THE CRAFT OF WRITING

Module C

Read, Reflect, and Refine…

• Using your notes from the module description as inspiration, spend five minutes writing what you see the ‘craft’ of writing as being.
• You may wish to use the following sentence starters:
• Writing as a craft means…
• A text is well-written if it…
• To write well, a writer must develop their ability to use…
• An accomplished writer writes with a purpose in mind because…
• An accomplished writer writes for a specific audience because…
• Now write three refined ideas about writing as a craft.

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Types/Genres of Writing for Module C

• A range of TYPES of response is listed in the Examination Specifications. It is important to note that: “…these distinctions are neither static nor watertight and particular texts can belong to more than one category.” For example, a discursive response can also have a persuasive purpose.

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Imaginative Persuasive Discursive

Informative Reflection

Imaginative

• Representing ideas
• Originality, freshness, insight
• Using metaphors and other figurative language
• Voice – innovative, distinctive, subverting or using conventions
• Exam – imitating a writer’s style, imaginative re-creation, short story opening, ending, or fragment, description, looking at the mood of a piece and change it.

Imaginative

• Topic – open-ended
• Medium – can be in any form, EG. Poetry, novel, drama, short story. Typically narrative in exams.
• Purpose – to entertain, enlighten, stimulate, challenge, disturb, transport the reader, express oneself.
• Tone – dependent on voice, topic and medium; use of symbolism and motif and imagery and figurative language
• Audience – can be public, unknown, or known

Looking at Imaginative Text

Some key questions to consider

• What makes a short story successful?
• Does ethnic literature have a place?
• Can you only write about what you know?
• Can you tell a story that is not your own?

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Idea

• Write your own short account of the difficulties in getting started writing, concentrate on the distractions and try for some humourous annecdotes.

Remember…

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Writers are robbers

Persuasive

• Seeking to convince the responder of a particular point of view or an idea’s truthfulness.
• Debates, essays, discussion, propaganda, polemics, advertisements, articles, pitches, rants, evaluations.
• Voice of ‘I’ – strong, confident, assured, authoritative.
• Rhetorical cornerstones: Pathos, Ethos, Logos, Telos, Topos, Kairos.
• Telos – reason why a piece of writing exists, the end or purpose of a piece of writing.
• Topos – choice of topic; the judicious selection of evidence from a text to argue a case.
• Kairos – timeliness, appropriateness, awareness of “the circumstances that open moments of opportunity”

Persuasive

• Topic: Argues a case with judiciously selected evidence from the ‘text’
• Medium: essay, speech, debate
• Purpose: to argue, justify, defend (key verbs/directives – “to what extent”, “do you agree”, “in what way”
• Tone: not colloquial. Robust, convincing.
• Audience: often public, unknown, can be known

Looking at Persuasive Text

Discursive

• Exploring an idea or variety of topics
• Discussion of ideas or opinions without the direct intention of persuading the reader, listener or view to adopt any single point of view.
• Can be humorous or serious in tone, formal or informal.
• Topic choice is open-ended, and can be in the medium of an essay, report, debate, dialogue, feature article, or a blog.
• Presents both sides of an issue/topic without advocating for one or the other – think pieces that involve the verbs: compare, contrast, explore, discuss, assess, analyse, evaluate.

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Discursive

• Tone: authoritative, balanced
• Audience: public, unknown, but can be known
• Approaching a topic from different angles, exploring themes and issues
• Can include personal anecdotes, can have a conversational tone
• Usually first person but can also be third person
• Can use figurative language or be more factual
• Draws on real life experiences and/or from wide reading
• Begins with an event, an anecdote or relevant quote that is then used to explore an idea
• Resolution may be reflective or open-ended

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Discursive

• Hustvedt used her experience in wearing a corset as part of her wardrobe as an extra in a movie she was part of, to elaborate on the factors that fashion plays in society.
• Write Discursively: Consider the purposes of corsets and bound feet vs. suits and ties

Informative

• Primary purpose is to provide information
• Explanation, description, argument, analysis, ordering, presentation of evidence and procedures
• Medium: reports, brochures, flyers, summaries, charts, infographics, explanatory articles about natural phenomena, recounts of events, instructions and directions, rules and laws, news bulletins, websites, text analyses.
• Voice: confident, authoritative, can be personal
• Topic: open-ended
• Purpose: to present information in an engaging and accessible way
• Tone: shaped by voice, topic, medium, purpose audience (which can be public, unknown, known)
• There are no strictly informative texts set for Module C, nor is it expected that they will explicitly feature in the HSC examination

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Reflective

• The thought process by which students develop an understanding and appreciation of their own learning.
• Use of evaluative language, considered use of examples, justification of specific language or stylistic devices
• Voice: most personal, usually first person
• Topic: open-ended
• Medium: blog, diary, letter, memoir, eulogy, speech, monologue, explanation or rationale for language choices
• Purpose: to articulate and deep understanding, can consider shifts, transformations, amplifications.
• Tone: thoughtful, meditative, considered
• Audience: public, unknown, known, self

Reflective

When reflecting you should:

• Consider how you were influenced by other pieces of writing (such as the Prescribed Texts in this module)
• Use examples to show intention of your writing
• Justification of devices used when crafting writing
• Demonstrate self-awareness of the learning process

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Reflective

Activity:

Pick one of the three prescribed CoW texts we’ve read so far and write a reflective piece on it. Here are some prompts

• Until I heard/read this text I had not thought about the idea that…
• I really like how the composer…
• My favourite lines are … because they really capture…
• In my own writing I would like to be able to…