Instructions

As we near the end of the semester, take this opportunity to reflect on the writing tasks you have
completed as well as what you have learned about your writing process.

First, identify at least TWO of the core writing concepts explored in Yagelski’s Writing: Ten
Core Concepts and throughout this class that have been new or enlightening to you as well as
useful to you in thinking critically about your writing process and in helping you develop your
writing abilities. Explain how applying each of these core writing concepts has helped to
improve your writing process and/or your writing skills. As part of your explanation, be sure to
demonstrate how these core writing concepts have helped you by describing how you applied
them effectively in one or more of your writing assignments for this class. Remember: Be
specific! Identify the specific activity, lesson, or assignment you applied each core writing
concept in, detail what you did to apply it, and explain how it has helped you improve your
writing process.

Second, respond to at least ONE the following questions regarding various writing techniques
developed in this class (such as summary, response, analysis, synthesizing, argumentation,
library research, peer response, etc.):

Which techniques were new to you this semester? Which skills have been the most challenging?
Which have been the easiest to understand or apply? Why?
Which techniques, if any, do you think will be the most valuable to you in your future classes,
career, or other parts of your life? How so?
In what ways have you used one or more of these techniques in your other classes, on the job, or
in your daily life? How has this class improved your use of these techniques in these settings?
How do you think all these techniques you have been learning and practicing fit together?
Be sure to provide one or more examples from your work this semester or from your life
experience to support your points.

Your initial post should be at least 500 original words.

Ten Core Concepts for 2 Effective Writing 2

 Instructions

When I fIrst leArneD to rock climb, an experienced climber gave me some advice: always climb
with your eyes. That may sound strange, but it actually makes good sense. The key to climb- ing
a vertical rock face is finding the right holds for your hands and feet, which is not always as
straightforward as it sounds. To keep moving safely and efficiently up the cliff, climbers have to
link together handholds and footholds. So even before starting up the cliff, climbers examine it
carefully and identify a possible route to the top. Climbers call this process “seeing the line” up a
cliff or a mountain. Once on the cliff, they are always looking ahead to the next handhold or
foot- hold. That simple statement—“always climb with your eyes”—turned out to be some of the
best advice about climbing I ever received. It was a way to boil down the complicated act of
climbing into a single, simple, basic idea.

This chapter does the same thing with writing: It boils down the complex, powerful, won- derful,
and sometimes challenging activity of writing into ten essential ideas, or Core Concepts. There’s
much more to learn about writing than these concepts, just as in climbing you have to learn more
than how to “climb with your eyes,” and Part II of this textbook goes into much more detail so
that you can apply these concepts to various writing tasks. But these concepts are funda- mental
insights that every writer must learn in order to write effectively. Students who incorporate these
insights into their writing process will become better writers, no matter what kind of writing they
are doing.

Learning to write effectively also requires developing a certain kind of attitude toward writ- ing.
Some climbers talk about “conquering” a mountain, but many climbers reject that way of
thinking. For them, the point of climbing is not about defeating a mountain but about respecting
it, adapting to it, and experiencing it. That attitude influences their decisions about which routes
to follow up a mountain, when to start a climb, when to abandon it. It also affects the meaning of
climbing: For them, climbing is about appreciating the experience of being in the mountains and
meeting their challenges.

In the same way, the experience of writing can depend a great deal on a writer’s attitude toward
writing. Students who believe that writing is mostly about following certain rules tend to see
writing as a process of learning and applying those rules, which can make writing tedious and
diminish the joy of writing. If, on the other hand, you think of writing as a process of dis- covery,
then each writing task can become a way to learn—about your subject, about yourself, and about
the world around you. Students who approach writing in this way are open to thepossibilities of
writing and better able to harness its power. For them, writing isn’t primarily about applying
rules; it’s about understanding and engaging the world and communicating effectively with
others.

The ten Core Concepts discussed in this chapter, then, are not rules to learn or directions to
follow. They are insights into how to write more effectively. Learning these concepts is a matter
of experiencing the variety, complexity, and power of writing so that you can harness that power.
 Instructions

Learning to write more effectively is partly a process of learning how to think differently about
writing and about yourself as a writer.

This chapter asks you to examine your beliefs about writing and adopt a certain attitude about
writing—an attitude that might differ from what you have learned about writing in the past. It
encourages you to shift your focus as a writer from remembering and applying rules to exploring
your subject, addressing your readers, and accomplishing your rhetorical goals. That shift can
change your entire experience as a writer. In learning and applying these Core Concepts, you
will, I hope, feel more like a rock climber who is fully engaged in the arduous yet exhilarating
act of moving toward a mountain summit.

The Ten Core Concepts for Effective Writing

The ten Core Concepts are based on what research and experience tell us about writing
effectively. Each concept is based on a fundamental insight that student writers can learn in order
to write effectively in a variety of situations—in school, in the workplace, and in the community.
Understanding these concepts doesn’t guarantee that you will always write effec- tively, but you
cannot learn to write effectively without applying these ten essential insights about writing:

1. Writing is a process of discovery and learning.

2. Good writing fits the context.
3. The medium is part of the message.
4. A writer must have something to say.
5. A writer must support claims and assertions.
6. Purpose determines form, style, and organization in writing.
7. Writing is a social activity.
8. Revision is an essential part of writing.
9. There is always a voice in writing, even when there isn’t an I.
10. Good writing means more than good grammar.