The definition of individual is: single or separate. When a writer is an individual, that writer stands out from the crowd. The only direction they follow is their own. By looking at repetition, contradictory statements, and synonyms, we can see that Donald M. Murray’s usage of the word one is significant in his essay of “The Interior View: One Writer’s Philosophy of Composition” to emphasize how the writer is an individual in his process of writing. His use of literary devices gives the message more texture, more flavor, for the audience to interpret the message.

The first device used to put emphasis on the word one is repetition. This appears all throughout the essay. For example, on page 26, one is used twice in one paragraph alone: “. . . I had been trying to capture the essential process of writing in one sentence” (Murray 26) and “Here is my one sentence: A writer is an individual who uses language to discover meaning in experience and communicate it” (Murray 26). On page 29, it is used four times, two of those times are in the same sentence. In the text on page 30, it is five times. At the end of the essay, it is used once in a quote by Stendhal that Murray chose. With so much repetition of the word one, it is clearly drawing in attention to it and in addition, making the reader feel this essence of the writer’s individuality in his process.

Contradictory statements are often used in “The Interior View”. Murray writes, “If [the student writer] is to write well he has to go through a process similar to the one which the professional writer has found works for him” (Murray 29). However, farther down the page, the essay states, “There is no one way to write . . .” (Murray 29). The two statements seem to be saying opposite things. The first sentence says that the student writer should follow a model the professional writer has made before him; the second suggests that a student can make up his own model. What is the essay trying to say when it seemingly contradicts itself?  Possibly, it could say that no matter which process a writer chooses to follow, his own or use someone else’s, they are going to have their own ideas forming from that process. At their very core, the writer truly is one individual.

One does not stand alone in supporting the concept of the individualness of a writer.  On page 30, where one is used five times, a synonym, own, is used three times; two of those times are used in the same sentence as one. “The learning writer should always feel he is working towards the one best way he can say what he has to say, listening to his own voice speaking his own meaning” (Murray, 30). This is not the only synonym that is used in the essay. On page 28, Murray incorporates a quote by Jules Renard. The use of alone is used, while not in the same sentence, in the same quote of one. “The impulse of the pen, left alone, thought goes as it will. As if follows the pen, it loses its freedom. It wants to go one way, the pen another . . .” (Renard, 28). As the usage of the word one supports the concept of an individual writer, the synonyms offer further support as well. It makes the essay seem less straight-forward; it offers fresh wording and further contemplation as to how the writer develops his own, individual process.

The writer is one person who uses literary devices, such as repetition, contradictory statements, and synonyms, to express their message. The reader is on their own in their interpretation of a text by identifying these devices. The audience is alone because it is comprised of many individuals. However, if we broaden the scope of ”The Interior View” from Murray is discussing a writer developing their own individual process and replace it with another profession or hobby, such as a cabinet builder, we can see that the concept of the individual applies to much more than a writer. In their profession, a cabinet builder has to find a process of managing different clients, different types of wood, and even what projects they need to start when. Apply almost any profession can be applied to this concept. Everyone has their own process for whatever project needs to be accomplished. This is truly how people are individuals. This is truly how the writer is an individual.