Intention is often overlooked while analyzing one’s final piece of work. Yes, the final piece is ultimately what is being judged by what the author has written, what he or she means, and why he or she wants the reader to know.  Yet, ultimately, the intention, the why, behind his or her writing in the first place is relevant to consider. As supported by Donald M. Murray, the reason why someone began what he or she has begun while creating a piece (and the process he or she takes in order to convey their message through that piece) is a piece’s most significant asset. Murray employs various rhetorical techniques, including repetition, structure, and purpose in order to convey this message. 

When preliminarily overviewing the text, many words and phrases stand out; hence, proving intention to make the reader question: why? Terms such as discovery, exploration, and journey are continuously noted. Synonymously, these terms are placed in a context in which emphasizes their importance. For example, “When the writer looks at a piece of writing he sees the final chart of a voyage of discovery, and he can imagine the expedition which began with a dream,” (Murray 28) Murray makes sure the reader isn’t focusing on other aspects of the piece, but he directly notes what he prefers the reader to examine: the journey, the voyage, discovery, expedition. Why? Repetition can create an atmospheric tone; in this case, the repetition of positive, adventurous, imaginary, and yet mysterious words reinforces the reader that something lies beneath just the calligraphy on a paper.  This effect can further activate reader’s mind to think spontaneously and create their own story underlying the author’s written words, and hence, apply this to his or her own life. Not only does this effect make things more personal for the reader, but it can encourage the reader to want more and, ultimately, think more introspectively into their lives. 

Dissecting an author’s intentions solely by examining the meaning within his words isn’t the only way to unearth them. Structural organization of a writer’s work can also demonstrate his or her intentions for the reader. Within Murray’s piece, unusual punctuation is evident, even for such a knowledgeable and experienced writer. Examples such as informal language when he writes, “We may not be able to teach our students to write, but as teachers we can create an environment which will encourage them to pass through the stages of writing necessary for effective written communication” (Murray 28). In this snippet, Murray writes almost as if it were a complete, continuous thought; unedited, uninterested in giving the reader time to stop and absorb this information in smaller pieces in order to take a final message with him or her as a whole. Why must he have done this? Writing continuously lays everything out on the table for the reader so he or she can use all of the stated information to form an opinion or an overarching message as a whole. He or she can then come to conclusions with a personal reflection, as opposed to spending time trying to discover what a million smaller snippets are trying to convey. This can encourage a more individualistic culmination. Additionally, longer sentences engage a reader further as the punctuation is untraditional and unfamiliar to readers, especially for the audience in which Murray seems to be targeting.

Ultimately, behind every piece of writing, an author had an original intention: an idea that he or she had wished to share with others. Something important must have triggered Murray to be so driven to exploit the importance of such a drastically different writing process. Throughout the text, Murray utilizes a myriad of examples of repetition, as noted before. Specifically, he repeats his personal declaration for the “essential process of writing” in which he claims is “A writer is an individual who uses language to discover meaning in experience and communicate it” (Murry 26). Murray concludes his piece by asserting how self-revelation is the ultimate experience a writer should acquire through producing his or her work, and he must have an environment that supports it. Hence, Murray is concluding by disclosing his ultimate purpose for writing to begin with: there are countless flaws in modern day teaching practices for the English language that have created detrimental boundaries for developing writers. He views the process of writing as one that should develop the writer, as opposed to the writer being the one to develop the work. This is deemed valuable, at least through Murray’s experience, as it can promote so much more individual growth for aspiring writers. Evidently, this work promotes his ideas that current teaching practices do not encourage for those who are learning to write effectively, and use all of their abilities to their greatest advantage. By dissecting a piece of work, an individual can interpret infinite ideas and theories in which can be applied personally. This is much more intellectually effective for a reader to grow as a person, and further heighten that effect to those whom will grow under his teachings, too.
