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Stephanie Annunziata

Fredrick deBoer

Writing 303

14 February 2011

Understanding Public Writing

In the dictionary, public writing is defined as writing for a change. In Linda Shamoon’s

book, Public Writing, “public writing means writing that is prompted by surprising or on-going

problematic events and writing that attempts to gain attention to these problems, to stimulate

public discussion and/or promote solutions for these new or on going problems of public

concern” (Shamoon p.3). The problem with these definitions is that there are endless definitions,

but none of which grasp the true meaning of public writing. It is beyond the actual writing that

makes public writing essential, which is overlooked by most definitions. Since the drafting of the

Constitution to the passing of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, endless forms of public

writing have developed, all of which are necessary in a democracy. In theory, public writing is a

process not to just voice opinions, but to engage an audience in multiple forms. In reality, public

writing cannot be defined because it is a living and breathing process that will continue to

develop over time.

Part of defining public writing is understanding who the public is. What really makes

public writing so public? Public in its broadest form are the people, the citizens, and the

audience. More specifically, “the public are those people directly affected, interested, and

touched by the issue or problem, and those who are made aware of the issue or problem as you

and others are working on it, and, eventually, those who have the ability to take action”

(Shamoon p.17). The public will constantly change as long as the issues continue to change. The

public is the mothers that attend M.A.D.D. meetings, the students that attend Student Senate, the
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father’s in the worker’s union, the constituents that gather for campaigns, the consumers

responding to Dunkin Donuts’ latest billboard, and the senior citizens voting for a new senior

center. These people are neighbors, friends, strangers, and family all of whom make public

writing worthwhile. Because without the public, necessary change will never occur.

The idea that only professionals can be public writers is a false idea that prevents most

people from engaging in this form of writing. The idea behind a democracy, directly in the first

amendment, is people have the right to write and speak freely. “The truth is that much of our

society is organized around the public’s sharing of their views and opinions, and we as a

democratic culture depend upon the free and open debate about issues, difficult events, problems,

and appropriate solutions” (Shamoon p. 7). The problem is that the ordinary citizen lacks the

confidence to publicly write because in their mind they have failed already without even starting.

The truth is that there are many roles in public writing and anyone can take part as long as there

is effort being put forth. The broadest role is the reader and the writer. But who is the reader and

who is the writer?

Who are the reader and writer? It can be the consumer and the producer. Coke Cola puts

up a billboard for a new flavor of coke and their sales go up because consumers responded to the

billboard. It can be the constituents and politicians. The Senator of Rhode Island addresses the

issues of debt and promises the people he will address their complaints immediately. The

upcoming election constituents voted for that politician to remain in office. It can be citizen to

citizen. The homosexuals are reaching out to other homosexuals and fellow citizens to raise

awareness about same sex marriage. It can be students to faculty. The University of Rhode Island

prohibits Four Loko and the students express their opinions in an editorial in the campus

newspaper. It can be females and males. Females protested for the right to vote and the men

responded by passing a law allowing them too. The list and examples are endless, but all
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addressing the idea that anyone can be the reader or the writer.

The forms of public writing are an A-Z list ranging from academic studies to a website.

“A list of examples is helpful because it puts boundaries on this category or writing, and it

clarifies the purposes of such a large category. On the other hand, the list is confounding because

it is so large…”(Shamoon p.7). Regardless, the forms of writing are limitless, but they fall under

four major categories, Activist, Argumentative, Informative, and Foundational. Activist writing,

explicitly political and social, “is often passionate and in search of wide public attentions and

indicative of the feelings and views of a large group of people” (Shamoon p.4). These are more

than just essays and editorials. This is Martin Luther King making his “I Have a Dream” speech

at the March on Washington. A historic political movement involving not just a speech, but also

a complete audience involved in protests, sit-ins, and campaigning for civil rights.

Argumentative writing “seeks to arouse supporters and draw more attention to the

problem, and seek to justify with reasons, reasoning and appeals to feelings and values that

certain actions will solve the problem” (Shamoon p.4). This is when President Obama

campaigned his way through a rough election year with debates, speeches, forums, and press

conferences to convince a “not so equal” America, that he would be best for the job regardless of

his skin color. His campaign for change, led to the most historical moment in American history,

the first African American President of the United States.

Informative writing, “seek to be objective, to gather as much data as possible about the

issue or problematic events, and to analyze the available data to see if there are valid or reliable

patterns or predictable elements upon which a good solution can be developed”(Shamoon p.4).

This is when high schools, colleges, and businesses give out pink ribbons and brochures to raise

breast cancer awareness across the United States in exchange for support and charity for the

discovery of a cure.
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Foundational and institutional writing is “organizational documents that institutionalized

a solution to a problem and those formal public documents that codify the solutions and explain

it or make it accessible to the public who must abide by it” (Shamoon p.5). This is when the

Founding Fathers joined together in Philadelphia to repair the Article’s of Confederation, but

instead drafted one of the most notable documents in American History, the Constitution. The

Constitution is the document that gave rise to public writing because it formalized a democracy.

These four categories explain why public writing is a living breathing process because they all

require actions beyond the writing in order to make a change.

It may be misconstrued that all writing is public writing, but there are clearly forms of

writing that are not intended to be public writing. A simple e-mail to a friend, a straight-forward

research paper for class, a protected tweet, a letter from grandma in Florida are all examples of

what is not considered public writing. The problem with distinguishing what is and what is not

public writing is where to draw the line. Much of what is not considered public writing falls into

this gray area because if altered slightly it can be considered public writing. Movies are generally

considered purely entertainment and are overlooked as public writing. But what about movies

like Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11? These movies, although purely visual, are

created for the intention of informing citizens the truth and lies of America. What about tweets?

If tweets are protected and limited to just friends then it is not public writing, but when open for

all to view it is a form of public writing. What about song lyrics? Again used for entertainment,

but if lyrics are analyzed the underlying message being portrayed to the public can be a form of

public writing. It is an artist’s way of expressing their thoughts and feelings in a creative way,

while connecting to the public. There are no limits to public writing, making the gray area

fascinating and intriguing. If public writing were so black and white, there would be a clearly

defined and limited definition of public writing. The idea of public writing is to accept all forms
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of writing as long as it follows a process.

Finally, public writing is a process that if followed, change will occur. The purpose of

public writing aims to stimulate social or political interaction. It is a method of sharing individual

experiences, responses, and analyses of those problems, issues, and events. To ensure this

purpose, four steps must be followed to be successful. The first step is attention, asking and

informing others to take part in the issue. At this stage, it is important to inform the public by

giving people the information needed to form views about what should be done. This is called

gaining publicity, which “begins when an individual or a group is first moved to bring a

problematic situation before a public with the aim of gaining attention to the problem and with

the hope of solving a problem” (Shamoon p.15). It is important to consult the public by listening

to their opinions about the issue and provide feedback.

The second step is inclusion, recognizing that the issue also affects others in the public.

The inclusion of the public is necessary to give them the opportunity to actively join discussion

and persuade others to address the issue. By joining together, “we gain public literacy where we

have the opportunity to learn more and speak out loud about problems affecting our lives, argue

convincingly for our cause, and effectively engage others with certain research.” (Shamoon p.14)

This provides the public with access to join the decision-making process and influence over the

issue as to what should be done.

The third step is discussion, inviting others to debate relevant issues. The purpose is to

collaborate so people become co-decision makers with shared authority. The final step is action,

asking those who have the power to do so, to take actions with us or on our behalves. This final

step is the hardest to achieve because it is the elimination of the top down model; the reliance on

another to fix the problem. This is important to allow others to take charge and have complete

control over the decisions made. The purpose is to allow others to take charge and make
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decisions that will result in a change. This four-step process hinders the idea of defining public

writing because public writing is not just about the writing. It is about the actions necessary for

the end result of a change, making public writing a process that will constantly undergo

modifications.

In conclusion, I believe that the many subdivisions of public writing impede the defining

of it. It is too complex of a process to even be put into one simple statement. The inability to

define public writing is the reason why it is intriguing to study. From this it is important to note

that public writing is a living process that will experience changes constantly because the actions

necessary will vary through the years. Public writing does not need to be defined; it is a process

to be taught! Everyone should know the importance and the effect that public writing has on us.

We are all given this extraordinary opportunity to make a difference because one’s opinion can

be transformed into a great awareness and lasting effect!

Work Cited

Shamoon, Linda K. Public Writing. Kingston: University of Rhode Island, 2011. Print.