QRGs: The Genre

In this blog post, I will explore the genre of the Quick Reference Guide (QRG). In order to do so, I will answer a series of questions regarding the conventions, purpose, and audience of this genre.

1. What do the conventions of this genre - the Quick Reference Guide - seem to be?
This genre seems to include a series of elements that are necessary for any Quick Reference Guide. These conventions include:

• Title: The title of each QRG explicitly informs the audience of the QRG's purpose. In addition, the relatively informal tone of the title makes the QRG accessible to a wide variety of people. For instance, the title "The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read" explains what the QRG is about, and also utilizes an informal tone.
• Introductory paragraph(s): The introduction contextualizes the topic of the QRG, and gives a brief explanation of what the rest of the writing will be about. For instance in this article about e-cigarettes, the introduction gives some context for these cigarettes, and also gives some information about what the rest of the QRG will be about.
• Questions in subheadings: Each section of the QRG is introduced as a question. These subheadings help the audience find information easily, and it makes the QRG easy to scan. It also helps keep the audience engaged, since the questions are generally predictive of what the readers might want to know. For example, in the article about e-cigarettes, each major question is introduced as a subheading, such as "Key question #1: How dangerous are e-cigarettes?"
• Use of images with citation/graphics with statistics: These visual tools offer more information for the audience. Images generally make the subject of the QRG more concrete by offering some perspective. They also sometimes add emotion to the writing, as shown by the picture of the little girl in this QRG about Greece's debt crisis. Graphs with statistics also help organize information and help put these statistics in context. Graphic displays with statistics can also be seen in the QRG about Greece's debt crisis.
• Hyperlinks: Hyperlinks direct the audience to the sources that the author of the QRG referenced, which adds to the author's credibility. Hyperlinks also help keep the QRG brief, since the links give more information about a topic that the author might choose not to focus on. For instance, instead of describing the entire study that the author references in the article about e-cigarettes, the author merely provides some information and then a link to the study on the American Heart Association's website. This drastically decreases the amount of explanation necessary in the QRG

2. How are those conventions defined by the author’s formatting and design choices?

Each QRG uses the question-and-answer format to make the QRG brief and to the point. In addition, most of the authors use bold/bigger font for the questions (for example, look at the questions in this article), making the questions stand out in comparison to the rest of the article. The use of white space and pictures/graphics throughout also make the QRG easy to read and scannable.

3. What does the purpose of these QRGs seem to be?

The QRG's purpose seems to be to briefly inform the audience about the topic in question. Oftentimes, QRGs do this by presenting both sides of a certain argument, and by giving enough context to understand the issue. For example, the QRG about Gamergate gives enough context and information for the audience to understand Gamergate and what the entire issue is about, without overwhelming the reader with excessive information.

4. Who is the intended audience for these different QRGs? Are they all intended for similar audiences? Or different? How & why?

QRGs seem to be intended for all types of audiences, from people who are informed about the subject at hand, to people who might only be learning about the issue for the first time. Of course, the audience might vary depending on the interests of the readers, but overall, the authors seem to intentionally make QRGs easily accessible for all audiences. For example, the article about Greece's debt crisis introduces the audience to the issue in case the readers don't know much about it. However, it also throws in some statistics and other information that even well-informed readers might be interested in. By doing this, the author ensures that the QRG can be read by almost anyone interested in the subject.

5. How do the QRGs use imagery or visuals? Why do you think they use them in this way?

Imagery is often used in QRGs to give some concrete examples to the audience. Pictures often add some perspective or emotion to the situation, as shown by the picture of the little girl below. Graphs with statistics introduce numbers to the situation, often to put those numbers in context and to easily organize the information. This is demonstrated by the graphs about Greece's unemployment and GDP below. These visual devices also help make the QRG more scannable and easy to read. Below, I show two examples from this QRG about Greece's debt crisis

Chandra, Swati, "Screenshot from 'Greece's Debt Crisis Explained.'" 09/11/15 via  The New York Times

Chandra, Swati, "Screenshot from 'Greece's Debt Crisis Explained.'" 09/11/15 via  The New York Times

Reflection

After reading  Elliot, Casey, and Evan's overviews of the QRG, I definitely noticed some trends. For the most part, we all mention the same conventions that all QRGs hold in common. I especially found each person's analysis of the QRG interesting, as some people stress the importance of scanning QRGs in their blog posts, while others focus on what type of audience it is aimed at. This really helped me realize that there are many different parts of the QRG that I have to focus on in my own writing in order to effectively use this genre.