QRGs: The Genre

A Look Into the Genre of Quick Reference Guides

In this blog post, I consider what it means to write in the genre of Quick Reference Guides by examining elements of the genre's conventions, in addition to the purpose of their writing. Through these analyses, I will learn how the author effectively shapes their Quick Reference Guide using various writing methods and tools to tailor the piece to their audience.

DeTurck, Matthew "Quick Reference Guide" 3 October 2009 via flickr.com.
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 License.

1. What do the conventions of this genre - the Quick Reference Guide - seem to be?

    The Quick Reference Guide seems to follow several major conventions. The first that I noticed in

    examining the examples provided was the wide usage of subheadings. In all of the examples,

    subheadings are present every few paragraphs, save the E-cigarettes example which has longer

    sections, and are usually posed as questions, such as in "The Only Guide to Gamergate You Will

    Ever Need to Read," which has subheadings like "What is Gamergate?", "Why Should I Care

    About This?", and "What Can Be Done to Resolve It?". 

    Additionally, all the example seemed to have short, direct paragraphs written in an explanatory

    style that is informative and clear. For example, the Sochi Olympics Quick Reference Guide

    assumed the reader knew enough about the event to recognize parts of the opening ceremony in

    order to respond with each of its subheadings, but in every subsection the piece clearly explained

    the topic in easy to read and forward language that answered the question of the subheading.

    The writing styles of the Quick Reference Guides also were closely linked with the use of

    hyperlinks in sentence and the use of diagrams or photos, or even sidebars as seen in the E-

    Cigarette example which provided an informative timeline on the left side of the page. The use of

    hyperlinks allows the writers to continue with a thought in a sentence but quickly provide direction

    for the reader to other sources on the issue or topic currently being discussed. The use of graphics,

    however, allows for the writing to stop for a moment and give the readers a break to examine them,

    or eases the writing's burden of information slightly with the use of effective graphics. 

    Alternatively, graphics can be used to obtain an emotional reaction from the reader that the 

    informative writing may not have.

    Lastly, while this varied from example to example, I believe Quick Reference Guides can be

    written with more freedom of voice than traditional genres, as it is explanatory and direct. Namely,

    the Gamergate example was written with a blunt voice that was obviously biased, but was

    reasonably so given the topic, thus it was not inappropriate.

2. How are those conventions defined by the author’s formatting and design choices?

    As I stated earlier, I think the conscious decision by all the writers to structure their pieces by use 

    of subheadings was an important formatting choice that emphasizes the need for informative

    writing in Quick Reference Guides. Most of the subheadings posed questions that were then

    answered in the paragraphs following them, which gave more purpose and direction to the text that

    followed each subheading. Additionally, the avid use of hyperlinks lends itself to the structure and

    format of the Quick Reference Guide as the writer can include extra information in their writing 

    without compromising the flow of their paragraphs as they continue to directly answer the question

    posed in that section of the work.

3. What does the purpose of these QRGs seem to be?

    I believe these Quick Reference Guides' main purpose are to inform. They all are seeking to

    explain something to a less informed audience, whether that difference between the writer and 

    reader is small or large in knowledge on the issue, whether the issue be about an upcoming

    Democratic presidential candidate or a recap of Sochi's opening ceremony for the Winter

    Olympics. Each and every one of the examples informed the reader about the subject with facts

    and research. However, I think writings in this genre also have the purpose of convincing the

    audience to care about the issue they are discussing, as all the examples were explaining how the

    various sides of the controversies reached their positions or shed insight into the reasoning behind 

    an event, as was the case with the Sochi Olympics example. 

4. Who is the intended audience for these different QRGs? Are they all intended for similar audiences? Or different? How & why?

    I believe that the QRG on Bernie Sanders was intended for an audience of people who are

    interested in the upcoming political events in the next year, as Bernie Sanders is a Democratic

    presidential nominee who is rising in popularity rapidly, and is now challenging Hillary Clinton for

    the party's nomination for the 2016 election.

    I think the Sochi Olympics QRG was written for an audience who had already viewed the opening

    ceremony and was looking for more information on it and possibly insights into why it was made

    into what it was. I say this because the article assumed the reader already was aware of "the ballet"

    or a certain three horse symbol that aired in the opening ceremony.

  

    The Greece Debt Crisis QRG seemed to be for a wider audience, as it broke down the crisis in

    detail and explained the events as they developed while providing appropriate contextual

    background information as it addresses various elements of the issue.

    The QRG on Gamergate was written for an audience that was not expected to have heard of

    "Gamergate" before, as the article literally posed the question: "What is Gamergate?". With that

    assumption, the writer simply approached the explanation of the issue with a complete summary

    of the events and consequences as the scandal played out, so as to allow to the reader to obtain the

    full story.

    I think the E-Cigarette QRG was also written for an audience that didn't have much knowledge on

    the topic, E-Cigarettes, aside from what they are. This was evidenced by the fact that in the first

    couple paragraphs of the article, the writer presented less commonly known information that 

    brings the portrayal of E-Cigs into question. In this respect, this QRG was intended for a similar

    audience to the Gamergate QRG, with both assuming their audiences were far from experts on the

    issue. The Greece Debt QRG also shared this quality but was more focused on global current

    events than explaining a lesser-known issue. 

    I think the Sochi and Bernie Sanders QRGs were different in their approach to their audiences as

    the Bernie Sanders QRG assumed the reader had interest in political current events, and the Sochi

    Olympics QRG assumed the reader had watched the opening ceremony before.

5. How do the QRGs use imagery or visuals? Why do you think they use them in this way?

    The informative style of writing is largely influenced by the writer's design choices as graphics

    can be used to reinforce the information written, provide new information not mentioned in the 

    writing, or even to appeal to a reader's emotion in a way that text cannot do. In the example on

    Greece's Debt Crisis, there was both a graph of "Greece's G.D.P. and Unemployment Rates in 

    Europe" and also a picture of a concerned little girl on a man's shoulders (which occupied the 

    space next to the headline). These choices of graphics illustrate how a writer could use a chart in

    the Quick Reference Guide to provide data, or use a picture of people that we can relate to as 

    readers and thus allow the writer to elicit an emotional response from us. In either situation, the 

    informative writing style adapts to balance the amount of information being given and the

    explaining of why the audience should care about the issue being addressed.

Reflection

I read the QRG genre analyses of Savannah, Isabel, and Kyle. Across the three, I think the most commonly emphasized aspect of the QRG genre was its purpose to inform, which translated to each of the different writers whose responses I read in different ways. Savannah noted that, as the QRG is meant to inform, the diction of the writing must be accessible for someone who does not have a base knowledge on the topic of the Guide. Additionally, Isabel noticed that every example QRG utilized direct, clear subheadings that allowed readers to orient themselves within the writing and have a means to easily scan the piece effectively. And lastly, I think Kyle made an important observation in stating that the formatting of QRGs is primarily to provide a means to inform the reader, which I felt was illustrated best in the E-cigarette example that we all reviewed.

In knowing that these conventions of the genre are what seem to be the most highly valued, I think that I can confidently review my own QRG to see how it meets the expectations for these conventions, as I think it's important that it achieves the purposes of those conventions without a hint of a doubt.