Why do people write? In her essay “Writing to Connect,” Mary Pipher strives to answer this question, and find the true reason behind people’s writing. She olso uses this question and explanation to persuade people to write more often. Pipher breaks her essay down into sections. In her first section, after her introductory paragraphs and her anecdote about how The Diary of Anne Frank affected her writing, Pipher explains how writing that is meant to bring about change does not need to be great literature (Pipher 203). Although making these effecting pieces would be a lot stronger if they were truly works of art, writers can simply convey their points through propaganda and other techniques. In her second section, entitled “Moral Writing,” Pipher really gets to the meat of the question. Through many studies of writers and their works, she figures out why they write about certain issues, and what techniques they use to do this. In this section, she also persuades the reader to write more often. She does this by telling the reader why he/she should write and how their writing can change the world. Throughout this essay, Mary Pipher uses countless references to other authors and their various pieces of writing. And while some of these references are effective, I believe that some of them take away from the overall purpose of her essay.
One of the most obvious rhetorical elements in Mary Pipher’s essay “Writing to Connect” is the numerous quotes and references that she makes. She uses these references to show many different things. She references writings that she classifies as art, writings that are strictly informative persuasive pieces, writings that changed her personal views and beliefs, successful writings, unsuccessful writings, and writings that make examples for her. Some of these references are successful and affect the reader in a positive way, such as her introductory anecdote of how The Diary of Anne Frank changed the world through her eyes. This specific reference not only draws the reader in, but also shows how writing never dies and continues to change peoples’ views long after the writer is dead.
However, towards the end of Pipher’s essay, I found myself loosing concentration more and more at each reference. I think that during the final section of her essay, Pipher uses too many references. The sheer number of these references is just overwhelming, and as a reader, my mind began to drift farther and farther from the point of the essay. At some points during this final section, I found myself lost and had to ask myself “What does this have to do with the rest of the paper?” in order to get back on track. Had Pipher gotten rid of a few of these references and shortened her essay up a little, I think I would have found myself much more concentrated on the reading, and it would have been a much easier essay to read and understand.