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In the essay style the book refers to, a thesis is meant to state your argument in basically one sentence. However for the Quick Reference Guide, for the most part there is no argument besides "this is what these groups are upset about". Because of this your "thesis" isn't really a sentence so much as your introduction section. The QRG is not meant to be biased, but is meant to be a skimmable and concise, yet detailed piece of work. The book's advice on the thesis statement does not follow with this genre's style.
Writing the paragraphs in PIE format is one thing that the book tells us to do that we can use in our QRG. Writing in point, illustration, explanation format keeps the audience engaged and also gives quick and organized xplanations on the subject matter, which is an important aspect of a Quick Reference Guide.
I think the book's tips on how to write an introduction was mostly helpful. Its advice on how the introduction should be a brief overview was helpful, as well as its instruction to not let it become a "book report" in that it is a mere summary of information. You want to give insights on the material, not just a summary. These are both important things to keep in mind in the QRG genre.
The book's advice on how to organize information and paragraphs is mostly helpful. The book gives good directions on how writers should organize our arguments in a way that makes sense (for example don't talk about the future of the controversy before you explain what the controversy is about), so as to increase the ease if reading. This is obviously very important in a QRG as well as an essay. However on the other hand, the book tells us that its important to continue your arguments from paragraph to paragraph, which is NOT a part of the QRG genre. In the QRG the sections can largely stand on their own, because every section is about a different aspect of the topic.
The book's advice on how to write a conclusion was very helpful. While in QRGs you aren't supposed to really summarize what you just wrote about since that's redundant when you aren't writing in essay format, you ARE supposed to look forward and answer the so what question. In a QRG since the audience is very general and typically un-researched on the subject, they want to know why this topic matters and where this issue might go in the future. The conclusion is an important part of the QRG, and its important to keep the audience in mind when writing your conclusion.
Later on:
After reading Jon and Jovanka's posts on drafting, I actually was surprised by the differences in what we found helpful. Jovanka seemed to find more things not helpful than I did, but responding to her saying that illustrations weren't important actually made me feel like they were more important, so I plan to go back and insert better/more pictures into my QRG. She also stressed the importance of subheadings, which I was already thinking I could use more of.
Jon on the other hand pointed out that transitions between sections is important. I had sort of forgotten to consider this, and I think by not using transitions it makes my draft more choppy. So I will definitely go back and make sure that there is more of a flow to the whole thing.
Things to fix:
1. Transitions between paragraphs
2. More/more specific subheadings
3. More/better pictures
You commented that the introduction and conclusion aspects of the book were both very helpful, and I think that goes to show how writing (even across genres!) is so focused on having strong intros and conclusions. I initially wasn't the biggest fan of the PIE format, but you showed me how it can work well in a GRQ. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOverall a well written post, nicely done!