Composing & Media Literacy

Over the time of my WEPO class, we’ve been asked to define writing and editing several times to track how the course materials shift our perspective on these terms. My definition of writing has changed the least; I continue to consider it all the texts we compose whether they be an academic paper or a text you send to a friend. Writing is considered writing regardless of intent, strategy or style therefore I like to see it as the precursor to composing. Composing is writing that considers all rhetorical tools including audience, genre, network, circulation, exigency, etc. It is written with a specific purpose to serve a specific end goal. It is the more deliberate version of writing. Editing is the final step in the process. It is the polishing and refinement of a text so that it is most efficient in its finished product. As you can see in my definition of these three words, many other key terms are important in defining them. A composer can’t curate a text without targeting an audience. They write to respond to an exigency. The genre molds and dictates tone, medium, style, and several other features. Neither of these features can exist without the other and they are the several components that make up the concept of writing, composition, and editing. Project two helped me realize the importance of carefully selecting wishing these categories so that every facet of a text has a purpose and is able to successfully deliver your intended message. Every single detail depicted a different function that I selected so that it appealed to my audience. The content as well as the stylistic devices available to me all represented the different personas of the characters that I was attempting to remediate into modern day résumés. My experience during the composition process outside of this course hasn't shifted my definitions as much as the way others are affected by the choices in the composition process has. As I watch my family be completely manipulated by the persuade powers of biased media, I realize the importance of being cognizant of these devices that are purposefully positioned so that they appeal to audiences that wish to confirm their biases rather than strengthen their opinions with opposing arguments. It is scary to think about the power texts have over the media illiterate.