Thlog #5

This week moved us right up to the halfway mark of the quarter, and also began mention of what seems to be a rather important concept—moves. Approaching this topic, I was a bit confused of what it really meant to say the least. Moves meaning dance moves…or the moves you put on someone to try to get their attention? I learned that it’s much broader than I had initially thought—you can find moves anywhere. I also learned that you have to dig a bit deeper than your initial thoughts to determine one’s moves, as they are decisions consciously made by the writer which may not reflected on surface level. I’ve realized that the idea of moves can be very closely related to the essay we read titled “Reading like a Writer.” While moves don’t have to be signature, per say, they are in place for a specific reason, and it is interesting to try to think through that reason. Why was the choice of dotted paragraph breaks preferable to any other type of breaks, if any at all? How does posing questions before paragraphs benefit the reader? Did the writer consider any other options, and if so why were they not chosen? All of these questions which can be posed by reading like a writer can help explain the usage of moves. I want to go through my own writing, or even everyday actions to try to determine my own “moves.” I think I would find that a lot of the things I do often and to accomplish some similar goal are things that I wouldn’t consciously notice that I do. I’ve transitioned from viewing moves solely as something that is representative of “signature moves” (i.e. The Rock’s People’s Elbow), to moves perhaps being these glaringly obvious signature moves, but also possibly the smallest of details.