Make a Move

“Moves” big or small are meant to ignite some kind of emotion or reaction to the audience. It is made to persuade the audience, it helps the author further make their point. Contrary, to a likely assumption these “moves” do not have to be big and bold, they can be anything the author does that will cause a reaction.In the “They Say, I Say” appendix there is a number of moves that are quite popular, our course readings show countless examples of these moves to, again, try to get a very particular response from the audience.

Towards the end of the  “So What? Who Cares?” article, the author makes the concession that in some cases the readers already know why it matter, however, the author stands their ground by stating that “when you are careful to explain who cares and why, it’s a little like bringing a cheerleading squad into your text.” The author is pushing their point, by giving it more grounds. The author wants to say that even if your audience knows, you should remind them.

            Alex Reid also uses one of the popular “moves” as well, Making what something they say, you say. He states this popular belief between people and the discovery made by Malcolm Gladwell, that it takes “10,000 hours of dedication” to be an expert of something. This allows Reid to already have a strong argument because he shows that there are already people who agree with him. To name a new move, he also uses Ease into it. He used that fact to ease into his topic of blogging can help students become experts in writing. This move helped beause the fact could supirse reader how much work it take to become an expert, but there is blogging to help students be expert writers.

            Establishing why your Claims Matter is used in Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking by Teaching Writing. The author wants to prove that both first order and second order thinking are essential to writing and the ways it can even make it easier. To do this the author states “by writing down our thoughts we can put them aside and come back to them with renewed critical energy and a fresh point of view.” This helps readers see that this is a very helpful tip, because the author elaborated on why these types of thinking are important to writing.

            Ironically, the article “So what? Who cares?” uses the move of Indicating Who Cares. The article begins by discussing how statements are only there and does not elaborate why any of it matters. The author elaborates on how this happens “because writers and speakers assume that audiences will know the answers already or will figure them out on their own.” The author goes on by stating that this why students leave lectures feeling they have learned nothing, so this why people should care about what the article is talking about, to be more effective in what they say or due.

            Introducing Objections Informally is seen in Shitty First Drafts as she argues that “all good writers write them,” stating something that not everyone believes because writers should just naturally always need to write brilliantly. The description also explains the argument. This “move” allows a strong response from the audience because it grabs the attention of the reader because of the manner in which it disagrees and the reader wants to know why.

            However, there are other moves that are also very effective, that are not stated in the book. For example, in “Shitty First Drafts” one of the most prominent moves is something named Inside the Head of a Professional, in which a professional, in this case an author, is telling you something about their field. Lamott lets the reader inside her thoughts of how she would start “by writing a really shitty first draft” and “say, no one is going to see this.” This gives the reader a lot reassurance, which is achieving her goal of convincing people that shitty first drafts are essential and are more than okay to have when in the writing process. This is significant to readers because she is a professional so it does persuade readers it works because it works for her, an author.

            Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking by Teaching Writing uses Point Connection. In point connection the author is taking two ideas, so in this case “First Order Thinking” and “Second Order Thinking,” and connects the two to make a more broad point. In the article first and second order thinking are explained sepreately and then the author connects the two types of thinking and discusses why they compliment each other and then why they make your writing better, the ultimate point. This allows the reader to be convinced because of the grounds it has crafted.

            In the article “Backpacks vs. Breifcases” the author use Let’s Have a Connection. The author starts off with a personal anecdote to connect with the reader. Carroll knows that his audience is mostly students so he talks about a first day of school. This grabs the reader’s attention and allows them to want to know about the reasoning behind his point. Connecting to the reader and talking to them gives the audience a feel of connection between them and the author.

            The “So what? Who Cares?” article uses a plethora of diverse syntax. The author does this to organize their thoughts so it will have a good flow, and their readers will also not get bored with the same types of sentences. It is another way to keep the reader interested. It also gives the author a good flow and organization.