Writers Workshop Activity p. 132

A topic I need and want to explore is the current standpoints of both the Democratic and Republican parties. Most people my age have been greatly persuaded by there parents political opinions and have yet to discover another reason why they identify with either the Democratic or Republican party on their own. If I was exploring this topic to gain Rhetorical Knowledge the audience would consist of myself. my purpose would be to further enlighten myself about the topic and have no particular initial stance on the topic. If I was exploring this topic through Critical thinking, reading and writing, would be challenged to dig deep as possible into the topic. I would involve myself in heavy research and try to find as much information on each party and their standpoints as possible. My writing process for this topic would need a lot of organization and revision. The are a lot of different views for each party that I would like to know and discuss, but I would first have to make sure I had all my thoughts well in order. As for knowledge of conventions, I would have to make sure to cite and edit all the works I put into my paper.

invention strategies

Three invention strategies I use are listing, free writing, and questioning. Invention strategies are important because they aid you in arranging your thoughts and ideas in an effective manner. I can incorporate invention strategies into my I-Search and Writing to Explore assignments by using listing to plan, free writing to get my ideas down, and questioning to ask myself if there is more ground that I should cover within my writing in order to improve it. Revision strategies that I use are proof reading, receiving constructive criticism via teachers, friends, or classmates and writing more than one draft to see which one I favor more. This is important because it allows to improve greatly. I can incorporate these revising skills into my I-Search and Writing to Explore assignments by editing and fine tuning my writing in order to deliver it in the most intelligent and well written way possible.

Assessing your Strengths and Weaknesses

Until this point, I have never been given the opportunity to deeply analyze the strengths and weaknesses of my writing skills. Now that I have taken a more in depth look at my writing skills, I have discovered a vast amount of necessary information about myself and my learning process.

I see myself to be a good rhetorical writer. If given a specific topic or standpoint (as long as its somewhat interesting for me ) I can easily convey my message. Since rhetorical writing is to be seen as delivering an overall structure, it is easiest for me to understand. I personally write with the overall structure of my paper in my head and just free write until I feel I have delivered my point.

When it comes to critical reading and writing, I don't feel that I am as skilled. Its hard for me to see a point in an abstract way when I'm so used to seeing it in a conventional way. I don't mean to say that I'm an uncreative or shallow minded person, I just prefer to discuss points that I already know and have a firm stance on.


My writing process is pretty basic. I usually begin with thinking about how I want to sound within my writing, what points will I be getting at, and how will I conclude. I jot down bullet notes quickly and begin to free write. Excessive planning slows me and confuses me.

Knowledge of conventions is probably my weakest points. I typically assume I'm a punctuation and grammar rule pro, but the truth is that my I've usually got my rules confused and wind up with numerous errors in my writing. At times when I try to have a more sophisticated tone in my writing, my sentence structures more become baffling than intellectual. My "table manners" of writing are not the best, but I'm constantly looking to improve them.