Matthew Barnebee

Brendan Hawkins
Barnebee 1
ENC 2135

6 September 2017

Writing Definition 1

A vast majority of the time, writing can be induced through our emotions as a simple spur

of the moment. It can also be induced through our knowledge of useful facts and information that

serve the purpose to inform. Writing can be described as the way we as humans transcribe our

combined emotions and intellect to give to others. The emotions of the writer arouse the more

entertaining side of writing, while the intellect bring about the informal face of writing. Both are

crucial to all genres of writing.

In terms of persuading an audience through writing, many works use intellect as a

stepping stone to draw on the emotions of the intended constituency. Take a written list of

statements, for example the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The claims made are definitive,

and are listed and categorized specifically to express the writers grievances to King George. Yet

one of the reasons why it was received so well after its conception was that it drew on the

emotions of those living during that time. Both the writers of the declaration and the audience

were tired of the privileged few ruling, and they liked the idea of having someone to be angry at.

In this case and many others like it, the stated facts may have dominated the eye on paper, but it

was the appeal of emotion that made the written work successful.

The inverse is also true. Other works use emotion to express facts that would otherwise

not resonate with the intended audience. This assertion can be exemplified through Martin

Luther Kings timeless I Have a Dream Speech. On the surface, the speech appears to draw

primarily on the emotions of the intended audience. Yes, the speech did reach out to the majority

of civil rights activists, but the facts expressed in the speech allowed for the secondary audience
 Barnebee 2

to discover the truth behind the topic. People who might not have otherwise been informed about

the literal experiences of Dr. King (and many others like him) were now informed through his

analogies and references to people like Alabama governor George Wallace. The emotion of the

speech was utilized to deliver the truth and the facts about the United States in the 1960s. This is

a common tool found throughout a myriad of speeches and written pieces in history.

Writing can be a successful tool for communicating ideas to others if a healthy dosage of

emotion and intellect can be incorporated. Writing with these two human tendencies truly brings

about the notion that the pen is mightier than the sword. Effective writing can cause massive

amounts of people to sway from one train of thought to the other. It can give generations of

people a standard to look for it, and can entertain and inform any single literate person from any

walk of life. But the act of writing as the author from an emotional and intellectual perspective

is, from my point of view, the task that makes the art of writing possible.