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.