QRGs: The Genre

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaszaz/533822752
created by JKlesow

In this post I describe the conventions of the QRG, quick reference guide genre and use examples from different online sources to name these conventions.

• 1.) The conventions of the QRG genre are concise /detailed paragraphs, hyperlinks, subheadings ,sometimes worded as questions for easy read,   a casual tone , a title and  images 

• 2.) In the Sochi Olympics article the author  uses bold  subheadings posed as questions so whoever is reading can skim over the content  easily and find what they are actually interested to read about . The author also uses several hyperlinks to verify what they are saying.  and has an  image for each subheading . The words in the article are also written in a very casual and understanding tone.

• 3.) The purpose of the QRG seems to be to provide a quick informative but entertaining read  for people who want to know what's going on but doesn't want to read pages and pages of information. 

• 4.) The intended audience for these QRGs are pointed towards people with interest in the content matter. For example if  a person was interested in the Sochi Olympics they would understand the questions and comments in the subheadings . Or if you were a person who followed Black Lives Matters news you would understand the subheadings and know of the implied knowledge the sub headings were hinting at. 

• 5.) The QRGs use plenty of  images to give the reader a visual state of mind of what the article is about and how they should feel about it. In the case of the article about Greece's debt crisis the image of the little girl is used to provoke an emotion of pity. Whereas the visuals used in the E cigarettes article is simply just to provide informative images, like the graph ,and to give the reader an idea of what the subject is.

Reflection :

Overall from reading Lia,  Hunter, and Aaron's blog posts the main point that keeps sticking out in the QRG genre,  is making it easier for the reader to understand. This point was emphasized heavily in each post . It made me think about  today's audience and wonder why it's such a daunting task  for anyone to read anything that isn't heavily spaced into short paragraphs . Have people gotten lazier? Less intelligent ? Is time a factor? Are the masses that busy? I don't know the answers to these questions but it just made me wonder, since the biggest and most important point in a QRG seems to be to accommodate the readers as much as possible.

Lia 

Hunter

Aaron