PB2B

                                                           Pb2B      

  Like a good boxer playing many good moves to hit his opponent, a good basketball player completing a series of excellent moves to have a score, a good article must have some “moves” to convey its thesis clearly and attract and persuade readers. During this quarter, we read the “How To Read Like A Writer” in the course reading and “The pancake Menu’s Inside Scoop” in the class. There are many similar  “moves” in these two good articles. By observing the specific “moves” in these two papers, one can observe that the awareness of “moves” not only helps the reader understand the writers’ intentions, but also helps readers to achieve the writers’ effective methods to explain their arguments.

  The first “move” of both papers is to use a abbreviation to represent a long term that frequently appear in the article. In the Pancake Menu’s Inside Scoop (Pancake), the writer use “IHOP” to represent the International House of Pancakes and “OHOP” to represent the Original House of Pancakes from the second appearance of the names of the pancake shops. In How to Read Like a Writer (HRLW), the writer use RLW to represent the term Read like a Writer. By using the abbreviations, the writer makes the articles shorter and reduce the possibility that readers would feel boring when they saw some long terms or names repeatedly. 

  The second similar move is to introduce the background of the paper. In Pancake, the author introduces what most people think about genre at the very beginning of the article instead of exploring the features of the menus. In HRLW, the writer firstly introduce his basic life-situation, including the year, where he graduated, his job, etc, instead of explaining How To Read Like a Writer at first. Adding a background before unrolling the body content can not only attract readers but also make the articles more credible. After all, it is more interesting to read a story than to read a formal and rigid argument.

  Thirdly, while reasoning the arguments, both authors conclude a thesis statement at the start of each paragraph. This is the most excellent “move” I appreciate. In the Pancake, while the author conclude that three menus are qualified to the genre “menu” after exploring the features of the three menus separately, he writes “After investigating the features of each literary piece, one can see although they differ in some ways, these three “literary genres” are all qualified to belong in the genre of menus.” at the beginning of the sixth paragraph. Actually, you can almost find a thesis statement at the beginning of each paragraph in both articles. This simple “move ” can make a paper more well-organized and readers can understand the cores of the paper more easily.

  The fourth move is to use a question as a transition. In the Pancake, the author writes “Yes, they are all similar, but why are they different?” at the end of the sixth paragraph. Obviously, the author explored the similarities of three menus before this question and will observe the differences of three menus after this question. However, it is abrupt to turn to the differences from the similarities. This “move” makes the structure more coherent. Similarly, in the HRLW, the author writes “What are the advantages and disadvantages?” at the beginning of the second paragraph (page 73). Obviously, the author explores the advantages and disadvantages in the next several paragraphs. Using a question as a transition is a good way to turn to a new point from a previous one. Anyway, compared to a formal statement without any emotion, a question can arise the interests of readers.

  Last but not least, both authors use parenthetical citations. In other words, both authors put the source of each quote between a pair of parentheses right after the quote. This simple “move” can increase the credibility of the papers. Anyway, sources of any information represent “truth” to some extent.

  In a summary, there are 5 moves that both authors apply that I appreciate and will use in my papers in the future: abbreviations, background, a thesis statement at the beginning of each paragraph, using a question as a transition, and parenthetical citations.