Writing
The Writing Situation
Although a writer may work in private， a writer is never alone. To write is
to communicate with other people: we write letters to share our lives with
friends. We write business reports to influence managers decisions. We
write essays to convert readers to our vision of the truth. Without other
people， we would have little reason to write.
Just as we Wish to touch people through our writing， we have been influ-
enced by the writing of others. Will Rogers s famous quip， \"All I know is
just what I read in the papers，\" has truth. We learn many things indirectly
through the w~ritten word， from current and historical events to the colli-
sions of subatopaic particles and of multinational corporations. Even when
we learn from ~ direct experience， our perceptions and interpretations
are influenced by the words of others. Through language we participate
in an exchange of ideas and information that draws people s minds
together.
Your economics professor assigns a five-page paper requiring you to com-
ment on the problems created by the federal deficit. If you know the facts
and have a strong opinion， you are able to go to your typewriter and pound
out the assignment. This work represents your opinions， but is it solely a
product of your own mind?
To form opinions， you had to gather information on the deficit--probably
from newspapers， magazines， and television. Editorials and articles in po-
litical magazines may have influenced your current view of the subject.
Ideas you heard or read over the years about economics， taxes， and govern-
ment spending have shaped your economic attitudes. Even your under-
standing of how the federal government works， how it is financed， and the
nature of its role in the economy is based on what you learned from teachers
and textbooks in history， government， and economics courses.
As you wrote， you kept in mind the economics professor s lectures and
assigned readings on economic concepts and theory. They helped you be-
come more informed and thoughtful， enabling you to present a mature，
informed opinion. All semester the professor has been expressing opinions;
now it is your turn. The assignment demands that you apply what you have
learned to the problem of the federal deficit. You yourself may have Specific
economic issues to discuss in the paper to get the professor s reaction. At
the very least you want your paper to earn the professor s approval for how
competently you handle the course material. Above all， as you write you
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