Elbow and Bunn

PB2B

When writing a piece, an author intentionally writes a certain way to get their message across to the readers. These intentional decisions are called ‘moves’ and can go a long way in structuring pieces of writing. Each move can give a different effect and impart information in different ways. By analyzing two articles, we can understand how different choices and moves can structure pieces of writing.  

In the first example, How to Read Like a Writer by Mike Bunn, there are a number of ‘moves’ that are placed the way they are to give different effects at certain points. The first is a personal story he starts off with about his time as a student and how he personally learned to read like a writer. This move is effective in showing the reader how he learned and makes it more personal then say, a factual article might be. If you are someone who might not see the point of personal stories in articles very much, Bunn makes a point to tie it to his main argument and his personal examples of his own learning show his own thought process which is both interesting and helpful.

            Another move that he uses that also makes the reading more personable is he sets a goal with the reader. “You are reading to learn about writing…The goal as you read like a writer is to locate what you believe are the most important writerly choices represented in the text­­—choices as large as the overall structure or as small as a single word used only once—to consider the effect of those choices on potential readers”.  As a reader, this makes reading the rest of the text and achieving the goal of ‘reading like a writer’ much more important.

            There are also other smaller moves that are equally effective throughout the text. Bunn brings attention to certain words by using a different font and size for them, making them stand out on the page. “Then you can go one step further and imagine what different choices the author might have made instead,” is one example of this move. What this technique does is break up all the text and call attention to that information. It lets the reader know to pay particular attention. Bunn also uses block quotes from other writers to back up his argument and strengthen his paper. Two of the quoted are professors, one a famous poet, and the last two are students. Essentially all levels of writers are represented in his paper and this helps with explaining how important the goal of the article is.

            The next example of analyzing the author’s moves is Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking by Teaching Writing by Peter Elbow. Much like the first article, Elbow includes personal anecdotes that are in line with the main point of the article. “When I celebrate free writing and fast exploratory writing on first drafts—the postponing of vigilance and control during the early stages of writing—it seems to many listeners as though I’m celebrating holidays from thinking.” The topic of this article is the introduction of the idea of ‘two kinds of thinking’. The first is, much like the author said, a holiday from thinking where you just write down everything that comes to mind. This free write allows you to get all of your ideas down on paper without worrying about grammar or stylistic rules. The second order thinking is the cleanup of the first order thinking. It is where you think of the writing rules and apply it to your free write.

            Since Elbow came up with these ideas of two-order thinking and writing, he takes great care to explain in detail what it means and how to go about using these tools. His next ‘move’ is comparing and contrasting the two orders of thinking and writing and how though they are different, they go hand in hand and cannot be done simply on their own. “But I am not content merely to assert a link. The two writing processes enhance the two thinking processes.”

            Both pieces by Elbow and Bunn use certain ‘moves’ to try to explain a new way of thinking, writing, or reading to help with the writing process. Bunn uses a more personal tone and has a lot of quotes that strengthen his argument, while Elbow uses a lot of comparison and explanation of his techniques. Both authors use their moves to be informative in hopes that the readers will apply their theories in their own lives.