Minor Assignment 73/21/2018 The article that I chose to read was “Why Do octopuses remind Us So Much of Ourselves” by Olivia Judson, published on the National Geographic website. In the article, Judson begins by narrating her experiences going face to face with different kinds of octopuses. The first one she introduces is the coconut octopus (Amphiotopus marginatus). She details how this octopus uses different kinds of shells, or coconut husks (as the name suggests), as hiding places. She then describes the feeling of looking into the octopuses eyes and feeling it stare right back at her. This type of personal story however only makes up a fraction of the article as a whole. Once the side story comes to a close the article becomes much more scientific as she dives into talking about how octopuses camouflage as well as how their nervous system works. Despite the change in focus, she continues to use writing techniques ans strategies similar to those that Montgomery outlines in chapter five of “The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science”.
The technique that she uses most often, and my personal favorite of the bunch, was the use of questions. She often introduces new topics with rhetorical questions, which stimulate readers interest, that she then immediately answers, giving satisfaction to readers anticipation. I have always found this technique a useful to help the reader feel engaged in the text, and draw them into the authors world a little. Especially when writing about topics such as the underwater environment, an area of study most people do understand greatly, the more you can increase the interest of the reader the better. Judson also implements the use of transitions extremely well. Between each of her more scientific sections, she introduces another personal story of her dives that relate well to the upcoming section. These transitions work on multiple levels. They allow the reader some time to relax from the more strenuous sections, as well as subconsciously priming them for what they will be reading about next. Both of these techniques I find work extremely well when writing for a generalized audience. They particularly help readers become engaged in topics that they otherwise aren’t typically thinking of. Due to this, I am hoping to implement both of these techniques in my final project to help bridge the gap between the scientific aspect of the nature conservancy and the more public friendly features.
4 Comments
Sarah Nicolson
3/21/2018 04:54:44 pm
Jacob -
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Zachary Wagner
3/22/2018 09:10:10 am
Jacob,
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Matt Carrano
3/22/2018 10:07:13 am
You did a great job of summarizing the article you read, which seemed very interesting to me. You then related the article well with chapter 5 of Montgomery by providing examples of techniques the article used like questions and transitions. The questions technique used in the article was described well because you related to how well it made the reader feel engaged. Also, your transitions technique was described well as you said this technique would help the reader know what is coming next in the article. Overall, you did a great job of connecting the article you choose to the techniques Montgomery provides in chapter 5.
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Tory Stoddard
3/26/2018 06:03:26 pm
Jacob-
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April 2018
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The purpose of these blogs were to serve as a mode to turn in minor assignments for my Professional Writing Class. Many are responses to reading we did, and a couple are first drafts of various major assignments. |