QRGs: The Genre

From scholarly journals on humpback whales to teenage romantic fiction books, it is always important to remember who your audience is.  If we delve into today’s general web sources, we come across many articles that discuss popular controversies and debated topics.  In a genre that could be classified as a “Quick Reference Guide” (QRG), there are many standards and conventions that are important in relaying key information to your audience in a way that will help them grasp your topic to the fullest extent.

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The Conventions

Most QRGs contain titles and subheadings that help guide the reader through the reading.  These subheadings are often questions that let the reader know the information they are about to be given.  This also helps guide the reader and let them search specifically for the information they are interested in.  Interspersed throughout the articles are pictures, graphs, and quote boxes that serve to break up the text and give the reader a visual of what is going on. 

QRGs also contain hyperlinks that connect the viewer to other sources that expand on the information presented.  In addition, these articles include quotes from major speakers in the controversies as well as from the general public to give a fuller understanding of the controversy.  The most important aspect of a QRG is readability.  The writer will include white space and short paragraphs to help the reader easily navigate through the reading without feeling overwhelmed.

The Purpose

Most QRGs serve to provide the public with a comprehensive picture of the debate going on.  This picture is often free of bias and includes both sides of the argument.  It encourages the reader to consider many key questions (whether ethical or otherwise) regarding the situation as well as helps them make an informed opinion on the debate.  Finally, the author analyzes the points being made from the opposing sides to spur thoughts that the reader should contemplate.

The Audience

The intended audiences range depending on who the controversy might affect; however, most are meant to inform the general public of the situation.  Many QRGs work toward making their audience feel as though their topic is important to the reader, whoever they may be.  Even still, QRGs can affect or interest a large group of readers (such as racism in society) or smaller audiences (such as political actions in North Korea).

The Visual Appeal

QRGs are consistently scattered with imagery and photos.  Some photos help the reader connect the data and statistics to real life events.  They may evoke sympathy or simply help give a clearer picture of what is going on.

Other visuals include graphs and statistics.  This helps break up the writing and gives the reader an understanding of why the data is important or significant.  Authors also use quote boxes which help point readers to specific key points or reinforces what has just been read.


Reflection:

After reading how my fellow classmates described a QRG, I better understood the overall purpose of the genre.  Reading Allison Perger's blog reminded me that your QRG is going to have many different types of readers with various levels of knowledge on your topic as well as different types of readers with varying interest in the topic.  Thus, the article must appeal to all readers as well as being conducive to whatever their knowledge may be.

Lia Ossanna discussed the importance that no matter what your QRG looks like, the formatting and content decisions should always be based on the reader.  The spacing should help make it easy for the reader to navigate and the content should be easy for the reader to comprehend.  All the conventions of a QRG should point back to how it is benefiting the reader.

Stef Antonopoulos's post reminded me that I should be pulling my conventions from the examples given.  If I have any questions (such as whether or not to include a thesis sentence), I should be referencing these examples to find the answers.