My ARP paper is about sports and how many people think it is just a game, but in reality, it can change people’s lives. For my paper I found two secondary sources about sports, motivation, and how sports encourages motivation and changes people lives. However, these sources were both research articles targeted to a highly academic audience. I found two more secondary sources that support my thesis, however these sources are more personal and persuasive and less academic.
The first source was a personal article by a Pittsburgh Steelers fan explaining why sports brings people together. She starts off the article by stating: “Many people are under the impression that sports aren't important and just involve someone throwing or catching a ball. This is simply not true. Sports are just as much a part of our culture as language and television.” (Maddy Pumulia) She further goes on to explain how when she attends a Steelers game she is automatically bonded to the people around her by just being a fan of the same team. They have common ground and she has even hugged complete strangers in the heat of the game. She makes the point that she is Republican, Catholic and loves country music. She then states “I don’t care if the person next to me is a Democrat, Atheist, and loves rap, for the time that game is being played, none of that matters.” The thing I noticed about this source is that it is much more personable. It is not all research, it is personal experiences. This source uses words such as: “I” and “We”. She is trying to connect to her audience by using these words.
My next source was by a sports writer that writes columns for a local newspaper. He write about how people say: “how can being a sports writer make any difference in the world?” He uses the specific example of the when the 10-Year Old Girls Softball team from Washington Township captured the New Jersey State Championship. He explained how the players and the family member rushed the field in celebration, and he, had the job of somehow trying to explain this euphoria in a new article. He said that the most he can hope for is maybe a keepsake for the family, or maybe for a little girl to send that article to her grandmother. At least thats some difference made in their lives. The difference I noticed in his writing, is his tone. He takes up such a personal, friendly tone. He also appears to be addressing you, as opposed to an academic article that appears to be addressing a large audience. The result? An easier, more appealing read to every reader. To accomplish this, he again uses more personal words such as “I” and “We”.
These two sources are the perfect example of how you can take a subject that is largely academic, and make it into a largely persuasive and entertaining article. They also demonstrate how a entertaining and persuasive article can do the same job as a highly academic article.
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Aaron,
ReplyDeleteGreat observations in distinguishing that addressing a public audience often results in becoming more personal with the reader. I too took this approach when analyzing public writing vs. academic, and realized that using diction such as, "we, I, us," makes the article suddenly more relatable and personal. I think academic writing omits these words and is detailed in their explanations, opposed to keeping it simple. I liked that you also mentioned tone. That is a key in comparison as well. The writing is smoother to read and therefore less formal when it's addressing the public. I personally enjoy reading public writing for this reason. I like that you introduced to us your primary source/secondary source (for those of us who haven't read your recent work). Nice transition into your newly acquired public sources.
Word choice is very important when writing for any audience. If you are writing for a public audience it is a good choice to use nouns that make the article, paper, etc. seem more personable. You pointed this out as being able to create a persuasive and entertaining way to write. By being on a personal level, writings that target the public are usually understood and accepted better.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, a very informative and explanatory post. Since you put your primary and secondaries into it,it is a lot easier to understand.
First off, great job on this post Aaron. Personal writing is always so much easier to read it seems. Repetitive formality can make what might be interesting quite the opposite. When something is personal there is so much more passion and intrigue and you get to see how the author thinks and feels. You can then connect, or not, and you addressed this aspect very well with the Steelers' article. Once again, great job on this post.
ReplyDeleteAaron, good job picking up on the change in tone and word choice. That is truely what makes the difference in the types of writing. You really did an awesome job analyzing the different styles. I like that you used specific examples from the text to prove your point.
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