Moves Moves Moves..

PB2B: “Moves” in “Annoying Ways People Use Sources” and “Spaces of Writing”

Clearly, the topic in these articles is writing, but the formats are extremely different. Both of these articles are oriented towards college students, as well. College students who are searching for a guide in the artistic form of communicating through words. The authors take in consideration the audience while trying to explain some basic fundamentals in the criteria for an exceptional paper/project. “Spaces of Writing” is more of a broad approach in writing while “Annoying Ways People Use Sources” specifies on citations.

    Now to begin with the author’s moves. “Spaces of Writings” was a comic style piece of text which made the piece so much more easier to read. The authors of this comic clearly know that students read the original format of papers daily. By bringing something new and fresh, the audience of this paper will be indulged and amused by the difference. The illustrations overloaded the piece of text which distracted the readers from the actual writing. (not distracted enough to forget about the actual message of the text though) Speaking of “rhetoric writing,” the authors try to interact with the audience in the most influential, yet interesting style. As a reader, one feels the authors were supporting and rooting for students to enjoy writing. Since “Annoying Ways People Use Sources” was more of a serious article, the format of the article was the usual “plain Jane.” It was an essay form with paragraphs and subtopics. The tone of the author correlates with the purpose of this format because he sincerely cares about the corrections students should approach. Like he states in his title, they are “annoying” ways or things students tend to do. His title is a move apparently as well by the choice of words he is using; he demonstrates to the readers his ideas are to be taken seriously. If the author would have changed his title to: “Ways Students Use Sources.” Would the title have the same effect on the audience?

    Another move portrayed by the authors of “Spaces for Writing” was the use of short phrases and punctuation. The short phrases in the comic bubbles helped the reader tag along easily to what is trying to be interpreted. In a long thought, the authors disconnected the ideas and somehow connected them to ellipsis. The ellipsis made sure to let the reader know that the whole idea has not yet been expressed. So as a reader, one focuses on the reading more and continues onto the next bubble. Additionally, exclamation marks can be seen as a move. The exclamation marks in the comic seem to bolden some ideas. By emphasizing the importance of the comments, the reader takes note on remembering what was stated. “Annoying Ways Students Use Citations” had a few moves that worked efficiently; Kyle D. Stedman made use of rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions can be seen as a move because it involves the reader and initiates a connection. The author automatically connects with the reader by making them think of a response. The author also made use of some side comments of the paragraphs. For example, he states “Armadillo Roadkill: dropping in a quotation without introducing it first.” He used these side comments as a summary of the entire paragraph. Using these as short summaries, the author gets the reader to understand the main concept and not feel confused after reading the paragraph. The side comments were used excessively throughout the article, so it means the reader should be following along with the article closely.