I'm Minyeon Foggedy and you can think of me as your friendly guide to the English language.

Writing, History, Rules, and Cool Stuff.

Today, I have a segment by Edwin Bada Stella that goes beyond the idea of a house style

guide that we talked about a couple of months ago.

And I also have a family story and a summary of an interesting linguistic study.

Let's get started.

I'm going to make a lot of money and I'll hire someone to do all my writing for me.

That was the rationale offered by a student many years ago for why he shouldn't have

to take a required writing course.

A snarky comment crossed my mind, but instead I mentioned to him that if he had to hire

someone to ghost write everything he'd have to write in his life, it could cost him

a small fortune.

The idea that there was more to writing than college term papers seemed to satisfy him.

For me, it raised a new concern.

Just how do we help people write effectively about so many things, about practically anything?

Whether it's a resume, catalog copy for chocolate or flowers, a profile of a scientist, an endorsement

of a political candidate, a safety manual, or a user's guide.

The key is to find some good models and study the rhetorical moves that other writers

make.

Rhetorical moves is a term introduced by linguist John Swales and it refers to the different

steps that a writer makes in constructing a text in a given genre.

A bit like the standard opening strategies of a chess game.

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