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