PB2B - Moves

Depending on the audience, writers often incorporate different rhetorical strategies in order to influence their audience. In our particular case we are analyzing readings whose purpose is to guide aspiring writers through the qualms of creating a written work. These authors use many rhetorical strategies, or “moves” in order to capture the attention of the reader, and maintain their persuasiveness and credibility in order to guide them to use key writing tools.

Introducing a standard view: In the introduction of Kerry Dirk’s “Navigating Genres” piece they begin with a joke that they claimed the reader “likely already heard” and proceed with “Q: What do you get when you rewind a country song? A: You get your wife back, your job back, your dog back…” The purpose of this in the introduction of the paper is to provide the reader with something lighthearted they can relate to (a joke) that is relatively simplistic in order to introduce the main topic of the article (genre) by making it relatable to the reader who may be learning this information for the very first time.

Introducing quotations: Quotations can be embedded into text in many different manners. In Dirk’s article he chooses to embed a quote by introducing it. Dirk introduces a quotation by writing “as Devitt notes that [..]”. The purpose of introducing a quotation in this situation is so the author can increase the credibility of his claim. His assertion in the beginning of the sentence is that “learning every genre would be impossible” though this may be true, to make such a claim and by using the word ‘impossible’ can be construed by the reader as an absolute or exaggerated statement, in order for the author to maintain his plausibility he must use evidence to support it.

Disagreeing with reason: In Peter Elbow’s piece he argues against popular belief that suggests “intuitive thinking is better enhanced by silent musing”. Elbow dismisses this belief and explains not only the reason for which this statement is false but also why “rewriting and exploratory writing [..] are almost invariably productive.” The purpose is to guide the reader away from a popular misconstrued habit and offer people a new and more effective alternative. Often when people are told not to do something their initial reaction is to respond with “why” but immediately offering the reader a ‘why’ enhances the author’s persuasiveness.

Introducing an ongoing debate: In Caroll’s article regarding rhetorical analysis, the author uses advertisement as an example of rhetorical persuasiveness. By choosing a topic (media) and the way it effectively or ineffectively influences people through advertisements and commercials, the author is able to use this universal example and relate it to the topic at hand (rhetorical analysis). By making real life correlations to writing matter, the author helps the reader get a less abstract understanding of the topic.

Something implied or assumed: Anne Lamott’s article about ‘shitty first drafts’ claims that no one has an impeccable first draft and in order to reach a final draft even the best of writers need to edit their papers several times. Though this is something that everyone does, by concluding that even the best of the best writers must also go through this process helps to not only humanizes great writers and the process of writing, but also encourages the reader (who is most likely someone practicing writing) by claiming that no perfect work of writing will assemble itself without some time and work. Though it is obvious, it’s unspoken and therefore identifying it offers the reader confidence that perseverance will lead to a better end result no matter your writing level.

So obvious I’ll just say it: In Dirk’s piece, they incorporate a short segment with bullet points which get straight to the point about what should and should not be incorporated in a good thesis statement. These bullet points are a sudden shift from the formal paragraph format of the writing around it and visually draws the reader’s attention directly to it. The purpose is to draw the reader’s attention as well as signal the importance of what is being said in these bullet points (in other words it’s so important/preliminary that they must be stated straight up).

Wait, wait, don’t tell me: In Caroll’s piece, there is a question incorporated in the beginning of the paragraph, this question is immediately answered by the content of the paragraph. The purpose of this is to put the question in the reader’s mind as if it is so obvious or important that the reader themselves should have already been questioning/thinking about it. It also provides an alternate way to shift the focus from a broad subject and address something more specific that is extremely important.

The “cool dad”: In Lamott’s article there is a drastic change in the formality of the writing when the author describes their first hand experience in writing and editing papers. The purpose of this is to find a way to connect to the younger audience (the reader) and make themselves more relatable by using a more casual diction. By doing this, it makes it easier for the reader (who in this case is presumed to be a young adult in school) feel as though this is something they can easily accomplish themselves.

See, told you: In Bunn’s article he incorporates direct quotes from past students in regards to his concept about ‘reading like a writer’. The purpose of incorporating a quote like this is to give his argument, and in this case his entire paper, credibility. Throughout the text he stresses the importance and advantage of having a mindset to help ‘read like a writer’ using direct quotes from students of his in which they also acknowledge the benefits of his system. This not only credits the author, but also works to persuade the reader as someone who is in the same situation as them (“it worked for me, it can work for you”).