Analytic Reflection

Analytic Reflection

Of the wealth of information gained from taking this course, what has been the most influential is the insight I've ascertained on the world of Wikipedia and ideas from Porter's "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community". The combination of these two elements from the course have taught me that writing is a process that involves the contribution of many great minds that influence each and every piece of text in a completely unique, one-of-a-kind way.

This Wikipedia group endeavor has illuminated that there are many elements that go into the creation of a single article. I once thought writing was something done by one individual, alone. I've realized now that it takes a community of thinkers, each providing their own sliver of wisdom, for the final product to manifest.

In retrospect, I understand that the process that we as a class have taken part in through creating our very own Wikipedia article correlates perfectly with Porter's theory. Porter explains that in each and every text exists intertextuality, the theory that all types of written discourse contains hints of the past. "Examining texts 'intertextually' means looking for 'traces,' the bits and pieces of Text which writers or speakers borrow and sew together to create new discourse" (Porter 34). Our group effort with the Wikipedia page is an example of the network of influences, both unique personal to each individual and of the past, that blend together to form a final product that is essentially a reflection of our perceptions of the world.

Porter and Grant-Davie's theories combined have also been very influential to my understanding of the writing process. From Grant-Davie's "Rhetorical Situations", I've learned that the exigence of a text, aka "an imperfection marked by urgency" (Grant-Davie 265) is more than just an obstacle, it is the means with which an idea is understood and mediated on through rhetorical discourse. Exigence is also a platform from which a writer can persuade an audience. The knowledge I've gained from studying Grant-Davie's theory has illuminated for me the fact that we as a group have identified an exigence and have responded to it by creating a new platform for discourse by writing a Wikipedia article. We have also utilized the constraints of our exigence to our advantage. In choosing a Wikipedia article as the form to publish our knowledge, we gain ethos by allowing our text to be influenced by the constraint of maintaining a neutral, unbiased tone as opposed to formulating an article that is full of fallacies and opinions that are objective.

Although what I have learned about how texts have influenced my own thought and writing is a very powerful lesson, it is the understanding of how these texts have shaped who I am and what I believe that I find most valuable. As a result, this course has shed light on what makes me, me.

Works Cited

Grant-Davie, Keith. "Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents." Rhetoric Review. 2nd ed. Vol. 15. 
     London: Taylor & Francis, 1997. 264-279. Spring, 1997.

Porter, James E. "Intertextuality and The Discourse Community." Rhetoric Review. 1st
     ed. Vol. 5. London: Taylor & Francis, 1986. 34-47. Autumn, 1986.