Thoughts on Drafting

In this post, I will comment on the essential parts of drafting as explained in the Student's Guide. In particular, I will address what aspects of drafting are helpful when it comes to writing a QRG, and what aspects are perhaps not as helpful.

Whytock, Ken, "Poster: '21st century writing process.'" 06/01/11 via flickr.  Attribution-NonCommercial License.

1. What parts of the book’s advice are helpful for writing in this genre?

• Thesis: The books advises that a thesis statement be interesting and specific. This is true for any genre of writing, whether it's a standard essay or a QRG. This piece of advise will definitely be important in my QRG.
• PIE: While some parts of this structure might not apply to the QRG, the general method remains the same. Even in the QRG, it is important to begin with some point or topic, elaborate on this using examples and illustrations, and then explain those example in the context of the paper. 
• Conclusion: The process for writing a conclusion in a QRG is very similar to how it is outlined in this reading. Answering the "so what" question in the conclusion is especially important in this genre, since your audience may not be someone who is trained in the subject matter.

2. What parts of the book’s advice might not be so helpful, considering the genre you’re writing in?

• Thesis: While the aspects of the thesis I outlined above are helpful, some of the advice on writing thesis statements might not be so helpful when it comes to QRGs. Unlike the thesis in an essay, the thesis in the QRG might have to be more broad and address both sides of the topic. The QRG's main goal is to explain the topic to the audience in a way that is not necessarily biased, and the thesis statement should reflect this.
• PIE: Unlike the PIE structure in an essay, the QRG might not use this method in the typical manner. Rather than making one point per paragraph, the QRG might use multiple paragraphs so that there is plenty of white space throughout. This helps make the QRG scannable for the reader.
• Organization: The QRG doesn't use the typical structure of an essay. That is, it doesn't use an introduction, main body paragraphs that build on the thesis, and then a conclusion. While the QRG does have an introduction and conclusion, the bulk of the QRG is not in the body paragraphs. Rather, the QRG makes use of smaller explanatory paragraphs to maintain its structure.

Reflection

Andrea and Samantha's posts really helped me understand the QRG genre a little more. I agreed with much of what they talked about, and it helped me understand that there are definitely a few things I could work on in my QRG. Here are some things I'll have to pay more attention to: 

1. Being brief and concise: Samantha's post focused a lot on the importance of being brief yet concise throughout the QRG. I have found that I have a lot of trouble with this, so I'll definitely need to decrease some of the content in my QRG.
2. Informality: Because I am used to writing in a relatively formal tone in essays, I've found that the thesis and overall language in my QRG sometimes reflects that. I will need to work on using a tone that makes my QRG appealing to a wide audience.
3. Organization: Even though the QRG is not formatted in the same way as an essay, it is still important to have my ideas flow together throughout. This is something I've been struggling with, and as a result I feel that my QRG sounds a bit choppy. Again, I will have to go back and revise this aspect of my QRG.