Theory of Writing

“Writing is a giant tree”

 

Coming into English Composition, my theory of writing was simply seeing writing as a specific formula. It is much more than that. With each new assignment, I slowly started to see writing as a very elaborate art. There is no one simple way of writing. It branches out into different parts. The trunk of a tree is the foundation of all types of writing. It is made up of dialogue and rhetorical parts, such as purpose, genre, tone, mood and audience. These rhetorical parts could be represented by the ring that tree has underneath the bark. The foundation of the tree must be strong in order to branch off into different parts. Different aspects of writing have variety and differentiation. For example, poetry is a genre that has stanzas, imagery, similes, and metaphors. A poem, just like any work must have an audience, purpose, tone, and mood. An essay is a genre that explains a side or perspective. It has sources and a claim/thesis. In addition, an essay must have an audience, purpose, tone, and mood, just like poetry.  All writing must have these components. The trunk of a tree represents the rhetorical parts of a piece of work that they must have. If the tree is strong, the rest of it will be strong. So much goes on in the tree that you plant. There is some much life going on in and on it. The roots underneath the ground. The leaves that grow off the branch. The animals that live in and on it. The assignments mostly contributed to my theory of writing. I started out using similar formats and methods to write the first two essays. I learned that there’s more to it than that.

 

The branches are supported by The strong foundation of the tree. This is where one’s creativity comes into play. The branches represent the different types of works of writing one can do. From essays, to scripts, screenplays, and novels, there is a vast amount of writing you can do. Along the many branches on a tree, there exists leaves, and sometimes even fruits. These leaves and fruits represent aspects of a certain style of writing. Going back to the poetry and essay example. Once you have your audience, tone, mood, genre and purpose down for the basic foundation for your work, you can extend that into whatever genre you want to tackle. One branch can be poetry. One leaf on that branch could be simile. Another leaf could be metaphor. Another could be imagery. Finally, a ripe and fresh fruit could be jargon or certain language that is unique to poetry. Another branch could represent essays. A leaf on this branch could be evidence, another could be analysis, another could be thesis. One fruit on this branch could be a topic, and the depth that one could go in to using it for their essay. There is more to a tree branch than just what grows on it. There are animals living in and in the tree. Birds come to build a nest and raise a family. Squirrels and monkeys make trees their home. These different animals could represent your different audiences. One audience can make a nest on the poetry branch. Another family may make a home out of the essay branch. In other cases, some animals may make a home out of the strong base of the tree. Just like a tree, film has lots of depth and variation. There is no one way to write a screenplay or movie.