SQR 5

Estevan Trejo and Leonardo Avila
Eng 1301.28
Trang Phan
9-27-2010
Linda Flower. “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing.” College English, Vol. 41, No. 1 (1979): pp.19-37.
Summary 5 – Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing
Linda Flower asks in her article, “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing”, “If writing is simply the act of ‘expressing what you think’… why is writing often such a difficult thing to do? (Pg. 19)” She begins to answer the question by describing two distinct types of writing: Writer-Based prose and Reader-Based prose. The former entails an effective writer not simply expressing what they think on the subject, but transforming their thoughts into coherent, intelligible sentences for the reader to easily grasp and manage (Pg. 19). The latter involves what is likely to be an ineffective writer merely “expressing themselves by offering up an untouched and under processed version of their own thought” (Pg. 19). Though Writer-Based prose is both a natural style of writing and thought, it is usually not enough to communicate the author’s purpose and intentions to the reader. And “although Writer-Based prose often fails for readers and tends to preclude further concept formation, it may be a useful road into the creative process for some writers. The structures which fail to work for readers may be powerful strategies for retrieving information from memory (either semantic or short-term) and for exploring one’s own knowledge network” (Pg. 28).

Question: What do you think of Writer-Based prose and it being utilized for essays?
Response:
If you have ever critiqued a confident writer’s essay only to find that their paper makes little sense to you, the reader, the culprit may very well be Writer-Based prose. “As both a style of writing and as a style of thought, writer-based prose is natural and adequate for a writer writing to himself or herself” (Pg. 19). On the other hand, when preparing something to be read by others, it becomes imperative to produce something a bit more substantial and refined. With Writer-Based prose, we often unfortunately fail to clearly reveal our purpose, concepts, or perspective to the reader. If a reader is unable to derive these important components from the essay utilizing their rhetorical reading strategies, the author has failed to create a shared language and shared context between writer and reader (Pg. 20). This is the essence of Writer-Based prose. When the reader is unable to easily grasp your stance on the topic, the writing is likely yet to be transformed into the preferred Reader-Based prose (Pg. 19). In closing, I believe that essays should be written with the reader in mind, and thus, Writer-Based prose should be avoided while writing essays.