PB 2B

Moves

Janet Boyd’s “Moves”

In the article “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking) Janet Boyd employs “moves” to make her piece effective. Her first move begins in the title. It is a casual title that doesn’t have too many words as well as fairly simple words. Not many articles on rhetoric have the word “murder” was presents this as slightly unconventional. This unconventionality in the title attracts the readers attention and reflects the format of the rest of the piece. The context in which someone reads this would be similar to what we read it as, an essay that are teachers force us to read and then write about. Therefore, Boyd has a reluctant audience from the beginning of students that you rather not be reading it. This is why her choice, or move, to write not just another rhetoric article and add some fun examples or activities and unconventionality is so important. It sets her apart from all the other writers that students have to read and attempts to spark some enjoyment through reading this. In addition, the examples she gives are things that students don’t normally see in an academic piece. She uses a murder to framework her argument calling the students “detectives” or “coroners” to identify rhetoric. This relates to her audience so the students actually know what she's talking about and can remember the examples that she gave. Janet Boyd’s article has some fresh “moves” in her article to entice her audience and create a memorable piece.

Kerry Dirk’s “Moves”
Dirk opens his article “Navigating Genres” with a joke. No matter the quality of this joke, his move of placing a joke at the beginning creates a casual tone. This tone makes the piece to seem easier to read because it’s not full of jargon to confuse the reader. Just like Boyd’s piece above, Dirk is attempting to catch the attention of students who are being forced to read. This is another reason for a casual tone with jokes. This move attempts to capture the attention of a stubborn audience. He also uses country music as an example. He chose this because many people are familiar with country music and despite their personal preferences, they know enough about so it’s not completely new. Dirk also uses bullets points to change up the structure of his article. This makes it easier to read and adds some pizazz so that the reader doesn't get bored reading only paragraphs. This is also helpful when he gives multiple examples because than they aren’t just place one after another in a sentence. His use of ransom letters provide humorous and distinct examples. This helps the reader remember and distinguish genre. He also quotes many other sources. This supports his argument and persuades the reader that he is a reliable source.

Both these authors use “moves” to make their words and idea come off the page and really resonate with their audiences. There are nuances in every piece of writing that reflects the decisions of the author. I think that every “move” that an author uses is successful to at least one reader. It depends on the attention to detail of the reader. Those who have a very critical view think that some of the less academic aspects make the paper lose credibility, however those who don’t pay much attention to the piece find that stuff to be the only thing keeping them reading. That is why the author must know his audience and with reluctant students, these authors’ “moves” were all successful. 

PB 2A

Language of a Scholar

Every four years the United States holds presidential elections in which two candidates compete for the hearts, aka votes, of the American public. Before the final election on November 4th, the presidential candidates must make it through an extensive nomination process which begins years before the voting year. For example, rumors of Hilary Clinton’s campaign for the 2016 elections began after she lost the democratic nomination for the 2008 election. This election process is a huge event and catches the attention of the entire nation. It has been analyzed by political scientists as well as the topic for many Saturday Night Live skits becoming both an area of study and humor. 

Although the nomination and election process receives coverage worldwide, depending on the audience and the context, the style or tone of the piece can differ drastically. An article written during the 2008 elections by Jay Cost called “How Obama Won The Nomination” discusses the process through which Obama received the nomination for the democratic party over Hilary Clinton in the primaries. He begins by introducing the topic of the elections and giving background on the event. He then states his argument that “Obama won not simply because he had more sup- porters, but also because the "rules of the game" made those supporters better at generating delegates.”. This is directed to an audience that is interested in the elections and the process behind it not only the results. The language is very formal and informative with very few personal anecdotes. Cost breaks his article down into sections and also includes diagrams that correspond with the text. There are also graphs and equations to show data of the elections and real life results what Cost is discussing. Numbers, or figures, are also included to provide solid evidence and give the reader an idea of how large or small the amounts are. This paper also includes foot notes to provide further information or clarify something said in the text. Words that are theories or concepts are found in quotation marks to coin the term and emphasize that topic. Because that elections are number based there is a lot of numeric data swell as graphs. This is based on the context because if this was a piece on music, then there would be musical notes or lyrics as examples. 

A “SCIgen” paper looks fairly similar to this. The language features more technical jargon and smaller, less descriptive paragraphs, however, it is also separated into section and each featuring new information or idea. The language contains more jargon because the audience is not just people interested in the article, but are instructions for an audience with prior knowledge to this topic. There are also diagrams that are explained with the text that clarify or provide example for the text. There is a general thesis for this paper, but not like the argument in the political article. Because the context of this piece is scientific and not for someone without background like the first piece. This article is strictly information based with no other personal additions from the author. This very scientific language can confuse someone that does not have further information on the topic. It is confusing and cryptic while the other article is much more approachable for any reader. 

The most important aspect of the political article is the language that the piece is used. It makes that article sound intelligent without being confusing and discouraging a reader. The language influences the audience because it appears to be an educated argument which they can trust and learn from. Without this language the entire piece would be different and lose its ability to persuade an audience.  

PB 1B

Genre Generators

SCIgen: The “genre generator” creates papers with large, scientific words to suggest a level on intelligence and difficulty. There are numbers in the middle of sentences as footnotes or citations. The numbers are very in-your-face and establish a very clinical tone to the paper because they are simply boxed like so [4]. These number draw your attention and the amount of them suggest that there are many other pieces referenced so this article must be full of information. There are also headings that suggests a methodology to encountering this paper so that it seems more like lab instructions. Also science-y diagram(like molecules) are scattered throughout to help the audience visualize the complex concepts. Overall, this paper reflects a computer science manual. 

Comic Strips: The comic strips all included three colorful illustrations that each had a little blurb of dialogue to tell a story. The illustrations caught your attention and should who was talking through a dialogue bubble stemming from the speakers mouth. The each had a beginning, middle, and end but very little plot. Each was short and sweet without using big words or even real life topics just to add comic relief and not to be taken too seriously. The strip format with the story moving from left to right follows the pattern in which people read and the same dimensions of each little frame allowed fluidity in reading the little story. 

Memes: Memes are taking images, normally ones that are quite popular, and adding dialogue that the audience knows is not the original context. They are meant to be funny and to the point with the words written directly on the image so that there is attention place on both the picture and the words. Normally the dialogue/words are sassy thoughts or phrases that the character would speak. They are also directed to the audience not to another person because they only feature one character. It is common that the words associated with an image continue the same speech style as the character to have the audience read the sentence in the characters voice and not just as reading a manual. Memes spoof images and create a laugh for their audience. 

Regency Romance Plot: Each little plot summary for these romance novels begin with the protagonist, who is also always a female, name. This choice of gender appeals to the largest audience which is women. They describe her story in an extravagant manner to add a whimsically dire tone to each plot. The protagonist normally has some background to her with where she comes from, her age, her job, her personality, features, her challenge, her love…ect. Also, all of these women live in England which was most likely inspired by Jane Austen’s English love stories. The women are also at a prime marrying age, or at least for the 1800’s (around 18-26) suggesting that all of these stories are ending or have some relation to marriage. 
Each of these plots has a very distinct tone (whimsically dire) and audience (women) and they fulfill and appeal to both. 

By viewing each of these websites, a person can see how specifically different a writing piece can be. I sure no one would use the conventions of the romance plots to write the computer science paper. Just like memes would’t make good romance plots. Each appeals to a certain audience and that is evident just by glancing at them let alone analyzing format, diction, tone/style, and other rhetorical features. Through the assignment, someone can see very distinct types of writing and how they can’t really overlap. This allows a genre to be seen and what makes a genre, conventions, as well because they are unique and repeated in only one of each generator with no crossover between websites. I really enjoyed this activity and I think it could help everyone understand genre. 

PB 1A

State of the Union Address

I have always have an interest in politics which led me to my current major of political science. I love to study how interactions between states fluctuate based on interests and how our leaders are elected to protect and guide us but many of them struggle to achieve this. I like to understand the political system I am living in and how the decisions of our nations leaders effect the people. The framework for an administrations goals is stated every year in January at the State of the Union Address. 
This solo speech given by the president to the American people is and example of a genre. This Address has a very specific goal to ensure and motivate the American people about their current circumstance and the progress that will be made in the next year. The president tone is very optimistic and comforting not the frighten the public. He is there to persuade them into believing that his ideas for that year will better and progress the nation. With the context attempting to be positive, many presidents try to avoid their mistakes in the past year by referring to them not as mistakes or miscalculations but as “works in progress”. This clever choice of words helps the focus of the State of the Union Address be primarily on all the good he will do, and not everything he has to fix. There is also a secondary audience, other nations. With our form of government there is a level of transparency with which other nations can see all of the speeches directed to American citizens. Therefore, during these State of the Union Addresses, the president is also aware that other nations are watching causing him to choose his words wisely to reflect well on America, but not divulge too much information to competing nations. 
Optimism and avoidance of mistakes are two conventions in this genre.If Obama in the State of the Union Address on January 20, 2015 came out and said “Our economy sucks, our military sucks, our industry is shrinking, we are wasting energy…”, people would be very unsettled. Therefore, having this optimism is vital to a successful speech and a convention throughout the genre. Questions are also an example of conventions. The president asks “are we settled with are nations economy?” stimulating a response of his audience. History is also a convention. As odd as it may seem, president’s use historical references to demonstrate how far we’ve come and how much further we have to to. Also, story telling. President’s give a narrative of someone to relate to the public and appear to understand each individual story. Families and wholesome ideals are a convention that also create the feeling of understanding between the president and his people. The concept of the American Dream falls into this category and has been apart of many State of the Union Addresses since it’s creation.

I could go on and on about every nuances of political jargon and rhetoric. However, that is 500 words and I’m sure for some of you this is not as exciting as it is for me. Thanks for reading!!!