Theory of Writing

and Key Terms Maps

In Teaching Writing, we engaged in an iterative process of defining writing through identifying key terms and mapping their relationships. We made our first maps in week 1 of winter quarter, in class, without reference to our books or notes. We made our final maps at the end of the quarter, on our own time, so I used all my books and notes. This metacognitive process may not have been a major project, but it is an interesting representation of my developing understanding of writing and writing studies. Making the maps and creating the text helped me to connect knowledge across classes and experiences and to solidify my understandings. Also, it was fun.

WQ Week One Key Terms Map

WQ Final Key Terms Map [click to magnify]

In case the sticky notes are not legible, the terms included are:

compose, process, power, discourse, ideology, context, agency, genre, exigence, purpose, audience, situation, position, invention, discovery, meaning-making, interpretation, tools, literacy/ies, multiliteracies, technologies, drafting, practice, language, structure, revision, reflection, strategy, metacognition, learning, product, composition, text, identity, subjectivity, relations/ships

The handwritten phrases, by color:

green: "unavoidable but sometimes invisible determining background elements"
blue: "'writing process' 'writing products'"
yellow: "underlying/a foundation" (but really what I mean is, inherent to or necessary for or emerging from or all of the above)
pink: "necessities for process and product"