The "People's Elbow" Revisited: "Moves" and Writing Project #2

Writing 2rs,

I wanted to pass along a couple of thoughts, re: “moves” and the WP2 assignment.

Moves:

Remember: a “move” doesn’t just have to be a wrestler’s finisher or a writer’s thesis (ie, the "big stuff).  It can involve the subtler, more nuanced components to what they're doing.  You can, and should, consider the build-up to the main moves too.  In other words: how does the writer/wrestler get to that point?  What do they do to set themselves up?

In class, remember when we were analyzing  (my main man) The Rock’s finisher—the devastating People's Elbow?  

Sure, he brings his massive arm crashing down on his opponent’s jugular, but before that, he sets it up through a series of “mini-moves.”  The Rock begins by kicking in the guy’s outstretched and listless arm (with his right foot), then he menacingly stares out into the audience and hypes up the moment by ripping off his elbow pad.  After chucking it into the audience and criss-crossing his arms, he starts running to his left and bounces off the ropes (gaining considerably more momentum), then he hops over his opponent’s body and bounces off the other ropes (and, somehow, gained even more momentum), and then he abruptly stops in front of his poor opponent’s body, hesitates just a bit, and then BOOOOOOOOOOM!, he delivers the most electrifying move in sports, People’s Elbow.  1, 2, 3.  Game over.

For our purposes, paying attention to each one of these mini-moves is also (very) important.  There are a bunch of these mini-moves in texts too.  The whole point of studying a writer’s moves is to see how he/she has constructed their text(s) and how that construction appeals (or doesn’t) to us as readers—how it wins us over and why.  This can, and usually does, change depending on a particular audience and what their expectations are for a given genre.

WP2:

OK, so for WP2, I’m asking you to take a look at one topic/idea and how it’s approach in different ways from 2 scholarly sources from different disciplines and 1 non-scholarly source that’s published in a mainstream media outlet.  As stated on the assignment, you’ll need to craft a thesis-driven argument and then back that up with support.  I’ll be using a very similar ~rubric for my feedback, so keep in mind the major facets that are important here: thesis statement, use of textual evidence, analysis, etc. 

Like we discussed in class last Wednesday, I think it’s a great idea to write with a working thesis statement in place.  Remember: you’re not married to it, and you can—and should (if your argument, evidence, or analysis changes)—when need be.

I hope this clears up any potential confusion or uncertainty you may have been having. 

If I can share one last tip: write about what you find interesting!  When you get the chance to essentially create your own assignment like this, go for it.

Don’t forget about our new’n’improved Peer/Reader Review workshop: to participate in it, you’ve got to Google Doc-ify your paper, make it “editable” (so that you can comment on each others’ work), and then post your Google Doc link to the page I created (so we can access the papers).

Rock it out, and good luck.

Z