Teaching the Complexity of Purpose: Promoting Complete and Creative Communications

Abstract

The successful communicator is expected to provide communications that are not only complete but also representative of effective thinking (i.e., original). Creating complete and creative communications begins with a disciplined process of discovery—identifying, assessing, prioritizing, and integrating the articulated and embedded purposes. Expanding on the work of Linda Flower and John Hayes, this article first explores a means to promote a thorough examination of purpose. It then provides tools for capturing and integrating these insights into communications that are complete, capable of satisfying the rhetorical challenges, and compelling reflections of the student's creative problem solving abilities.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Kinneavy

, A Theory of Discourse, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, p. 48, 1971.

Blyler

N. R.

, Purpose and Composition Theory: Issues in the Research, Journal of Advanced Composition, 29, p. 97, 1989.

Dorn

, Case Method Instruction in the Business Writing Classroom, Business Communication Quarterly, 62: 1, pp. 48–49, March 1999.

Blyler

N. R.

, Teaching Purpose in a Business Communication Course, The Bulletin, 56: 3, p. 15, September 1993.

Flower

, The Construction of Purpose in Writing and Reading, College English, 50: 5, p. 528, September 1988.

Blitzer

L. F.

, The Rhetorical Situation, Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1: 1, p. 3, January 1968.

Flower

and Hayes

J. R.

, The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem, College Composition and Communication, 31: 1, pp. 24–49, February 1980.

Flower

and Hayes

J. R.

, The Dynamics of Composing: Making Plans and Juggling Constraints, in Cognitive Processes in Writing, Grien

and Steinberg

(eds.), Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey, pp. 34–40, 1980.

Getzels

J. W.

and Csikszentmihalyi

, The Creative Vision: A Longitudinal Study of Problem Finding in Art, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1976.

10.

Plung

D. L.

and Montgomery

, Professional Communication: The Corporate Insider's Approach to Business Communication, South-Western Press, Mason, Ohio, 2004.

11.

Plung

D. L.

and Montgomery

, The Physics of Information Management, Keynote address at the joint conference of NIRMA (Nuclear Information and Records Management Association) and NITSL (Nuclear Information Technology Strategic Leadership), Charleston, South Carolina, August 2003.

12.

Plung

D. L.

and Montgomery

, Comprehending and Aligning Professionals and Publications Organizations, in A Publications Management Source Book, Allen

O. J.

and Deming

(eds.), Baywood, Amityville, New York, 1994.

13.

Plung

D. L.

and Montgomery

, Add Style to Your Technical Writing, in Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions: A Practical Guide, Beer

D. F.

(ed.), John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1991.

14.

Plung

D. L.

and Moore

, Marketing Technical Ideas and Products Successfully! IEEE Press, New York, 1985.

15.

Plung

D. L.

and Montgomery

, Writing the Persuasive Business Letter, in Readings and Applications in Business Communication, Huseman

R. C.

(eds.), Dryden Press, Forth Worth, Texas, 1985; and in Huseman

R. C.

(eds.), Readings in Business Communication: Strategies & Skills, Dryden Press, Fort Worth, Texas, 1981.

16.

Plung

D. L.

, and Harkins

, A Guide to Writing Better Technical Papers. IEEE Press, New York, 1982.