Martin Cullen

UWRT 1102-004

Writing Theory Essay

Rhetorical Knowledge

Rhetorical knowledge can be defined as the ability to classify and implement different

strategies across a wide variety of texts and writing exercises. An articulate writer uses these

strategies and understands how factors such as genre, audience, purpose, and context can

effective writing decisions and outcomes. In my UWRT 1102 class I had to use rhetorical

knowledge to write my assignments effectively when considering the audience of my writing

and the purpose and message I am trying to portray. It is critical to use these skills efficiently

to produce to best quality writing possible.

“I’ve always understood that it was far more uncommon to attend a four-year institution
during our parents’ generation than our own, but was that just a financial issue, and what have the
effects been due to increased higher education attendance? This is what I plan on researching and
finding an answer for.”

This is excerpt from my inquiry proposal. This demonstrations rhetorical knowledge

because in the final sentence, I am showing the purpose of my inquiry question. It provides a

fundamental statement that lays a guideline for the rest of my proposal, and later, my thesis.

Critical Reading

Critical reading can be defined as the ability to analyse and evaluate a wide range of

information and texts. A competent writer can read deeply into texts and find connections and

meaning between multiple texts and sources of information. This is essential in developing a

complete understanding of a specific subject. An experienced writer will not only be able to
analyse other people’s writing, but also their own, allowing them to find flaws in their writing

and create methods for editing their work to improve its quality. This mechanism of critical

reading can directly affect another student learning outcome; critical reflection. In my UWRT

1102 class, critical reading is a vital tool that we all must use when reading text to help us

compose our response effectively.

“I think reading in this manner can be extremely useful, but it’s dependant on what you’re
reading and what you hope to gain from this method. Reading academic text in this way will benefit
your own academic writing. Reading novels in this way may positively influence your own creative
writing. If you’re just trying to read to gain information, or to enjoy a piece of literature, this method
could be considered unnecessary. Most of the reading we do at college is to pull information,
remember it, then express it in format that displays our knowledge. Reading like a writer might not
prove beneficial to this practice. What it would help, is our composing process, specifically in
literature based classes.”

Above is an answer to a question from one of my reading response assignments. I was

required to read a text written by Mike Bunn, understand what I was reading, and answer a

set of question. To be able to answer the questions in depth, I had to read the information

critically, form patterns, and gain an understanding. This is a skill that helped me when it

came time to conduct research for my inquiry proposal and thesis.

Composing Processes

Composing processes can be defined as using multiple approaches, methods and tools

to initiate, develop, and finalize writing projects. An articulate writer can use a multitude of

composing processes and apply to them to a variety of writing formats. Composing processes

are essential in the construction of any form of writing and one’s understanding of them can

heavily impact their final outcome. In my UWRT 1102 class we were required to utilise

many composing processes in each of our assignments. They played an important role in

developing our preliminary research and ideas into well-presented essay papers.
 “He claims that US citizens should be free to exercise their 2nd Amendment with no
interference, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I agree that it is our constitutional
right to bear arms. On the other hand, I still insist that a degree of regulation is necessary due to the
high number of gun related deaths occur in the US each year.”

This is a small paragraph using a template from the book They Say, I Say. Throughout

the book there are many templates that demonstrate more effective ways to argue points and

construct sentences. By practicing with these templates, I gained a deeper knowledge of

sentence creation which allowed me to develop more complex sentences when completing

future assignments.

Knowledge of Conventions

Knowledge of conventions can be defined as “the formal rules and informal

guidelines that define genres, and in so doing, shape readers’ and writers’ expectations of

correctness or appropriateness.” Such rules and guidelines can range from spelling and

grammar to citation formats. An articulate writer as an extensive knowledge of these

conventions and incorporate them correctly into their writing to produce high quality texts.

An accurate use of these conventions can elevate one’s writing from average to that of a

higher standard. It was important that I used them correctly in my UWRT 1102 class because

even if my rhetorical knowledge was impressive, or if my composing processes were well

structured, a lack of knowledge of conventions would negatively impact my final drafts of

my writing assignments.

“The Common App is also still growing; in the 1970’s, there were 15 member colleges, now
there are more than 500. (Boyington, 2014)”

This small quote is from my thesis. This actually displays an incorrect format for

MLA citations. Firstly, the period should have been placed after the in-text citation, secondly,
the year of publication is unnecessary in MLA format. I am including this because mistakes

such as this one are key to future success. If I hadn’t had made this mistake, I wouldn’t now

be informed of the correct format of MLA citations.

Critical Reflection

Critical reflection can be defined as analysing one’s own work, being able to explain

their decisions made, and make revisions based on personal and outside reflection. An

experienced writer will be able to reread their own work and understand the decisions they

made at specific points in the text. They will also be strong at making revisions based on all

forms of feedback they have received. An important skill that an articulate writer will possess

is the ability to critique and evaluate their own writing after composition. This is important as

it allows the writer to effectively make necessary changes to present a higher standard of

writing. Critical reflection was a large focus of my UWRT 1102 class as for two of our major

assignments; the inquiry proposal and the thesis, we formed first and final drafts. When

writing our final drafts, we had to use self-reflection and feedback from our peers and

professor to make revisions and improve the quality of our writing. Due to this, I gained a lot

of practice and experience with regards to critical reflection.

“When amending my first draft I had to take inconsideration the feedback I had received,
both positive and negative. When it comes to writing, I always struggle with negative feedback
because I often don’t agree with what the person is saying because I wrote what I wrote, therefore I
usually agree with that. However, for my thesis, I tried to take a different approach to the feedback I
receive by keeping the strong parts, and reworking the parts that I was told I could improve. One
thing that was pointed out to me was that my sentences often run too long. So, I made an effort to read
through the paper carefully and amend long sentences and dived them up into better, more effective,
shorter sentences. Along with other alterations, I believe my final draft is considerably better than my
first, and I think it shows a better understanding and involvement of the five Student Learning
Outcomes.”

This paragraph is taken from the final draft of my thesis. This was the reflection

paragraph I included to show the development from my first draft to my final draft. The final
was one of our last major assignments so by this point in the semester I was comfortable with

critical self-reflection. This reflection explains the changes I made with the help of self, and

peer reflection. It was important for me to conduct and conclude this because it made be final

draft significantly stronger than my first.