PB2B

PB2B

Since Project Builders are supposed to help us when writing WP2, I am going to use different format than essay.

            I chose Kerry Dirk’s Navigating Genres as my choice of article. And we will be looking at 10 different rhetorical moves that Dirk used; five moves from the article “They Say, I Say” appendix and five moves from what I found and named. Rhetorical moves, in my opinion, are what writer uses their unique way of writing to make their writing stand out. Good moves can affect readers to think in a way that the writer intended to. So let’s check out some of Dirk’s writing moves.

From They say I say appendix

1.     Capturing authorial action

Ø  “Amy Devitt points out that…” Dirk uses this move to clarify the point that Amy Devitt is trying to say to the readers. This move is effective in a way that author can quote another writer’s opinion in smoother way. With this, the flow of the reading can improve because the reader can see what other writer’s opinions are along with the author’s opinion.  

2.     Introducing standard views

Ø  Dirk wrote, “By this point you might realize that…”This move would be effective if the writer wants the readers to realize something important if they were not quite realizing. The author is assuming what readers might think; making the article more interesting to read. Another way this move can be effective is it can connect with the readers. The author is not just word vomiting in the article; it is trying to connect with reader’s situation.

3.     Signaling who is saying what

Ø  Dirk wrote, “Devitt argues that…” to introduce Devitt’s(another writer) idea on genre. He is bringing other writer’s quote to bring the argument or idea to relate to his own idea. For the readers who might be confused what the writer’s message is, Dirk used this move to suggest what the writer is actually arguing about. This move introduces new idea of other writer to tell the reader who (Devitt) is saying what (that genres often have formulaic features).

4.     Adding metacommentary

Ø  Dirk wrote, “In sum, (Devitt’s opinion on genres)…” This move is effective when the writer wants to bring all the ideas together and sum it up. By summing up the ideas that the writer was quoting previously, the readers can understand better about the author’s main purpose of introducing those ideas. It is easier for readers because the author gave the sum of all the opinions that he had mentioned before.

5.     Explaining quotations

Ø  This move is almost the same as “capturing authorial action” move because it is just another way of introducing another writer’s argument in author’s own words. By re-writing the writer’s opinion, author can achieve the goal of making the readers think twice about the message—once in writer’s quote and another in author’s easy explanation. Therefore, this moves increases the reader’s ability to catch the main point of argument or idea.

Moves that I found

1.     Introductory joke

Ø  Starts the article with joke so that readers are more willing to read. Once the first sentence starts with the joke, you might want to read a little more to see how the joke connects to the topic of the article.

2.     I was in your shoes

Ø  Dirk often starts his first sentence of the paragraph with his own story, opinion, and situation. He says “When I started writing this essay, I had some ideas of…then I asked myself, should I go into this essay?” and this appeals to the readers that this article has more friendly tone than other formal articles. This move shows the readers that the author is not a genius who can write perfect piece of writing whenever they intend to. Therefore readers can read the article with idea in mind that the article isn’t so formal and boring to read.

3.     Raising expectation

Ø  This is my favorite move because author can definitely make me read the whole paragraph when they use this. This move is called raising expectation because the first sentence of the paragraph is “Here is the bad news.” After reading this first sentence, readers might want to know what the bad news is. This can affect the readers to be more engaging while reading.

4.     The anticipator

Ø  This move is literally anticipating what the readers might ask after author has written some questioning ideas. So the author asks possible questions that might come from the readers. By questioning author’s own idea and answering in depth helps the readers to get clear message of the author.

5.     Bullet points

Ø  Bullet points were used to help readers to see what are important point that author is trying to say. This visualization gives pause to boring blocks of sentences and makes the readers to see think about the points that author pointed out.