Rodrigues 1

Carina Rodrigues
Zack De Piero
Writing 2- WP2

Zack De Piero

MW 12 PM Section

11/11/15, 9:26 AM
4 November 2015
Cool title, Carina. :)

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:32 AM
These commas are throwing
me off -- I'm not sure
whether there are 2 or 3
separate items. If you scrap
an adjective, you could do
something like:
Whether you are discussing
the infamous corsets of
Victorian era England or the
hourglass shape worshiped
by todays social media,
the...

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:33 AM
Excellent transition here
from sentence 1 to sentence
2.

The Beauty and the Brain:

How Psychology, Anthropology, and Social Media Examine Body Image
Whether you are discussing the infamous corsets of Victorian era England, or the
perfectly fit, hourglass shape worshiped by todays social media, the pursuit of the ideal body in
our society is something that spans both time and culture. This concept can be examined from a
variety of perspectives and disciplines, with each one dissecting a different aspect of this
fascinating, yet controversial matter. This paper will compare and contrast the approaches of
three individual articles: a journal article published by the APA (American Psychological
Association) titled, Body Image Distortions, Weight, and Depression in Adolescent Boys:
Longitudinal Trajectories Into Adulthood; an article from the Encyclopedia of Body Image and
Human Appearance titled Anthropological Perspectives on Physical Appearance and Body
Image; and finally a post from the feminist blog website Jezebel, Thin Women: I've Got Your
Back. Could You Get Mine?. Though all three of these articles share similarities in regards to

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:34 AM
Woo! I dig it! I like how
specific you got. :)

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:38 AM
Damn! Well said!

topic, they differ in their textual features, content, tone, and the manner in which they employ
specific moves in order to communicate their message to the reader.
The textual features of a work are essential contributors to its effectiveness and/or
persuasiveness. For example, simply the way an article is presented says something about its

Rodrigues 2
purpose. Both the psychology and the anthropology article are written in a very technical,
scientific format: they include an abstract to give the reader a succinct summary of what will be
talked about in the rest of the paper, different sections distinguished by bold headings, and a
conclusion that sums up the writers ideas and explains their relevance. The section headings in
the anthropology article slightly differ from those of the psychology article, in that instead of
having the customary Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, the article uses very
specific titles like Anthropological Findings in the Study of Human Appearance, Cross-

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:39 AM
Worth defining/describing
what you mean by moves
here?

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:39 AM
Abso. Nice use of the
course readings.

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:39 AM
Wow, Carina, this is silky
smooth!

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:40 AM
For a dash, use one (-)
that's not stuck to any words
or, better yet, use two (--)
and you can use them
however.
features--this
features -- this

Cultural Conceptions of the Body, and Methodological Innovations. Otherwise, both also
use a basic, easy-to-read font, and a plain black and white color scheme. On another note, an
important move that the psychology article makes is including a sub-section titled Clinical
Implications at the end of the article. This is significant because not only is it important to state
your argument, evidence, and analysis, but to explain why all this matters-- in order words,
answering the So What? question (So What? Who Cares?, 97).
All of these aforementioned details are indicators of a formal, scientific paper, that is
unconcerned with being aesthetically pleasing to the reader, and instead strives to offer an
analytical, no-frills body of work. Because these are both scholarly works, they have several
things in common when it comes to their textual features- this brings us now to our nonscholarly piece, the feminist blog post from Jezebel, which differs significantly from the
aforementioned academic articles. The post itself is not separated into sections or anything of
that nature, however, unlike the scholarly articles which contain dauntingly long paragraphs, the
content of the blog post is broken up into smaller paragraphs to make it a more manageable read
for the audience. In addition to this, the page uses a more casual font, and its color scheme

Rodrigues 3

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:41 AM
I think you might need more
of an indicator in the topic
sentence about what you're
covering in the paragraph.
Working in the word "format"
or maybe visual rhetoric
could work.

Zack De Piero

actually includes hues other than black and white (ie. red, blue, etc.), all details that speak to its
purpose: to grab and keep the attention of the reader.
As Alex Reid explains in his essay Why Blog?, (...) students in a literature course face
different tasks from those in economics courses or biology courses, and writers in public
relations face different tasks from technical writers in the computer industry or analysts at the

11/11/15, 9:43 AM

bank (308). Going off this point, though all three of these texts are concerning the same topic,

Keep everything you've got,

but try adding in an "and
here's how this connects to
my argument" line.

they do differ slightly in content and approach. The psychology article studies body image in

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:42 AM
concern

relation to mental health while the anthropology piece discusses how the concept of the ideal
body changes by culture, and the feminist blog wrestles with the current controversy
surrounding fat-shaming and skinny-shaming. The psychology article follows a very scientific
format by including details about procedure, results, analyses, and clinical implications. It
evaluates evidence using statistical methods (probability, standard deviation, z scores, etc.), and

Zack De Piero

organizes this data into intricate graphs and charts. This is an important convention to note

11/11/15, 9:44 AM

because it shows that the writers are free to include such complex and technical information

What was their evidence?

What was their data? And
what might that suggest
about what they privilege in
their research?

without having to explain what they mean because they know that their audience is probably
qualified enough to interpret it.
The anthropology article approaches the subject a little differently. It focuses less on
presenting hard evidence gleaned from research, and more on the theoretical facets of body
image and how it relates to culture. Because this piece happens to be appearing in an
encyclopedia, the writers included a short glossary at the beginning of the paper containing a few
key words and their definitions; unlike the psychology article, the writers of this article are aware

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:45 AM
Goooooood
anthropologists. :)

that their audience may not be savvy to every word in the anthropology lexicon. Though the blog

Rodrigues 4
post is obviously the least formal out of the three, it actually does follow a definite structure. The
post is in response to another article, to which-- by including direct quotes-- the writer goes

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:46 AM
Can you think of a more
sophisticated way of
phrasing this? Think: nerdverbs.

Zack De Piero

through piece by piece, answering and/or countering every argument the other writer poses. In
regards to content, the post is discussing a controversial issue that is much talked about today.
Furthermore, Jezebel is a feminist blog site, with a large female audience, so it is important that
they are writing about topics they know will be relevant to their readers.
Tone is incredibly important in writing a piece, regardless of genre, and just as Janet

11/11/15, 9:46 AM

Boyd emphasizes in Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking), choosing how to express your meaning

Can you work in a smoother

transition from sentence/
idea 1 to sentence/idea 2?

is every bit as important as the message itself (87). Both the psychology article and the
anthropology article are written in an objective tone, which is a key convention of scientific
writing, and important to ensuring the reader that the writer is unbiased. In addition to this, one

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:48 AM
Hook me up! Help me *see*
this stuff.

Zack De Piero

will rarely find humor or lighthearted language in these pieces. Contrary to these academic
works, the blog post does comprise of quite a bit of humor, sarcasm, profanity, and contemporary
slang, all distinctive and important conventions of a piece that will be appealing, interesting, and
entertaining for readers. This is an effective move because it taps into the emotions of the reader,

11/11/15, 9:49 AM

making them feel something about the piece (even if its disagreement). Another important

Sure does. Can you weave

this into more of an
argument? What do *you*
want to say about this?
Does this make it a more
effective piece? Or does
that depend? Why/not?

component of this blog post is the use of first-person language (ie. I/we, me/us, etc.). Using

Zack De Piero
11/11/15, 9:50 AM
Well said. I hate to be too
picky here -- I'm just trying
to help you become *even
MORE* of a badass writer -but can you give me a signal
about what, specifically, I
might be reading about in
this paragraph?

subjective first person language like this makes the writing sound personal, emphatic, and
relatable. This is another important move that the author makes, because it allows the reader to
feel like they connect with their writing.
Both categories of writing-- academic and non-academic-- have their advantages and
disadvantages. When it comes to presenting informative or educational information, academic

Rodrigues 5
publications like the psychology and anthropology articles are superior. Because these texts draw
upon ethos by including references and citations in order to substantiate their claims, readers are
more likely to believe and be persuaded by writing that they think is factual and reliable (Carroll
63). Blog posts like the one from Jezebel are less likely to be perceived as reliable because they
are almost always opinion pieces that do not undergo a review or fact-checking process. On the
other hand, these blog posts have very few constraints in comparison to scholarly papers. Writers
are free to write whatever they please, without having to subject their writing to editing,
censorship, or review. They are also free to use whatever language they desire, whereas scholarly
pieces are limited to using formal, academic language that would be deemed appropriate by the
scientific community. This is important because it gives blog posts more potential to resonate

Zack De Piero

with the reader than a dull, academic paper would, thus increasing its effectiveness in conveying

11/11/15, 9:50 AM

a message. The actual structure of scholarly articles are also limited by constraints, as they

What's important?

usually follow a standard format, whereas blog posts are not bound by any guidelines when it

Tip: put a noun after this/

these just so you're as
super-clear as possible for
your reader.

comes to structure or format. Overall, both categories of writing are characterized by affordances
and limitations, making neither type better or more effective than the other.
By analyzing and evaluating genres across scholarly and non-academic contexts, one is
able to see how specific conventions are key to making a genre effective and/or persuasive.
Though all the articles were about the same general topic, they each approached said topic
differently, demonstrating how different genres have their respective ideas and standpoints on
what they find important about a subject. Writers of these genres all employ distinct and different
moves in their writing, which helps differentiate them from other disciplines. Understanding how

Rodrigues 6
different genres operate as well as their associated conventions is essential to being a shrewd
writer, as well as a shrewd reader.

Works Cited

Rodrigues 7
Anderson-Fye EP. Anthropological Perspectives on Physical Appearance and Body
Image. In: Thomas F. Cash, editor. Encyclopedia of Body Image and Human Appearance, Vol 1.
San Diego: Academic Press; 2012. p. 1522. Web.
Blashill, Aaron J., and Sabine Sabine Wilhelm. "Body Image Distortions, Weight, and
Depression in Adolescent Boys: Longitudinal Trajectories Into Adulthood." Psychology of Men
and Masculinity 15.4 (2014): n. pag. Web.
Boyd, Janet. Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking). Vol. 1. N.p.: n.p., 2011. Print.
Carroll, Laura Bolin. Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Step Forward Rhetorical Analysis. Vol.
1. N.p.: n.p., 2010. Print.
West, Lindy. "Thin Women: I've Got Your Back. Could You Get Mine?" Web log post.
Jezebel. N.p., 21 Aug. 2013. Web.

Writing 2 Feedback Matrix for WP2

Table of Textual Features
Did Not Meet
Expectations

Met Expectations

Exceeded
Expectations

Rodrigues 8
Thesis Statement

Use of Textual Evidence

from Genres
Use of Course Readings

Analysis

Organization/Structure

Attention to Genre/
Conventions and Rhetorical
Factors
Sentence-level Clarity,
Mechanics, Flow

Carina,

Other Comments
Hell of a job. Check out my comments. Two aspects I didnt really
mention was: your organization -- I wasnt quite sure what the method
to the madness was. Also, if you could work in moves a bit more, I
think itd enhance the piece.
All told, though, hats off! :)
Z
9.5/10