Bernice Hearvey

Hearvey 1

Zack De Piero
WRIT 2
November 3, 2015

Dance in Writing
Dance is more than just body motion; it is a competition, a health remedy, a social
transformer. I analyzed how these different operations of dance were evaluated through the
disciplines of dance and health care and through a dance magazine source. Each source presented
their argument through different genres using different moves and rhetoric that was aimed at
convincing the reader of their argument. However, just because the argument was presented with
moves and rhetoric does not mean that each move and rhetorical device was effective in aiding
the authors argument and convincing the readers.
In the article One more Round the Competitive Couple Dancing by Leslie Hall,
dancesport, also regarded to as couple dancing, and how it can be done competitively is
explained. This article is written from a dance discipline point of view, and the genre would be
considered a textbook article. The textbook article genre consists of several different conventions
that make this article what it is. It has chapter headings stating the main topic of the chapter, and
is made up of short paragraphs examining the different contexts of couple dancing. Hall gives
different examples of couple dancing and uses pictures of actual participants of competitive
couple dancing in certain dance poses shown for visual literacy.
Patricia T. Alpert, in The Health Benefits of Dance, explains the mental and physical
benefits of dance on the human body from a health care discipline. The genre of this piece is a
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medical research article with several conventions that follow. The article has a title stating the
topic of the article, a list of keywords given towards the top of the page, bolded subtitles
signifying the certain effect of dance being analyzed under that section, and references. She
includes references and citings to other peoples research. Alpert use medical terms to show the
conditions people can be in with and without exercise.
On Dance Magazines website Jennifer Stahl, in her post titled The Diversity Experiment
at Ballet Memphis, explains how the Ballet Memphis diversified their dancers and
choreographers in attempt to engage with a larger dance community. She also discusses the
possible reactions to this dance diversification (Stahl). The genre of this article is a magazine
post and the conventions of this genre consist of: personal opinion throughout the article,
references to other peoples opinions on the subject, and images to show the reader a glimpse of
the art forms spoken of.
Every author from each genre has a purpose to their article with an intended audience in
mind. Leslie Halls purpose is to inform the reader about couple dancing, and she does this by
explaining its two categories, its history, how it is competitive, and examples of it. Her
explanation has a specific emphasis on Latin dancing which constitutes one of the two dancing
categories. The audience she appeals to is generally anyone interested in the different sorts of
ways a person can dance-- and specifically in this case-- competitive couple dancing. Given the
context of the article, Halls audience should expect an exposition on dancing, specifically Latin
dances, and how it relates to couple dancing in competitions. Patricia Alperts article intent is to
inform her audience of the vast health benefits of dancing. Her audience can vary from people in
Hearvey 3

the medical field doing research on this topic, to ordinary people with health problems looking to
see how dance can help. Anyone who is a part of her audience should look forward to finding
examples and proof of the positive effects of dance on a persons health. Jennifer Stahls purpose
is to explain the diversification of the Ballet Memphis and to put forth the different arguments
centered round it. The audience she is appealing to is anyone interested in the diversification of
activities that are generally ethnocentric and anyone concerned about the multiformity of dance
and how it can be different. The audiences expectations should be to gain an understanding and
bias to the Ballet Memphis actions in creating more diversity among their dancers.
Each author utilizes certain types of evidence with the intent of effectively backing up
their argument to persuade the reader. Leslie Hall tends to use her own specialized knowledge,
dance historical context, and reference to actual people as evidence to base her article on. This
evidence is used to show the reader what competitive dancesport is, where it can be held, who
has participated in it, and its effect on the dancer. An example of this is when she states that
couple dances among young people became pass in the 1960s as well as when mentions how
the young dancers, Vlad Barshai and Anna Navrota, won the Bronze Juvenile Latin Category in
1998 (Hall 5). This type of evidence she used is a common convention of textbook articles
because historical time periods and people references add a sense of legitimacy to a piece of
writing. In contrast, Patricia Alpert is an actual expert in her field of preventive c, and an
associate professor at the School of Nursing at the University of Nevada, which gives her more
credibility with the evidence she uses in her writing. She uses statistical evidence, specialized
knowledge, and examples to support her argument. An example of her evidence includes the
Hearvey 4

Verghese and associates study that individuals 75 years old who engaged in reading, dancing,
playing board games, and playing a musical instrument had a 7% lower risk for developing
dementia (Alpert 156). Statistical evidence is very effective because it created logos in her
argument that is accompanied by the ethos given by her occupational position.
By understanding the genre and audience that each author is appealing to, I can begin to
understand the authors purpose for the rhetoric they used and start to judge how effective their
discourse is. Throughout her article, Leslie Hall keeps a positive and upbeat tone accompanied
with simple diction to create an easy lighthearted read that reflects the fun of couple dancing. On
the contrary, Patricia Alpert uses a straightforward tone with sophisticated diction throughout the
article that is effective in meeting the literary standards of her audience who is medically
educated and expecting to read a scholarly medical piece. Throughout Jennifer Stahls whole
article, her bias and opinion is seen and accompanied by her critical tone and simple diction.
This promotes her argument by helping convey her feelings and opinions in her true voice.
The rhetorical moves used by each author are employed with the goal advancing their
argument. In creating her piece, Hall captured authorial action by claiming that people under
fifty are discovering the challenges, the fun and the good exercise of couple dancing (Hall 4).
She advertises the World Salsa Conference, as well as the book Ballroom Dancing by John
Reynolds (Hall 4). She also uses an introduction of quotations at the end of the article, one being
from an unknown feminist and the other from the musician, Rodrigo Chavez (Hall 6). That move
was not effective because it did not add anymore context or valuable information to her

Hearvey 5
argument. Alpert, in her article, captures authorial action to add credibility to her argument and
does this by referring to the U.S. Public Health Service and the Verghese and associates. Alpert

also maintains credibility by using the recent studies of Verghese and associates and herself
given her statement in her bio that she is an associate professor at the University of Alabama
(Alpert 157). In her reference to these people and institutions, she also is signaling who is saying
what. Throughout the article Alpert never speaks to the person, but rather refers to the body
and its different parts that are receiving the benefits of dance (Alpert 156). However, in the last
sentence of the last paragraph the author changes and speaks in the second person by adressing
her concern of how it is her hope that you will dance your way to staying healthy (Alpert 157).
I find that that move decreases the effectiveness of the piece because in that one sentence the
tone changes to sympathetic making her sound almost desperate for people to apply her research
to their lives. The author also entertains objections when in the third paragraph she states that In
spite of the increased recognition of the importance of dance in health care, it is still infrequently
equated synonymously with exercise. (Alpert 155). That is effective by allowing her to prove
that statement wrong. Stahl introduces quotations with Glamour magazine and Alastair
Macaulays critique of how the dances are imaginatively breaking the rules. By introducing
quotations she also signifies who says what and adds credibility to her writing (Stahl). She also
entertains objections by bringing up certain arguments that are in opposition to the actions of the
Ballet Memphis like how people argue that this perusal of diversity could water down our art
form (Stahl). Having a counter argument makes her article more persuasive because it shows
how she, as the writer, is aware of all sides of the situation.
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Both scholarly and non-academic texts vary in effectiveness. Unlike non-academic texts,
scholarly texts, like The Health Benefits of Dance, have more logos and ethos that makes their
argument more convincing and effective. For instance that article stated that according to the

U.S. public Health Service Americans do not participate in adequate levels of physical activity
which is an example of logos because it is a fact based on the U.S. Health Services research
(Alpert 155). A non-academic argument like The Diversity Experiment at Ballet Memphis, can
have more opinionated commentary and rhetoric that tries to convince the reader through their
personal opinion rather than facts which is not as effective because of the authors bias. The
audience of The Health Benefits of Dance would find both other articles less persuasive given
that Stahls article was predominantly based off of personal views and that Halls article did not
have a clear distinction between each topic in her article that made it at times difficult to
understand. The medical research paper genre limits Alpert in that any sort of personal opinion
would diminish the credibility of the paper, but in her case it actually aids to the effectiveness of
her article. No one wants to hear personal opinion and belief in regards to a medical illness, they
want proven facts and treatments. In the genre of textbook articles, Hall faces the limitation of
not being able to state personal experience hindering her credibility in couple dancing. Hall
makes up for it by the affordances of being able to state the history and relevance of couple
dancing making her argument more effective by providing background and relatability to her
subject. In the genre of magazine posts there is limitation in that these posts are supposed to
bring up controversial topics that are commented on by the author. It contains very few facts and
are quite ineffective in convincing an audience in their argument. Overall, when dealing with
genres through different disciplines it is important to convey your argument effectively.

Works Cited
Alpert, Patricia T. "The Health Benefits of Dance." Http://hhc.sagepub.com/content/23/2/155.
N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
"The Diversity Experiment at Ballet Memphis - Dance Magazine." Dance Magazine. N.p., 29
Oct. 2015. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
Hall, Leslie. "One More Round The Competitive Couple Dancing."
Http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=4bc92565-657d-4a19-9c50f85c698206b8%40sessionmgr114&hid=109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d
%3d#db=a9h&AN=2988986. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

Did Not Meet

Expectations

Met Expectations

Thesis Statement

X/X-

Use of Textual Evidence

from Genres

Use of Course Readings

Exceeded
Expectations

X
X

Analysis
Organization/Structure

Attention to
Genre/Conventions and
Rhetorical Factors

Sentence-level Clarity,
Mechanics, Flow

X
Bernice,

Other Comments
Nice work here. To take this to the next level, here are some ideas:
- I need more of an argument here. Move past describing and get

to evaluating -- try to pinpoint the so what? of this assignment as

much as possible.
-Include a lot more analysis of the kinds of data/evidence these
different sources are using and what kinds of RQs theyre asking.
Consider some of the big pictures questions here that get at
how do these different disciplines approach this topic from
different perspectives? What was the study about? What
questions did they ask? What data did they gather? How do the
ways in which these researchers went about studying this topic
differ from the other authors/researchers, and what does it suggest
in terms of the importance they're placing on their methods?
-Think about what kind of structure/organization would be best
suited for your argument
-Consider working in moves throughout the whole piece.
Consider naming them too, just like we did in PB2B.
-Work in the course readings I didnt see any, and that was an
essential part of this assignment. Use them to help you use the
language of the course and to develop your argument.
Z
8/10