PB2B: Moves Writers Make

This particular project builder is about how to read like a writer. By understanding “moves” and different techniques writers make in their own writing, readers will be able to write more effectively themselves. I chose the articles “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lammot and “So What? Who Cares?” by Birkenstein and Graff; I found this articles to be my favorite and most intriguing for me to read. The authors are both very different, yet they both use rhetorical features, conventions and moves effectively. It was important for them to use these techniques because it makes their writing simple to understand for the reader.

“Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lammot

The author of this article, Anne Lammot, uses a very conversational tone throughout her writing; something I found to be very enjoyable. By using an informal tone, it makes the paper less tedious to read. Many times scholarly articles can be a bore because they involve too many facts that, often times, do not relate to the reader. In particularly the fifth paragraph of her article, Lammot goes through the process she has of writing an article; she uses short and concise sentences to explain the process in detail as well. She contemplates, “I’m ruined. I’m through. I’m toast. Maybe, I’d think, I can get my old job back as a clerk-typist.” Through this process, I, personally, related to her a lot because I dread writing; it’s the bane of my existence. I felt that if a writer, like her, goes through the same process I do every-time I write, there is hope for my writing skills after all. Not only does Lammot incorporate her personality into her writing with tone, but she also does so with by using parentheses. Lammot also uses parentheses throughout her paper as an interrupter or to add bits of information here and there. I noticed that these parentheses add to her writing style. As I was going through her paper and started to receive a sense of her writing style, I began to observe that her sentences within the parentheses do not have anything to do with the actual topic of shitty drafts itself. These moves—the tone and parentheses—add dimension to her piece and makes it easier to follow well as more relatable for the audience. For Lammot, making her piece relatable also made it more understandable for the readers to understand. 

“So What? Who Cares?” by Birkenstein and Graff

In the article, Birkenstein and Graff use bullet points to break up the article. All of the bullet pints are templates that show who to effectively write a “so what” and “who cares?” for the article. I liked this because I will be able to implement this writing techniques in my own writing. It is a great way to show different examples without heaping them in one big paragraph. It makes the examples clear and easy to follow. The authors also continually ask questions throughout the essay in order to engage the reader more and get ideas flowing in their minds. For example, they say “How do authors who answer these questions do so? Do they use any strategies or techniques that you could borrow for your own writing?” These questions helped me interact with the readings more; it allowed me to think of books and articles I have read and think about the overall message they were trying to give the audience. The tone of the article was also formal. It involved more second-order thinking uses words that were more complex and evidently meant for critical thinkers and writers. The authors also used sub-headlines in order to further break up the article. This, in my opinion, makes things easier to read and understand and more comprehendible. 

Comparing Both Articles

I found both articles to be helpful in their own ways. The essay by Lammot was more helpful in the way of saying that drafts are useful and it reassured me that first drafts, more often than not, are terrible; the important thing is to have the ideas written down. It’s easier to have higher-order thinking first and then add in (or fix) the lower-order thinking. The “So What? Who Cares?” article talks about the importance of adding this sentence into your own essays when you are writing. Both of the articles were similar in the sense that they broke up the articles into paragraphs and added things such as dashes into the writing; however, they were more different than similar. For example, the tones in the two pieces were very different—one was informal while the other was formal. I think the "So What? Who Cares?" article was the stronger piece of the two. It had more examples and was more useful for the audience. Although the "Shitty First Drafts" article helped me come to terms with my own writing (that it was okay to have bad first drafts), I believe that the other article will help me more in the long run.

PB2A: Comparing and Contrasting Scientific Papers

For this assignment, I choose to compare and contrast the article “Standardization of a model to study revaccination against Marek’s disease under laboratory conditions”  and the “SCIgen” genre generator program. 

“Standardization of a model to study revaccination against Marek’s disease under laboratory conditions” (referred to as the vaccination article thorough out the post) is an article by veterinary scientists studying the affects of a vaccine on the poultry industry. Between this article and the SCIgen generator, many reoccurring themes pop up that each paper shares. For example, both papers have an abstract, introduction, analysis, and conclusion; these topics are all important components of a research paper. Within the introduction, both of the papers propose a theory or hypothesis. The papers then go into depth about the experiments that were preformed. Multiple paragraphs were used to describe the procedure or methods that were completed in order to make sure that this was a legitimate experiment. Although the SCIgen website generated gibberish papers, the paper’s format made it easy to identify that it was a research paper used for scientific purposes. The authors of these papers have researched and organized data to back up their claims. These papers are then published in their field where then other experts in the field can reply by agreeing or disagreeing on their findings. Within this genre, there is a lot of jargon used that is specific to the field. These research papers are meant for those who already have an in depth knowledge about the subject; therefore, the writing is formal and sophisticated making it difficult for the average person to understand. 

The article I chose to compare to the SCIgen generator had very little differences. However, one of the main one’s I was able to identify was that their was a lack of a publisher for the SCIgen generator. My paper, about vaccines, recognizes its publisher on the top right hand corner of the paper. This is important because the publisher is the company who actually prints the article; without them, the article would not be seen by anyone else. Also, the SCIgen generator includes related works whereas the vaccination article does not. Related works are an important part of papers because it discusses what other scientists have had similar ideas that can help back up the claims made in the paper. Another difference between the two, although insignificant, is the way the vaccination article was configured; using columns rather than a giant body paragraph makes for a more eye appealing arrangement.

The most important conventions of these articles was most definitely the scientific format. The setup of: abstract, introduction, methods (can also known as procedure or implementation), results, discussion, conclusion and references. Although this format can be seen as strict and confining to some, scientists view this is a universal configuration. From all over the world, scientists follow this uniform format. By dividing the paper into sections, it is easy for the average college student, who is writing a research paper, to understand the key points of the article. The objective of this format is to insure key results and conclusions are appreciated. This scientific writing is very different from the writing done within the humanities.

By understanding the conventions and rhetorical features of these genres people will be able to identify what they are reading. For example, because I already had prior knowledge of this genre, I was easily able to identify what I was reading. 

PB1B: Genre Generators

With genre generating websites, you are clearly able to see the different conventions of each genre. As you keep pressing the generate button, you will get more and more examples of each genre and reoccurring themes will start to appear. These generators create simpler ways to learn about a genre.

SCIgen

In the SCIgen generator, many reoccurring themes pop up in each paper. For example, each paper had an abstract, introduction, analysis, and conclusion; these topics are all common components of a research paper. Although the website generated gibberish papers, this genre of papers is commonly used for scientific purposes. The authors of these papers research are usually experts in their fields and are conducting high level research. They publish papers in their fields where they organize data to back up their theories. Once they are published, other experts then start to reply on their findings. The style of writing in this genre most definitely uses jargon. The research papers are meant for those who already have an in depth knowledge about the subject; therefore, the writing is formal and sophisticated. On this website, the format of each generated paper is the same. It is written like a research paper that one would use when they are writing a formal paper for class. Many people quote and cite these research papers when writing or analyzing a topic. For example, in the class “Intro to Communications,” offered here at UCSB, we used this genre of papers to analyze a commercial. In commercials, advertisers use different techniques to appeal to the viewer; in the paper, we cited research papers that demonstrate that these techniques do indeed work.

Comic Strips

The website created, in my opinion, not very funny jokes. However, one can definitely pick up on the conventions of a comic strip through this generator. Comic strips are ordinarily formatted with three boxes and contain a short dialogue between characters. It is an animated drawing that is easy to read. The strips can be filled with puns, jokes, or even entertaining stories. With this genre, one cannot create a long story that goes on for 18 boxes; the strips are supposed to be short and to the point. Usually found in the comic section of the newspaper, this genre is can almost always be turned to for a good laugh.

Memes

Take a famous image or video then write in a funny saying: that is essentially what a meme is.  Memes arouse on social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and BuzzFeed. They started using these images to get a point across and they would go viral. Memes are supposed to be funny and used for comic relief in many different situations. They are used to make things funny and provide inside jokes. Memes, obviously, should not be used in serious articles or papers. This genre is specifically made for informal writing. The type of writing used in memes is meant to be sassy, funny, or sarcastic.  Formatting of memes are different from any other textual genre; they have a picture in the background, and with white letters it labels the picture with the caption. 

Fairytale Plots 

In the fairytale plot generator, it gives you a sentence that can be created into a short story or an entire novel. Words like “magic”, “save”, “brave”, “monster”, “defeat”, and “escape” are commonly used words in a fairytale. This genre can be used for multiple reasons but it is most common for it to be used as bed time stories for children. They always have a happy ending and have a calming feel to them. You would not use this genre to talk in every day language; it is more of a story that someone someone would read. From the generator, it is visible that none of the plot lines would actually occur in real life.  For example the website generated, “The story is about a brave tailor who must find a magic ring, evade an unwanted lover, and save a prince to return home.  Things are complicated by the main villain trying to kill the main character.” This plot line entails no plausible adventures that might actually occur in real life. The link to this generator is: http://www.springhole.net/writing_roleplaying_randomators/fairytaleplot.htm

PB1A: Fashion Blogs

A genre is particular type of category that is defined by its context, style, tone and audience; each of these particular items make a genre unique. Take a fashion blog, for example. It is a specific genre that uses rhetorical features and has distinct conventions. It was an innovative idea that started in about 2002 and became a popular idea that many fashionistas started to follow. These blogs cover many different elements of fashion because the bloggers create innovative ways to pair clothing, accessories and hand bags together. Covering the big fashion names to the small boutique brands, each blogger has a unique style that many people find desirable. Author’s of fashion blogs post different photos of themselves describing the chic new outfits they are wearing. The outfits are stylish, unique and up-to-date on the newest fashion trends for the season. Although the blogs are available for anyone to view, they target an audience with a passion for fashion and creativity. Many viewers find these blogs through social media sites such as Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. The posts are generally formatted with four to five pictures of the blogger wearing the outfit, then a description below with links to buy the clothing. The tone and style of fashion blogs can range from formal to informal writing. For example, the writer of the famous fashion blog called With Love from Kat, keeps her writing brief, personal and informative. In her descriptions, she starts with various different opening sentences such as “TGIF!,” “Merci Merci” or just jumps right into what she is wearing. After she goes into detail of the clothing she is wearing, she starts to describe what is a must have for the season. Although acronyms are used, she does stay true to the rules of grammar. Most bloggers follow the same general format: descriptions of the clothing they are wearing and adding a personal touch to the writing within the descriptions. Each blogger has his or her own style and way of writing their blog. The blogger’s have the space to explore his or her voice and creative energy. There is no right way to write the blog; however, one can be unsuccessful if they do not follow certain criteria. Many of the fashion bloggers blog for a living; therefore, the blogs must be intriguing to the viewer for it to reach is maximum potential. For example, if a fashion blog does not contain a picture of the outfit it will not receive as many views as ones that do. Also, if the blog just has pictures and links to the clothing, it will not receive as many views either. The audience likes to feel a connection to the blogger which is why the personal touches such as photos and descriptions are engaging. A trend in lucrative blogs are having vibrant and contemporary looks to them. Having an organized set-up, the blogs also feature different tabs so the viewers can easily access what season or style they are looking for. There are no other websites, like fashion blogs, specifically designed to enhance the viewer’s sense of fashion and receive fresh ideas for their own outfits.