In a previous blog, Pyramid of Needs, we considered Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of why we do as we
do in our lives. According to Maslow, these are our priorities: (1) Survival,
(2) Security, (3) Power, (4) Love, (5) Communication, (6) Self-Esteem, (7)
Self-fulfillment. If our first
priorities are not satisfied, even minimally, then we can’t get to the higher
levels of self-esteem and self-fulfillment.
Where we are on the pyramid shows up right away when we are challenged,
as for example when we read or write for a class.
In my textbook, The Flexible Writer, I discuss three main purposes for writing, which I
adapted from James Britton’s insights in “Notes on a Working Hypothesis about
Writing”: Self-expressive, Interpersonal, Aesthetic. A given piece of writing may serve some or
all of these. Practicing writers know
how to gauge what is appropriate and don’t, for example, write a mostly
self-expressive piece when an interpersonal one might be more effective.
Self-expressive
Self-expressive writing
satisfies the need for asserting our survival and security needs. It satisfies the need to be heard and
recognized as an individual, despite social pressures. Through it, we might vent our anger,
complain, grieve; exalt, dream, wonder.
This purpose is often fulfilled by the very act of writing, itself, whether
or not someone else reads what we’ve written.
Self-expressive writing often takes the form of first-draft diary
entries, letters, autobiographies, lyric poems, songs—rants on Facebook, dashed
off Tweets and GIFs. Here is a self-expressive draft written by student Samantha
Renner:
I am terrified of the idea
of war. All I can think of are those
films of houses gutted by bombs, children lying half-naked and dead in the
streets, and blood everywhere. Sometimes
at night, I wake up to the sirens from the fire station down the block, and I
panic: What if they are not signaling for a fire? What if, somehow, there are
planes coming to bomb our town? This
must be just a little of what people must feel who are actually in a war zone. It’s terrible.
In this paragraph, Samantha expresses her feelings
about war. The self-expressive purpose
is fulfilled by the very act of writing. Samantha doesn’t anticipate a reader,
and no one has to have read what she has written or respond to it.
If
you find yourself resenting, defending against, or arguing with others when
they respond to your writing, it may be because your intention was only self-expressive. Know when to show your writing to others. Read the blog post Writer's Wrodeo: Whoas and Wonders to help you to discern where you are with a particular piece of writing.
Interpersonal
Interpersonal
writing satisfies not only the needs for survival and security, but also those
of power, love, and communication.
Through interpersonal writing, we connect, break, or negotiate with a
reader, an audience (a word that literally means “those who listen”). Our anticipated audience may be as far away
as a reader in another country or century, whom we may never meet; or as close
as ourselves. Our anticipated audience
may be as specific as an instructor or as general as a U.S. citizen. Our task is to determine our primary audience
and how to reach it.
In
interpersonal writing, we try to convince someone else to recognize us, to do
something for or with us, to agree with us, or to change her or his ways. It may take the form of letters, proposals, editorials,
business and legal memos, recipes, instructions—or chat threads. Submissions to teachers are meant to embody
what you have learned and to earn a grade. (We will consider specific
educational purposes for writing in an upcoming post.)
The
following is an excerpt from an essay Samantha wrote with a predominantly interpersonal
purpose: to persuade her audience of her position.
Before our country declares
war on another country, I believe several things should take place:
(1) There should be an open debate on
media between those who are for and those who are against the war. Debaters should include the parents of draftable
people, military personnel, lawmakers, conscientious objectors, and ambassadors
from those on whom we might declare the war.
(2) There should be films of war played on
television, the internet, and social media showing the ravages of war,
especially on non-military persons.
(3) There should be a vote taken from the
general population.
(4) There should be an active campaign to
ensure that at least 50% of the population votes.
Samantha’s
interpersonal writing invites debate, action, and results. She uses rhetorical devices (persuasion
techniques) such as bulleted points and clear appeals to emotions (as in her evocation
of war images). In a workshop, fellow
writers can help her anticipate how others might disagree with her, so that she
can head readers off before they can.
Aesthetic
At
its best, aesthetic writing satisfies the highest levels of needs that Maslow
identifies: self-esteem and self-fulfillment.
It assumes that self-expressive and interpersonal needs have been met
and attention can be turned toward writing for the sake of elegance, compression,
beauty, overall memorability. If only
aesthetics are managed in a particular piece of writing, then it can be superficially
entertaining, but it will lack depth. When, for example, your instructor
insists on grammatical correctness, but ignores the self-expressive and
interpersonal aspects of writing, writing might be more like a Styrofoam cup
instead of one made of fine porcelain.
Aesthetic
writing has action, imagery, and dialog.
The diction (choice of words) is compelling. Aesthetic writing is based in imagery—to
reach deeply into the reader’s consciousness.
It is specific. It is something
new. It incorporates the poetic and lyrical techniques, as Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. does in his “I have a Dream” speech, or William Shakespeare does in
Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy.
Here’s
is Samantha’s poem, focused with aesthetic strategies:
When will We Awaken?
The sirens shriek,
3:30 in the morning, again.
Somewhere nearby there is a fire.
This one will be cooled by ready water.
The children will be carried
by people in wet rubber coats.
What of the shrieking in another place
where no one will carry the children to
safety—
away from bombs bursting in air
giving proof through the night
that a flag may wave?
Not
only has Samantha expressed her outrage at war, but, in focusing on specific
imagery and strategically invoking the “National Anthem,” she’s argued against war. She fulfills all three major modes of
writing: Self-expressive, Interpersonal, and Aesthetic.
Combinations
Samantha
successfully combined all three modes of writing to satisfy a hierarchy of needs. Sometimes, it can be hard to separate the aesthetic
from the self-expressive and the interpersonal in some work. And that is devoutly to be wished for—to have
all three integrated.
Ask
yourself when you are writing, what need or needs you are predominantly
satisfying. And when it comes to writing
workshop, be honest with yourself:
If your purpose is mainly self-expressive, then you will not want
anything but approval. Your purpose will
be mainly focused on your own experience.
Ask your readers to refrain from suggestions for revision.
If your purpose is interpersonal, writing workshop will
provide you an opportunity to test-run your ideas and to strengthen your
chances at better results. Be open, listen, thank your readers for their
support and commitment to your writing.
If your purpose is
predominantly aesthetic, you might,
again, only want approval. You might welcome readers to offer their
appreciation for different aspects of your writing style as they manifest in
your work.
But if you can combine all three purposes, you will afford
yourself a lively and supportive atmosphere for becoming the liveliest writer
you can be.
Works Cited
“Pyramid of Needs.”
becauseicanteach.blogspot.com http://becauseicanteach.blogspot.com/2018/03/
“Writer’s Wrodeo: Whoas and Wonders” http://becauseicanteach.blogspot.com/2019/03/writers-wrodeo-workshop-woes-and-wonders.html
Britton, James. “Notes on a Working Hypothesis
about Writing.” Prospect and Retrospect:
Selected
Essays of James Britton. Ed.
Gordon M. Pradl. Montclair: Boynton/Cook,
1982.)
Rich, Susanna. The Flexible Writer. Fourth edition. Boston: Allyn/Bacon, 2003.
I feel that I do my best to combine all three purposes when writing, although I do tend to write more for myself than I do for others when it comes to my personal works. I write more to earn a satisfactory grade than I do to target specific people who may find my work enjoyable. When in workshop, I do not seek approval from my peers, but I do appreciate them pointing out what works and what does not in my work so I can better it. In a weird way, I feel that it does combine all three modes of writing despite focusing more on what I find interesting. It has action, imagery, and dialogue, an attempt to connect to the reader, and satisfies my need to establish myself as an individual. I do not use my writing to vent my frustrations most of the time, although I do remember having written a poem which voiced my frustration over a crappy internet connection. For the most part, I feel that my writing is more self-expressive, specifically my journal and any concepts for a story that I write down. These examples of personal writing serve to show myself that I can come up with some rather interesting ideas when I put my mind to it. Hopefully through workshop, I can balance all three types of writing so that it feels like I am not leaning too heavily towards one specific purpose of writing.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this blog, I was mostly thinking about the narrative that I am currently writing. I know that I have had an intriguing past with my husband. I have wanted to write about it for a long time. Over the course of this semester, however, I have found myself struggling to do justice to our story. I have been engaging in mostly self-expressive writing. There has been a little interpersonal writing involved as well, but it is flat and disengaging. I can’t read it myself without falling asleep.
ReplyDeleteWe have done a lot this semester to talk about action, imagery, and dialogue, but this post brings to attention that these three components by themselves are not enough. Writing needs to be self-expressive, interpersonal, and aesthetic as well. It needs to have the feeling, the depth, and the truth to relate to audiences and bring the story alive.
In order to get myself away from my current flat writing style, I plan to change the entire format of my story. Instead of writing a first-person memoir, I am going to change my story into a third-person realistic fiction, based on a true story. The story will have many real-life situations, but told with a fictional twist. Similar to the Trapp family (The Sound of Music) or to Michael Oher (The Blind Side), my story will be told with a fictional flare. In this way I hope to be more relatable to my audience by utilizing a combination of self-expressive, interpersonal, and aesthetic writing styles.
~ Sara Faulkner
When it comes to writing, I tend to focus on my author a lot. I want to make sure my audience knows what I’m saying and understands the overall purpose of the writing. From experience, sometimes when I try to take risks in my writing the meaning doesn’t come across to the reader which is why I often have my audience read my writing so that I can gauge their understanding. These risks make me think that this is the self-expressive and aesthetic sides of my writing. I want these risks to be understood by my audience even though this is really only understood by myself. In many instances I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words so that my audience would have a vision of what I see. My main goal in my writings is to have this combination writing so that I can fulfill all of the aspects of writing so that I can share my thoughts, have my readers understand, and also be creative.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really enjoy about blogs like this one, is that it is relatable, yet also informative. I often find myself leading towards self-expressive writing. I typically mention this in class and in other blog posts, but I love the thought of writing about something I’ve experienced in the past and using my writing as a sense of therapy. If it makes me feel good, I want to be doing more of that. I use this method of writing not only for my mentor piece but for my journal writing’s as well. I incorporate so many emotions and feelings within my work, that I often use the words, “I felt” way too much. However, I am now learning to “show, don’t tell,” and getting much better at that with everyday practice.
ReplyDeleteI have also realized that not only is A.I.D.e important to be paying attention to when writing but also using self-expressive writing, interpersonal writing, and aesthetic writing, can make my story much more powerful, as well. I share a lot of emotions in my work, yet I do get very interpersonal as well. I like to persuade my readers that the decisions I have incorporated, are the right ones. I know I lack in aesthetic writing but I am improving! I am trying to really dig deep and turn those exposition paragraphs into a paragraph filled with action so that my audience stays interested and intrigued.
I really appreciate this blog post because, with explanations and examples, I can be sure to incorporate these important aspects correctly, in my own work. This will benefit me not only now, but for future writings, as well.
Seanette Martin
ReplyDeleteApril 6, 2019
Dr. Rich
Why Write? Knowing When and How
This post is so relatable to me especially when it comes to this class. I have started my story and poetry over numerous times because it just seems like it’s not good enough. I realize I am a self- expressive writer as told by the professor after reading my poetry. I have never had an issue with my writing since I’ve been in college or school now that I think about it because writing has always been something I’ve enjoyed doing. While workshopping with my group it’s not the feeling that my paper is being ripped into pieces where I become frustrated but my group is actually intrigued by what I have written. I guess it’s more relatable for some than it is for others. Growing up I have always learned that you can’t please everyone no matter how hard you may try.
Being a self expressive writer doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement and it also doesn’t mean that I don’t hear when people try to help me or make suggestions. The problem with making suggestions is the way that it is presented. If someone spends days working on their paper who wants to hear that their hard worker is basically nothing. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but at the same time the way an opinion is presented on someone’s work can hurt a lot especially if being criticized in such a manner is not something I have been exposed to. I feel that self expressive and interpersonal are very similar because you can be self expressive and get the word across to your audience. Then again the audience has to be open to accept the word which is being presented.
Your blog asks the question, "..what need or needs are you predominately satisfying?"
ReplyDeleteIn the piece for workshop, I use imagery to help readers connect with emotional state that my character. I want readers to go on this journey with her. I want to cheer for her...for themselves.
Typically, my writing focuses on the reader, but this blog has given me another valuable perspective to examine..What need is this writing predominately satisfying..for me? So I began to think, "how does this question translate onto the pages?"
For another class, i'm working on a newsletter for product awareness. In comparing the piece for our workshop where the use of imagery is seen throughout, the newsletter is less aesthetic, more interpersonal style. I'm educating the public about a subject, in the hopes that they will take action.
My self-expressive style may show up in journal entries because they are emotional weightiness. Unlike the imagery in my workshop piece, my self-expressive writing is an exposition style of writing. However, there is value in this form of writing. It helps to get the emotions on the paper where I will revise to include imagery.
As I continue to grow as a writer, I will look at what needs are being predominately satisfied.
I really enjoyed this blog...It's posted on my wall as a reminder to think about while writing.
Dr.Rich,thank you for this blog.I immersed myself into the reading of this blog and quite frankly I learned a lot of new strategies about writing.I often write with the expectation that what I have written will make sense to all readers which is not necessarily so.However,I have to now take into consideration that I am at least incorporating all or most of what is mentioned in the blog especially to make the writing pleasant to read and make sense.I would agree that my writing style is self-expressive where I do like to assert my position in my writing and interpersonal as well where I seek to make connections.As both are described in the blog in detail I find them to be interesting and a clear trajectory in how to make distinctions when I write.
ReplyDeleteThe blog is very helpful and insightful.
I always question myself and ask myself when I am writing my poetry. Am I writing enough? Am I using imagery to fully explain my thoughts? Typically when I write it is at night when everyone in my house goes to sleep because that is when I am able to concentrate the most. I always as myself. Is this imagery or a cliche… all of the time. To make sure that my work isn’t too broad and actually sounds like it has a sense of feeling. My writing process especially in this class changed a lot. I went from running out of thoughts and ideas in the memoir that I decided to start off fresh with poetry and taking my manuscript from there. It was hard at first trying to grasp my poems and adding more imagery to them and less exposition. But I managed to get through it. My group members also gave me a lot of encouragement when it came to my poetry pieces they enjoyed reading it and gave me feedback that helped me work some more on them and tweak whatever needed to be changed. Feedback was what also helped me get through my struggles because it helped me figure out what my strengths were in my writing, as well as my weaknesses as well. Peer review really kept my head in the game, when editing my group mates work. It also helped me figure out what more to do and what else to not do. Which was beneficial in the end.
ReplyDeleteI love how I was able to read each part, Self-expressive, Interpersonal and Aesthetic. What intrigued me the most about the self-expressive section was that it’s something you write for your own personal feelings and thoughts. ‘If you find yourself resenting, defending against, or arguing with others when they respond to your writing, it may be because your intentions was only self-expressive. When I find myself defending my work I often do it because I would feel as though the reader didn’t understand me or doesn’t know how I’m feeling at the moment of my writing. Mostly with my poetry either I write about my personal experience or I write about an experience that I have witness. So at times during my small groups and people would question or not understand I would feel a bit defensive on how I can defend my writing without having to change it. When I write personal things its hard for me to edit it or change it in order for the reader to comprehend because I use it as a way to express myself. Overall, though each section was able to give me a different understanding of ways a reader can write and how to write in order to convince the reader of what we’re truly writing about.
ReplyDeleteThis post is super important to me because I am going to be a teacher. Throughout my school years I have had many different types of students. I have had the lecturer that teaches directly at you and doesn’t want to be asked questions, I have had the hand outer that lets work sheets teach you, and I have had the open teacher that welcomes your questions and lets you collaborate with others and learn together. Unfortunately the first teacher I described are the most common. These are the teachers you are scared to raise your hand in the their classrooms. These are the teachers who will dismiss any ideas that don’t fit with theirs. These teachers assert their dominance over the classroom like a fire breathing dragon ready to incinerate anyone who causes a disruption. Then there are the teachers who assert no dominance and their classrooms basically become a study hall or lunch room. I think the best classroom is that collaborative one that allows thought and discovery. This was Vygotski’s main theory, that children learn more socially. If you are hearing another persons thought process you are learning from them and making it your own. Collaboration is giving students some power in their own learning. Of course there needs some sort of teacher power as well so that the classroom does not become a study hall. I think there is that happy medium thatt can be found I the classroom so that you can reach that stage of discovery.
ReplyDeleteDr. Rich
ReplyDeleteI write for freeing purposes. I often journal in my personal notebook at the end of my days. If I had a burdensome day, a great day, an anxious day, a hopeful day, I write it all down. I truly enjoy my journaling because it is a type of release for me. I’m able to express myself in my own ways, for me. I used to carry it with me whenever I had certain thoughts I wanted to write down before I’d forget them. As I write, I very much combine all three purposes: self-expressive, interpersonal, and aesthetic. I find myself feeling better at the end of the day as I write my worries away. I often times look back to previous journaled pages to see my growth and how far I’ve come.
--Angie Ulloa
I use writing as an escape. Much like reading, I use this time to escape from reality and delve either into a world of my own or someone else's.
ReplyDeleteAs an English Education major, I feel that reading and writing should have been my primary source of escaping. Video games and movies were my main source of escaping. I actually used to hate reading and writing up until college. Yeah, I'll admit it, I had no clue what I was getting myself into when I applied to become an English teacher.
Do I regret it? Meh, that is a story for a different time. But the main focus here is writing.
With the help of many wonderful professors at Kean University, I was able to unlock what little potential I had as a reader and writer. I never knew the benefits up until a couple of years back. I always wondered why my mother always pressured me to read and write.
Writing is very important; right now, it is what keeps me sane. Despite having mixed feelings about my life choices, I am able to calm down and WRITE about them. I use writing as a way to vent all of my issues. I see it as very ironic, but whatever helps! And recently I have begun to write actual stories, specifically horror pieces. Even though they are very bad, I still get a lot of pleasure from using my imagination and being in a wonderful and peaceful mental state.
When I write for myself then I’m more self-expressive. When I’m in the zone, I don’t need anyone to understand or comment because it’s more about me releasing and exhaling my inner thoughts. My mind races so much and intensely that sometimes I miss the opportunity to jot down my ideas. Strangely, when I’m by myself (in the shower) words, sentences, phrases, heck even a full poem comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteThere are my interpersonal times, when I ‘personally’ need assistance. I do have a way of over analyzing situations or my words. When writing an essay, some teachers encourage the use of a thesaurus while other teachers say don’t. I get trapped in between those voices and don’t know what to put. Rather than forgetting or ignoring, I write any word(s) and wait for feedback from peers or teachers. The process of figuring out my actual intentions can be stressful but knowing others can hear my message differently helps to broaden my own perspective. Interpersonal is a form of workshopping and I didn’t think I would appreciate it as much as I do.
Aesthetic writing is the complicated form of writing. To me when whenever I have a paper on a topic I dislike or don't understand (my discussion topic in Nelson’s class) then my focus is on the teacher’s approval. It is hard to put my own flair on a topic that I already know the teacher wants a particular way.
For this spring semester, I would like to aim for the combination of being all three forms of a writer. This is a trait that will inspire my thoughts and elaborate on my inner writer. Writing will be for me, by me and about me, even if I gain an audience.
Meagan AWP 5000