PB2B

            Each and every writer has their own moves that they incorporate into their writing to be more rhetorically effective. These moves show the author’s own personal style into their writing while also having some kind of rhetorical effect. How a writer choses to approach a topic and put it into words can really help us understand the purpose of a piece of writing. Using “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)” by Janet Boyd and “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis” by Laura Bolin Carroll, We can compare and contrast the rhetorical moves used and see exactly how effective they were.

            Since both articles were meant to teach students about writing better, the main audience of the articles are mainly students, who were usually young teenagers in high school and/ or college. In order to appeal to this audience of young students, both Boyd and Carroll wrote in very casual and conversational tones throughout their articles. “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)” is mostly in second person and uses “you” a lot to engage the audience into the writing while “Backpacks vs. Briefcases…” uses a lot of “I” statements, keeping it very casual. A lot of slang and informal language was used throughout both pieces. For example, at the end of her article, Boyd said, “… you are already in possession of the rhetorical skills necessary for mastering the genre of academic writing and that you need only apply them, I wasn’t just feeding you a bunch of bull”. She writes as if she is speaking in person to the reader and also uses slang to end off her article. This tone is able to successfully appeal to a younger audience because it makes it easier for these students to understand and follow all the information given. It would also keep the student more interested and into the topic.  

Another move, both writers use, is listing things out with bullet points and numbers. Boyd used bullet points once to list out a series of questions that help her explain a point she is making. Carroll uses this several times in her article in addition to numbered lists. This move makes it easier to provide a lot of information without overwhelming the reader. If all the information listed were placed into a paragraph instead, it would look very clustered and long. This move allows writers to give a lot more examples while still keeping their article very organized and easy to follow.

In addition, both writers further explain themselves through the use of parentheses, dashes and colons. Carroll uses parentheses and dashes to elaborate more on whatever she was trying to prove and provide even more examples. Boyd also uses both of these in her writing, but more for side comments. She also asks a lot of rhetorical questions to guide her readers the way she wants them to go. In addition, Boyd also adds in many italics to put emphasis on certain words especially important vocabulary. All of these moves are intended to aid the writers in effectively proving their arguments. However, Carroll was more successful in using the parentheses and dashes in her writing because they added more depth and insight to what she was trying to say. Some of the things Boyd put in parentheses were unnecessary and the essay could do without it. She did do a good job in italicizing important words so that they stand out to the readers. These moves still add to both of the writer’s style.

Even though both pieces are on the same topic, the two authors use different approaches to explain their arguments. Carroll would explain one point and then follow with examples to further prove that point. However, Boyd took a different approach and did the opposite. She made the audience do an activity before she explained the point and used that as her examples. This made her article a lot more interactive since she made her audience essentially participate in her writing. Boyd’s approach was a little more successful in teaching the audience since she make the audience create an example and then she would explain what the significance of it was. Carroll’s way was more of the traditional way where a writer would explain something and then follow it up with examples. The way the writers presented their examples shows how different moves can be used.

There are many different types of moves these writers could have incorporated into their writing, but I have only pointed out a few. Moves allow writers to create their own flare to their piece while still having some kind of rhetorical purpose that will appeal to their audience. While both “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)” and “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis” were trying to teach aspects of rhetoric, they used different moves to accomplish this goal. Both pieces were able to use moves successfully, proving their main argument.