Knowledge Domains of Writing in Action
Remember as illustrated in Beaufort’s graphic shown earlier in this chapter that each knowledge domain—each circle—informs and affects the other. Therefore, when examining texts—and preparing to write them—it is important to consider the knowledge domains in action working together. As you may have guessed, this is where all of the knowledge domains get messy.
In addition to studying knowledge domains of writing, students need procedural and operational knowledge, which means how to apply the concepts (Anson). Remember, writing domain knowledge is situated; this means there is no writing in general as it’s always in some context. Composing is messy business, and there are a number of slippages in the “textbook” understandings of knowledge domains. You’ll come to learn, given the situation, how to write by being adaptable, flexible, and persistent (Rosinski and Peeples).
TRY THIS to understand knowledge domains of writing in action. Use texts your instructor provides or find some of your own in your major or program of study (or a combination)—ideally about the same general topic or theme—to complete the following chart. Which columns were challenging to complete and for which texts? Which concepts were challenging to categorize? Did you notice any that overlapped? If you had to compose any of these types of texts right now, which would you find easier? Which would be more challenging? Why? How could you prepare to compose any of these texts—right now and in the future?
Then, after you have completed this chart about others’ texts, examine some of your own texts. Complete this chart for a writing project you are working on or have recently completed for your composition class, a writing project for another class, or any other context. What do you/did you know about writing? What do you/did you need to find out? What still could use some work when it comes to the knowledge domains of writing?
| Text (description of the text and its discourse or communication in action) |
Genre (type of text and its rhetoric/purpose, overall structure, language use) |
Rhetorical Situation (exigence and overall purpose, rhetor/writer, audience, constraints and context) |
Subject Matter (topic of inquiry, central concepts, frames for analysis) |
Writing Process (individual or collaborative, research, review) |
Discourse Communit (the social group and its goals, values, and beliefs) |
Action and Reflection
To support your growth in understanding and applying the knowledge domains of writing—and transferring skills and knowledge to other writing situations and contexts—it is essential to reflect. After completing any writing project, respond to the following questions (adapted from Anne Beaufort):
- What decisions did I make and why about the discourse community, genre, and my rhetorical situation for this writing project? And how did they affect my process and final product?
- What did I learn in doing this writing project about writing itself? How did I learn this?
- How does this new knowledge about writing connect to or differ from what I already knew about writing (the role of prior knowledge)?
- What do I want to remember to apply in the next writing project or other writing I do (transfer of learning)?
- With which knowledge domains did I (a) struggle the most and (b) do the best in this writing project: discourse community, subject matter, genre, rhetorical, writing process? What could I do better in the next project in any of these knowledge domains?
- As of right now, based on my experience with this writing project, what do I wish to pay closer attention to, even study, about myself as a writer? What is my working hypothesis or research question for such self-study? Also, what kinds of data could I collect and how in order to test that hypothesis or answer that research question about my writing and process?