Considering "Moves" While You Read

I thought I'd get us jumpstarted for your Week 1 posts.  As I mentioned in the write-up for this independent study, this quarter I'd like you to consciously read for (1) content and (2) "moves."

"Moves" can be a tough/weird/abstract concept, but if you think and read like a writer -- we're looking at you, Mike Bunn -- it basically comes down to taking a hard look at the various decisions a writer has made, analyzing the rhetorical effects of those decisions, and considering other possibilities and what effect/impact they might have on you or other readers.  

For instance, let's take a look at what I just wrote.

• There's only one sentence in that second paragraph (is that breaking convention?  Does it matter?), and that second one is kinda long.  However, its "readability" was hopefully enhanced by being broken up by a "dashed side-thought."

• I referenced a previous author/piece which you are each familiar with to, hopefully, take a potentially-troublesome concept ("moves") and remind you that we did this stuff before.  I also hyperlinked the piece to make it "clickable" for my beloved readers, just in case they get the itch to go back and re-read that comp/rhet masterpiece.

• I used parallelism in the series of items after the dash: "it basically comes down to X-ing, Y-ing, and Z-ing."  By maintaining a consistent verb tense -- present progressive, i.e., "ing" verbs (though it doesn't matter what it's called -- reader are usually better able to anticipate what's coming up in the series.  It helps to establish a flow and/or momentum.

• I dug deep down into my bag o' cheap tricks and used the "Rule of 3."  Xing, Ying, and Zing -- that's 3 items in a series, and apparently, 3's seem to be pleasing for most readers' ears/eyes.

• And lastly, I used -- and will always use -- the amazing oxford comma.  Why?  Well, with the exception of my insatiable penchant for backslashes and dashes, I want to make my readers' jobs as easy as possible.  That oxford comma signals to my reader: hey, brother/sister, one more item in this series is coming up!

So that's what I mean by taking a look at writers' moves when you read.  I want you to read for content, sure (i.e., what is ethnography?"), but I also want you to be reading for the purpose of checking out their writerly moves so you can repurpose them to build your own writing chops.

Note: here's that same (second) paragraph above, color coded.

"Moves" can be a tough/weird/abstract concept, but if you think and read like a writer -- we're looking at you, Mike Bunn -- it basically comes down to taking a hard look at the various decisions a writer has made, analyzing the rhetorical effects of those decisions, and considering other possibilities and what effect/impact they might have on you or other readers.