Wilton 1

Joshua Wilton
Megan Keaton
ENC 1101-26
21 November, 2016
Building a Theory of Writing
In this essay I will create a theory of writing by analyzing and answering questions like
what is writing, how does the rhetorical situation affect writing, and What counts as
plagiarism.
In order to answer the question what is writing, lets start with something we know is
writing and work backwards. Everyone would agree that a book is writing, so what makes a book
a book? Books typically have a few common features like titles, pages, page numbers, chapters,
words, covers, characters, plots, binding, conflict, etc., but what is it that books have that make
them writing? Lets cross the aspects of a book with something else that most, if not everyone,
would agree is writing; an essay. Essays are very different from books, typically lacking
characters, plots, and conflict, and it is not usually necessary for them to have things like
bindings and covers. So what do these two things, and all other forms of writing have in
common? The answer is words. Many aspects of how writing is done or presented can change as will be covered in the section about the rhetorical situation - but in ordered to be writing, some
form of written word must be present. However, in ordered to truly answer what is writing, one
must do more than scratch the surface. Why are words so important to writing? What even are
words to begin with? A long time ago, a friend of mine said something to me that changed my
understanding of writing; a single sentence shifted my entire paradigm of what written words
really are. He said to me, words are just drawings of sounds. This seemingly minor shift in
perspective opens up an entire world of new possibilities for writing because it gives us insight
into what written words really are. In the same way a car is not just a car, rather an amalgam of
parts assembled in a very specific order to serve a function, words are not just words, simple and

Wilton 2
pure, but a medium of communication, a set of instructions of what sounds to make that would
be the same as what the author would want to say if they were there in person. In all languages,
all different alphabets from all across the globe, whether they be English, Chinese, Sanskrit,
Hebrew, or Slavic characters, the symbols we use to make up words can always be described as
symbols to represent sounds. This is what makes writing truly writing. Writing is not a final
product like a book or an essay, nor is it a process through which we might create those things;
writing is a medium for communication. Writing is a form of communication that uses symbols
to represent the sounds we would use to communicate the same ideas, and therefore a writing is
anything that uses that medium to communicate.
This definition of writing begs the question though, is it just letters that make something
writing? Can this definition make it so that other things, like music or math, could be considered
writing? The answer is yes, it can. Sheet music, much like written words, are basically drawings
that indicate what sounds one is supposed to make at a certain time. It conveys ideas just like
words do, and so should be included in the definition of writing. The same logic applies to
mathematics as well. Numbers are just like letters, and can be read like them. Numbers usually
notate different things, like quantities instead of sounds, but really theres no difference between
writing out two plus two equals four and 2+2=4, except in convenience.
Armed with our new definition of what writing is, we can begin to ask more questions
and see why some things are the way they are. How does the rhetorical situation, or the audience,
medium, and context of the writing, affect writing? If we use the definition of writing as a
medium created in the last paragraph, we can see that the rhetorical situation doesnt affect
writing at all, but instead affects what one would write based on the ideas they want to
communicate. Think about it like writing is gravity and ones location is the rhetorical situation.
Earths gravity causes things to accelerate towards the center at a rate of 9.8 meters-per-second-

Wilton 3
squared. When one is on the surface of the Earth, they perceive this as things falling down
towards the ground; however, if they were to find themselves on the ISS, things would look quite
a bit different; it would appear that gravity no longer applies. Objects would float around with no
apparent direction, liquids would form spheres held together by their surface tension alone, and
they would no longer feel the weight of their own body pressing down on them. The interesting
thing is, gravity is still the same, and it is still applying to them and everything else on the space
station, but because everything has reached orbital velocity, its really all just in a constant state
of freefall as it orbits around the planet. The same could be said of the rhetorical situation;
writing stays exactly the same as it was, but in the two different places it is perceived to act
differently. However, writing, not as a medium, but as something that uses that medium to
communicate, is remarkably dependent on the rhetorical situation. The context of the writing
dictates what sort of word choice, style, and even medium an author might use. If the authors
goal is to explain how to tie ones shoe to a large group of children, they might pick a medium
with a lot of bright colors or zany characters, like a cartoon, in order to keep the attention of the
children and present the information in a way that they are receptive to, whereas if they were
trying to explain advanced trigonometry to a class of high-school students, a better medium
might be a very simple PowerPoint that wouldnt distract the students with bright colors or
graphics, so as to have them not miss vital information. The community the author may be
writing for also plays a large role in the rhetorical situation. In one of our previous projects, we
looked at the differences between the writings of two different communities. The two I analyzed
had some really heavily recommended guidelines when it came to things like tone, organization,
word choice, etc. Everyone who writes for those communities uses those guidelines to keep a
consistent content base, and it also helps the frequent viewers know where to look for specific

Wilton 4
information. Aside from the definition of writing created last paragraph, the most important part
of writing is the rhetorical situation, as it informs all the decisions an author will make when they
create their composition.
Plagiarism as a purely objective concept is rather simple. Plagiarism is when somebody
takes somebody elses ideas work or ideas and attempts to pass them off as their own. However,
humans and human society are not always objective, and as a result plagiarism has many difficult
questions surrounding it, such as what really counts as plagiarism and the morality of using
anothers ideas. When it comes to what counts as plagiarism, it would appear there are two main
factors that must both be present in ordered for something to qualify. The individual must be both
using someone elses idea or work, as well as trying to pass the ideas off as their own. For
example, if someone were to invent something called a dinglehopper, and someone else were to
improve upon the design and make it into a scrabdoodler, it could still be considered plagiarism
if they claim that the design for the scrabdoodler was completely original, even though the final
design is not exactly the same. If the situation fits both criteria, it is plagiarism, no matter the
situation. But what about the morality of plagiarism? Could it be said that we own the words we
write? To look at this as an objective question would mean dismantling the illusions that many
societies accept as truth, in return building up a nihilistic perspective that would only end up
asserting that the concept of ownership is not real to begin with. As a result, we must look at this
subjectively, basing our decision off of the unwritten laws of human culture. To many people
plagiarism is akin to theft. I couldnt even begin to estimate how many times I have heard
somebody say They stole my idea! The assumption in society appears to be that ideas are, or at
least should be treated as if they are real, physical things, capable of being snatched away. When
it comes to our words, or our writings, things become a bit clearer. Once someone writes down
the words, then they have created something. Their ideas are no longer in the abstract land of

Wilton 5
possibility. If someone were to copy it, it would no longer be the plagiarizers word against their
own, there would be a physical thing with which to measure the similarities. We havent quite yet
answered whether or not one can own their words, but people definitely do own their own
writings.
In conclusion, writing is a medium; it is a form of communication based around the
drawing of symbols to represent sounds. Anything that uses this medium to communicate an idea
is writing. The rhetorical situation is massively influential in the process of creating a writing and
what the final product will be, but doesnt actually change the medium. Plagiarism only applies
when both aspects of the definition are present; that someone has copied another persons work
idea, and that they claim it as their own.