Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
De Piero
Writing 2
4 Nov 2015
Moving into the Holidays
Imagine you have a broken television. You ask a repairman for advice and he
suggests that you let him fix the problem. You also ask a salesman for advice, but
instead of repairing the old television, he suggests you buy a new and improved one.
The difference between these two men is that they are approaching the same issue
from two different perspectives. This is an everyday example, but it is also a situation
that translates into the writing world. Similar to the men from different fields, different
writing genres and disciplines approach a topic or issue with different perspectives and
purpose according to their own interests, and utilize different moves and strategies as a
result.
To prove this point we can look at scholarly and unscholarly texts from different
disciplines to see how they approach the topic of holidays. The publications we will look
at are The Reading Behavior of Junior Secondary Students During School Holidays in
Botswana, from the Journal of Adolescent & Adult discipline, The quality of internal
medicine hospital care during summer holiday season, from the Department of
Neurology at the University of Turku, and Is there a right time to buy holiday plane
tickets? from CNN.com. We will refer to these as source 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
While all of these sources are on the topic of holidays, they are coming from very
different angles and address the issue based on their perspectives.
Comment [4]: I like this idea, but it's not going to help
me keep track of what's what -- it'll probably confuse
me even further. I think you need to find a different
way to abbreviate these pieces.
purpose. As the repairman and salesman give advice with hopes of marketing
themselves, so do these disciplines write about holidays in their own interests. In the
case of source 1, the authors write about student reading behaviors during holidays.
This is because they are writing from the education discipline and this topic is a way that
holidays directly affect them. Since source 2 is written from the neurology discipline, a
topic like that would have no relevance. Instead, the authors address internal medicine
care during the holidays because it has a much more personal relevance to their field.
Source 3 is a mainstream news source and as a result addresses a consumer related
aspect of holidays; when to buy plane tickets. Each of these sources decided on their
topic because it holds relevant to their particular disciplines or genres. It wouldnt make
sense for a discipline to approach an issue that does not impact them directly.
The purpose of each source is also directly related to the audience. Each source
writes about their own discipline because they are addressing the people from that
discipline. As a result, the authors use moves they know will be effective with their
particular audience. For example, each publication appears to use jargon or vocabulary
that is specific to their field and is best understood by those in that field. Source one
writes, The label thus encompasses complete illiteracy, functional illiteracy, and
aliteracy (Arua 590). Since this source is a scholarly text, it uses terminology that
would mostly be effective with qualified readers that are studying in the field of
education. Source 2 uses this same strategy, but rather with terminology used in the
neurology discipline. We analysed nationwide mortality and hospital discharge data
over a 10-year period related to internal medicine wards (Sipil 328). This is clearly
written for people with prior knowledge in the field. Using language like this on another
audience could potentially confuse the reader and lose their interest. Source 3 is not a
scholarly source, and as a result there is clearly a different audience. As a mainstream
media source, this article is obviously intended for the general public, and as a result
uses moves that are effective on that audience. One move they use is asking the
reader questions like Are you cheap and flexible (Hetter)?. This type of informal
writing is a move that couldnt be used by a scholarly source like 1 and 2, which is why
source 3 is unique.
The fact that source 3 is able to use informal language that couldnt be utilized by
first two sources, for example, are catering to an audience of well educated scholars
that have the objective of being informed. Therefore, if these sources were to use
informal language, they would lose credibility and the reader would not be interested.
Instead they use very rigid and professional language like Abstract, Methods and
Discussion, etc. Source 3 on the other hand has much more room to move when it
comes to the strategies they use. The news article genre has much less rigid
Another rhetorical feature that differs between disciplines is the tone used.
Different disciplines use different tones depending on how they want the issue to be
perceived. Using words with negative or positive connotations is a move that authors
will use to put their own spin on the topic. For example, in source 1, the introduction
takes on a type of incredulous tone. They write, Without supporting evidence, the poor
reading culture label is difficult to justify for any population group in Botswana (Arua
589). By using this tone, the author creates a kind of anti-ethos appeal in which they
discredit the opposing argument. This is a useful move to present their own argument
more positively. However, if we look at source 2 from the neurology department, the
author is trying to accomplish something else with their tone. However, inexperience,
workload and structural problems promoting discontinuity have been associated with
negative effects on the adequate use of resources, length of hospital stays and patient
satisfaction (Sipi 327). This author is also trying to put a spin on the topic but in this
case that spin is negative. These are two sources, both credible, discussing the same
topic. By comparing these different tones it is clear that these two disciplines are
approaching the topic in a different manner.
All these rhetorical features, moves, and strategies can be view as tools that a
writer is utilizing to accomplish a goal. Now, that goal is often determined by the
interests of a genre or discipline. With that being said, different moves and strategies
will be used for different goals. Keeping this in mind, it is only logical that writers from
different disciplines and genres will approach the same topic much differently. There
are more ways than one to skin a cat, and there are more ways than one for authors to
approach a topic.
Met Expectations
Exceeds Expectations
Thesis Statement
Use of Textual
Evidence from
Genres
Use of Course
Readings
Analysis
X+
organization/structure
Attention to
Genre/Conventions
and Rhetorical
Factors
Sentence-level
Clarity, Mechanics,
Flow
Other comments
Andy,
Solid work here. To take this to the next level, here are some ideas:
different sources are using and what kinds of RQs theyre asking
- I thought that all of your attention to moves was very good, and Id
like to see even more of it.
-Move past describing and get to evaluating -- try to pinpoint the so
what? of this assignment as much as possible.
-This is a tough one, but try inserting more of your own voice into
this. Youve got a great one from what Ive read in your blog and
heard in class -- if you can find a way to make this more of a Andy
piece about how different disciplines/sources analyze surfing rather
than just a how different disciplines/sources analyze surfing I think
itd make it even better.
Z
8.5/10