Thlog 6

            This last week in Writing 2, we clarified more clearly what moves are and how they are different from conventions. In general, there is a consensus that moves may be specific to certain writers, while conventions are general and exist within all pieces of the same genre. However, this does not mean that conventions themselves cannot be moves as well. A writer may employ conventions in their piece as a move, which may in turn make it part of a specific genre. For example, if someone was writing a research essay, he or she may structure it with the IMRAD structure. Although this is common to research papers, it may not be put in because it is conventional for the research paper genre, but rather because this specific move may have a convincing impact on the reader, and may end up convincing the reader of a certain point. We reviewed how to find moves in pieces as well. The idea of “reading like a writer” keeps coming up, and similar ideas come up as well, such as “listening like a producer” or “seeing like an architect.”

            We went over some important grammar guidelines in class as well. In particular, we went over the idea of “parallelism.” It is important to recognize and utilize this technique for many reasons, one of which is to show professionalism, and also to guide the thought process of the reader. Parallelism exists in many forms, not just literarily, but visually as well. When creating a resume, it is important to make sure that its parts are grammatically and visually parallel for the reasons discussed above, in order to demonstrate one’s professionality and to help expedite the reader’s reading process.