Resource of the Week #85: Some Guidance in Using Models of Writing

Hello again. As some of you know, I usually ask AuthorAID workshop participants to bring examples of journal articles in their fields. The participants then analyze the articles, so they can use them as models for their own writing.

Early in the workshop, I ask each participant to see how his or her sample article is structured. For example, is the article in IMRAD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion)? Or are there different sections or a different order?

Later, participants analyze individual parts or aspects of their sample articles. For instance, they see how each section is organized, how long the sections are, whether the sections contain headings, and how many figures and tables are present.

Recently I found out that analyzing writing in this way is part of doing rhetorical analysis. I learned this term from a blog post titled “Teaching with Models? Start with Rhetorical Analysis”.

The post, by the director of our university writing center, is primarily for teachers of writing. However, it also can aid authors in learning from models. I’m pleased to feature it as our Resource of the Week.

Until the next post—

Barbara