider the audience before deciding on the language to use. In addition, Hardman offers a solution by stating that writers should consider developing language that supports a “humanist” or “pacifist” value systems. On contrary, Kikande presents an argument showing or relaying the messages of violence by portraying an individual who has been terribly hurt hence showing why most people advocate for violence in majority of the countries where war still exists to date. For instance, in the poem titled "A trail of Blood and Silver Dollars”, Kikande presents a character by the name Durand as a woodland creature in barefoot world, a metaphor that tries to justify violence by illustrating that people with violent thoughts are different from anyone else and also need to be understood. Considering the choice of language between Kikande and Hardman, it is evident that language used in writing has great impact to the audience. Therefore, it is important for a writer to choose a language that has good results depending on the message being passed on to the audience. In order to write good introduction, a writer should consider several factors. To start with, a good introduction has to signal the topic and give guidance on how the information will be presented to the reader. A good introduction should be brief and focused on the topic of argument. For this reason, an introduction should alert the readers’ interest in the argument and provide the context for the main issue being discussed in the argument. Further, a good introduction should give the readers an insight on how the writer approaches and interprets the argument. On the hand, structuring of good body paragraphs requires the writer to be creative and consider the target audience when delivering the content information. The writer should coordinate the ideas with good flow from general information to specific ideas relating to the argument. In addition, the ideas should be supported by use of detailed evidence in order to engage the readers and win their trust over the argument. Further, the writer should consider explaining the evidence where necessary to make it simple for the readers to reconnect with the writers stand on the argument. Finally, a good conclusion to an argument supports the information presented by the writer. In order to achieve this, the writer should show the significance of the readings by pointing out the broader implications of the argument. In addition, the writer should propose a solution for the “problem” to the readers. Further, it is important for the conclusion to give a sense of completeness and leave a final impression to the reader. In conclusion, I have learned several concepts that are important in writing application. In precise, the techniques of constructing an account argument, analysis of an argument and consideration of language, audience and context to develop good introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion are very important in developing good quality art of writing that is acceptable in the community. Further, the course experience has enabled me to develop skills that enable me to differentiate the texts of other writers to mine through careful and in-depth analysis of arguments. Read More