Personal gain plays a key role in everyday writing because you get a sense of satisfaction when you are done writing it. For example, one of us constantly writes in a planner to stay organized and get the satisfaction of being neat. Normally when people write everyday, it gives them a sense of prosperity and a chance to stay connected with things in the everyday world. These pieces of everyday writing are not thoughtless for them because they had to understand the situation they were in. For example there is reason why you are putting time into this everyday writing. This would be the personal gain characteristic. Another key concept of the course is the manner in which the piece was written and what materials were used in the process of creating it. Depending of the materials used, it could have different meanings to different people. Writing in pen instead of typing, for instance, could mean that the writing is more permanent and there is a sense of quality and personality to it that only the person receiving it can understand. Written documents also have more power because it shows people took the time to make it personable. It allows the reader to have a greater connection with the writer. It shows your own personal style and how the reader can connect. Audience is also important because it influence the text you are writing. The way a piece of writing is written always keeps the reader in mind and helps to get them to see a certain way or to relate to them. The writer is also always connected to the audience, being aware of the audience constantly. Because, who you are writing for impacts how you write, whether it is a scrapbook for your eyes only, letter to a friend or family member, or journal to yourself or planner for daily plans. Each of these are examples of everyday writing that vary because of who the audience is.  On the point of audience, exigency plays an important close role. The exigency plays a part in the text because it is the meaning behind why the writer chose to write the everyday text. Depending on the problem the exigency portrays, it helps to determine whether or not it would be considered everyday writing. For example, the President wouldn’t address what tie he chose to wear at a senate meeting, but instead important issues like the national debt or terrorism. The final concept that deals with everyday writing is the issue of formality and informality. Our group has decided that everyday writing isn’t determined mainly by whether or not the writing is formal or informal. It is the context and the diction used in which the text was written that determines its place in the everyday writing category. The letters by the people in the national park were considered to be formal to the person writing them, but to others it seems not as formal based on the arrangement of words and how it was written.

Emily G., Danielle M., Mallory A.