Digital Portfolio

              When I was six years old, my parents and I decided it was time for me to learn to snow ski. So, we went to a shop over spring break and got shiny new skis. We went to the top of the mountain, got off the lift, and I took off down a double black diamond… Just kidding. It would take one hell of a child prodigy to pull that off. In truth, I was put in ski school for the week where we did nothing but “pizza” and “French fry” down the bunny hill. I learned the basics that year and continued to come back annually and learn more skills. Skiing is a learning process that takes time to master. Likewise, the writing process is one that takes time to master—if that’s even possible. Not only should it take time to learn to write effectively, it should take time on individual writing projects. Rushed writing is failed writing. Taking time is my theory of writing because it encompasses many other important aspects of the writing process. My theory doesn’t support deadlines, but stresses the importance of the writing process.

              Before beginning to write the attention grabber of your introduction, the first thing you must do is take the time to identify the rhetorical situation. My first MAPS assignment used a car as a metaphor to explain the importance of each element. The rhetorical situation is what drives the discourse so I made it the wheels. If you don’t take the time to identify this, the paper will bounce all over the place and never communicate with the readers. Last quarter, I learned the importance of identifying the constraints. They have the power to constrain decision or action, so I made them the brakes. If you take the time, you can identify prior knowledge, attitudes, and experiences which determine the constraints of a piece. With the rhetorical situation and constraints, you must also identify the purpose, genre, and audience. This step of the writing process is often overlooked, yet gives the writer a clear outline and plan.

              Taking time also comes in to play with the transfer of learning that we discussed this quarter. This is a very important process that showed me how my past experiences allowed me to better comprehend what we learned in writing this year. The reading from Perkins and Solomon uses the example where learning to drive a car makes learning to drive a stick shift an easier process. My past theory of writing was solely focused on the audience, yet I didn’t even know it. To explain, I competed in speech and debate in high school on the state and national level. I was a very competitive person that always wanted to win. Who doesn’t? Competing in humorous events, my main goal was always to entertain the judge and the crowd because that’s how you won. To prepare for competitions, I’d analyze what entertained the audience and what didn’t. I’d change the organization, how I worded punchlines, and how I delivered the speech to better suit the audience. When I arrived at DU and started taking writing classes, I subconsciously transferred this knowledge to our work with the rhetorical situation. I was able to grasp the concept much faster than my friends learning the same thing.

              While this was a positive transfer, Perkins and Solomon also speak of the negative form of transfer. I experienced negative transfer when I began to write in different voices. Since I only competed in the humorous events all four years of speech and debate, I was only forced to write in one voice. It’s one that is very proper, light-hearted, and clear because I verbally delivered what I wrote. Before this class, I had never even written in an informal voice such as blogs (they contain too many grammatical and spelling errors for my OCD). Although it was difficult, I learned to write in this voice as well as the scientific voice for our research project with the help of my poster page on voice. The transfer of learning is very important process that comes from taking the time to do it.

              My theory of writing that it takes time also plays a role in the communication part of writing. Specifically, it takes time to communicate when in the research process. Our reading on the “Survivor Spoilers” gives a great example of how people communicated to predict events in the hit series. The saying “two heads are better than one” correctly explains why multiple people look over one research paper. If you take the time to communicate and get the best research, the more successful your writing will be. Another way communication takes time is through the revision process. If you don’t take the time to have people look over your writing, you are only hurting yourself. Communicating with others in the revision process allows multiple brains to perfect a paper. This past quarter, I communicated with KT while working on the literature review and essay. I met with her to show that I am putting in the effort; I just was not going to meet her set deadlines. In my opinion, this was the best possible option because we were able to communicate on what I was confused on. Instead of wasting time turning in some pile of crap by the deadline, I communicated and took time to turn in my best possible work. In a world with instant messaging that’s lighting fast, it’s hard to believe that communication takes time; however, you only reap the benefits when you take time to communicate during the writing process.

              Taking time in writing does not mean taking a week off to relax mid essay; it means taking the necessary time to hear from others. In the future, I will use this theory of writing to my advantage. This means starting writing assignments early to account for identifying the rhetorical situation, transferring knowledge, and communicating. Through following this theory of writing, I believe I will only set myself up for success in future writing.