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| "E-Cigarette Liquid Vaping." Public Domain |
1. What are the conventions of a Quick Reference Guide?
One important convention of a QRG appears to be headings and subheadings, almost exclusively in the form of questions. In some QRGs, such as the E-Cigarettes example offered, the headings are labeled "Key Questions." A second convention is the use of white space and brief paragraphing in format. Another convention of the genre is the informal language authors employ while writing -- the tone is almost conversational. In addition, the use of hyperlinking instead of parenthetical citation is a convention of the genre.
2. How are the conventions defined by the author's formatting and design choices?
The key questions or subheadings are almost always a larger font size or bolded to make them stand out. White space is consistently used to separate paragraphs and subheadings. Hyperlinking allows the author to create a continuous flow of thought while simultaneously offering the reader more information.
3. What does the purpose of QRGs seem to be?
It would appear that QRGs exist to offer information to the public in a way that is not overly academic. The average person is able to read up on complex issues without being overwhelmed by new vocabulary terms or unfamiliar scientific studies. Information is presented in a concise, clean, and relatable way.
4. Who is the intended audience for the QRGs?
The intended audience for each of the QRGs is slightly different. For example, the E-Cigarettes QRG was targeted at people who were likely to smoke an E-Cigarette, while the Gamergate QRG was aimed for young people who enjoy video games, and possibly women's rights advocates. I think that each of the QRGs' target audiences had similarities, such as age or possibly education. However, interest level would vary between groups depending on the subject of the article.
5. How do the QRGs use imagery or visuals?
The QRGs use imagery to allow for a visual representation of the written aspect of the article. Images also can illustrate quantitative data more easily. Sometimes, such as in the case of the Gamergate article, images can spark an emotional response to an article.
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I have to agree with most of what you said, but I don't always think a QRG is written for a specific group of people: sometimes, it can be the general public. In my view at least, it's more to inform a person of an issue they don't know a lot about (whereas someone who would smoke an e cigarette would know more about it). Other than that, I agree with your post.
ReplyDeleteI truly agree with all of your thoughts in this post! I feel like all of your answers are just more concise versions of my own paragraphs. I really liked the way that you described the purpose of QRGs and mentioned the varying audiences for each one of them.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that you think the audience for QRGs differs so greatly from one to the next. While I agree that it would be hard to say there is any "blanket audience" for EVERY QRG, I do think most QRGs try to perform to the general public, or the general public with slight knowledge o the topic. I don't think it really has much to do with age group, as you mentioned. The rest of these QRG guidelines I agree with, though!
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