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1. Of the topics presented in the reading, what I found helpful were the tips on PIE structure, introductions, and (vaguely) conclusions.
The PIE formatting offers the idea of writing body paragraphs by expressing a point, followed by an illustration of the point, and then an explanation that ties it all together. I found this helpful since the paragraphs in QRGs are meant to be short, concise, and simple, so having a clear format to get your point across in each paragraph makes it easier to avoid rambling in paragraphs.
I also felt that it was helpful to get a more clear understanding of introductions from the reading. For instance, one key point that the book suggests is grabbing the readers attention with an introduction. I feel that this is especially important for QRGs, because you want the QRG to be easily understood by just about anyone, and you want the readers to use your guide to gather all of the information they want on the topic. In order to do this, however, you need to attract the reader in the first place, and get them to keep reading on, which is what an introduction does.
Conclusions seemed far less relevant or helpful for the purpose of a QRG than introductions, but there were still some good points made by the book. Of the helpful points was using the conclusion as a way to both "look forward" and "circle back", to introduce one last thought to the readers mind. After all, what readers will remember the most will most likely be the first and last thing they read.
2. The book was not entirely helpful for our purposes in the structuring of a QRG, however. I found the book irrelevant in its information about thesis statements and much of what was mentioned about conclusions.
QRGs do need a lead in their introduction. Something to tie the reader in, to get their attention. But the book explains that thesis statements are meant to frame and shape your piece. Because you as a writer are not explicitly taking a stance on the subject, but rather just providing information, there is too much chaotic and conflicting information to completely sum up the guide in one or two sentences.
This is similarly why I find conclusions irrelevant for QRGs. It is simply too difficult to some up all of the different views presented in a conclusion, and besides this, the guide is already a type of summary in a way. The QRG is already concise and to the point, so there shouldn't be much need for a conclusion, or at least not in the essay-type way that the book describes conclusions.
Reflection: After reading Annelise and Mark's Thoughts on Drafting posts, I still feel basically the same about my own thoughts on drafting QRGs. In general, we all agree that thesis statements are less relevant for QRGs than other writing genres. However, there were (at least) 3 things that I discovered from this exercise and my peers that need to be revised in my own QRG.
1. I need a more "framing" introduction. As the reading and others have mentioned, introductions are supposed to introduce your topic. I feel that, while mine does introduce the topic, it possibly adds too much extraneous and unimportant information, that possibly makes the QRG harder to get into reading.
2. I need a conclusion. I sort of purposefully left a conclusion out of my piece, because I felt that there was no need for one, as my QRG ended on a pretty summarized note, and I feel like the QRG is too short to really need a conclusion. However, after looking back over others thoughts, I understand now how a conclusion can be helpful for readers.
3. I need better organization. My paragraphs are sort of scattered and do not all follow PIE format, or any format for that matter. Because of this my QRG sounds a little choppy and doesn't flow as well as it could, so I plan on fixing this.
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