Jessica Smith

Writing 2
De Piero
13 March 2016

TheManySciencesBehindMDMA

Molly,orMDMA,hasbecomeapopulardrugintodaysraveculture.Whileit
wasonceanundergroundphenomenon,thedrughasbecomemoreprominentintodays
cultureandbecauseofitsprominence,ithasbeenstudiedfrommanydisciplines.When
youlookthroughonelens,youcanfindonesetofinformation,andwhenlooking
throughanother,somethingentirelydifferentcanappear.Basedonthedifferent
disciplines,authorsuseintentionalmoveswhenanalyzingtopicsontheirrhetorical
features.Informationcanbeorganizedandassessedbasedonthedifferingdisciplines.I
willanalyzetheconventionsofthreedifferentarticles,"MDMAEnhancesEmotional
EmpathyandProsocialBehavior,""BingeEthanolandMDMACombinationExacerbates
ToxicCardiacEffectsbyInducingCellularStress,"and"FromGarytoMolly:The
FeminisationofEcstasyinPopularCulture,allonthetopicofMDMA.These
disciplinesincludebiologicalresearch,psychologicalresearch,andsociocultural
research.Concerningthesethreearticles,theauthorsmeasurethepossiblepositiveor
negativeeffectsofMDMAonthehumanbodyusingmovesincludinggenrespecific
jargonandresearchmethodsusedtoadministertests.
Eachwritingdisciplinetargetsadifferentintentofpurpose,whichinfluencesif
therewillbeapositiveornegativeconnotationwiththeeffectsofMDMA.Eachauthor
studiesMDMAdifferently,andall[their]writingconsistsofaseriesofchoices,which
arebasedonthegenreofthatwriting(Bunn81).Whenareaderexaminesanarticle,he

orshecanusuallytellfromthelanguage,whatthepurposeofthearticlewillbe.As
LunsfordexplainsinStyleinArguments,thewordsyouchooseforanargumenthelp
defineitsstyleandyours(Lunsford310).Lunsfordexplainsthatthewordchoicesone
usesintheirworkhelpssetthetoneoftheinformationathandandcanbetterexplainthe
purposeofthearticles.InthearticlefromThump,thepurposeofthearticleistoexplain
thefeminisationofMDMAandexplainhowthisphenomenonhashadanegativeimpact
onhowwomenareviewedasdrugusers.Theauthorslanguagechoice,orjargon,
reflectsthisnegativeportrayal.WhenreferringtowomensuseofMDMAactivity,he
referstothemaspartygirl[s]wayoutof[their]depth[s](Harrison).Thisdescription
shinesanegativelightonwomenandmakesthemseemirresponsible.Harrisonalso
referstotheshiftoftheaudienceofthedrugfromprimarilymentomanymorewomen.
Hesharesthatthedruggraduallyshiftedfrombeinga"blokey",andmasculine
substance,tosomething"girly"andfeminine(Harrison).Heattemptstoshowthatwhile
thedrugwasoncedirectedtowardamalecrowd,womenwhoareinthepartysceneare
alsolargelytakingpartinthephenomenon.Thisconnotationofthedrugusewithwomen
ismeanttoshowthenegativerelationshipthathasevolvedbetweenwomenandthedrug.
InHyseksarticle,particularwordingwasusedtoshowthepotentialpositive
effectsofMDMAuse.ThestudyofthearticlewasmeanttoshowthatMDMAcanalter
peoplesemotionalempathyandprosocialbehavior.Researchersincludedspecificjargon
tomakethefindingsappearpositivetothereader.Whendiscussingtheprosocialeffects
ofthedrug,subjectswereaskedtodiscusshowtheywerefeelinghappy,openand
closetoothers(Harrison).Thesefeelingsarepositiveandweremadetoelicita

positiveresponsefromthesubjects.Hadtheresearchersincludednegativeemotionsas
well,theresultscouldhavebeenmoreaccuratebutwiththisnarrowoutlook,subjects
reallycanonlyanswerpositively.
Dependingonthedisciplineathand,theauthorsmovesassociatedwiththe
researchmethodsisextremelydependentontheintentofportrayingthematerialina
positiveornegativeway.Theportrayaloftheinformationcanbeskewedsometimes,so
youneedtoconsiderthecontextandtheargumentwhenevaluatingfindingsfrom
differentresearch(Carroll).InHyseksarticle,researchmethodsaremeanttoshowhow
empathypatternsappearinMDMAusers.Specifically,theseresearchersuseda
MultifacetedEmpathyTestwhichisatestspecificallydesignedtoassessdifferent
aspectsofempathy(Hysek).MDMAusersareknowntohaveincreasedempathylevels,
whichisportrayedaspositiveinthisresearch,sothetestwasusedspecificallytostay
consistentwiththisviewpoint.
Fromothertestingmethods,researchmethodsweredesignedtoshineanegative
lightonthefindingsofMDMAusers.InHarrisonsarticle,testingshowsthatbinge
ethanol+MDMAexposureisassociatedwithanincreaseinHSP27expressionand
phosphorylationintheleftventricle(Harrison).Althoughthetestingisfair,basedon
scientificknowledge,itisapparentthatwhenmixingthecontentsofethanolandMDMA,
therewillbenegativeeffectsonthebody.Theresearcherschoseatestthattheyknew
wouldprovethattherearenegativeeffectsassociatedwiththiscombination.Researchers
fromthesamestudyclaimMDMAcanaltercardiovascularfunctionandproduce

cardiactoxicity,includingrhythmdisturbances,infarctionandsuddendeath(Harrison).
Again,thetestschosenweremeanttoportraythesenegativeeffectsofthedrug.
Thestructuresofthebiologicalandpsychologicaldisciplineswereverysimilar
andthesocioculturaldifferedfromthem.Boththebiologicalandpsychologicalwere
academic,scholarlypiecesthatincludedheadingsforeachofthesectionsthathelped
createflowandorganization.Althoughtheybothincludedheadings,theheadings
differedforeachwhereasthepsychologicaldisciplinewouldincludeheadingsassociated
withemotionalaspectssuchasMultifactedEmpathyTest.Asforthesociocultural
discipline,therewerenoheadingsincludedandrathertherewasnodefinedorganization
forthearticle.Thisstructuredifferedfromtheothersbecausethiswasamorecasual
opinionpiece,andinsteadofbeingstrictlyformattedandregimented,theauthoruses
personalityandacasualtonetoinformreaders.Therewastheinclusionofcolloquial
languageandthearticlecouldbebetterdefinedasastreamofconsciousness,andby
usingthesemovestoincludeinformation,thestructurelackstheneedforrealformatting
orstrictorganization.Questionsarealsousedindifferentwaysbasedonwhetherthe
languageiscolloquialornot.IntheThump.comarticle,questionsareusedtomakethe
readerthinkandtransitionideaswhereasthatwouldnotbeproperintheother
disciplines.Thesestructuresandregulationscanberelatedtothedifferencesofacademic
andnonacademicwriting.
Academicandnonacademicwritinghavedifferentstrengthsandweaknesses,and
eachreadercandeterminethosedifferently.Academicwritingtypicallyincludesmore
factualevidencewithamoredefinedstructurethannonacademicwriting.Academic

papersoftenfollowthepatternofincludingbackgroundinformationonasubject,then
performingteststofigureoutaquestionaboutthatsubjectthatisunanswered,andthen
analyzingthosefindingstodeterminewhatthisnewinformationmeans.Thisformatcan
helpreadersclearlyunderstandargumentsandpurposesofthepaper,butcanbelimiting
attimesasfarascriticalthinkingandpersonaljudgments.Nonacademicpieceshavethe
freedomtousemorerelaxed,casualtonesthatcaninturnhelpreadersbetterrelatetothe
piecesandformtheirownopinions.Additionally,thiscreativestructureallowsfor
writerstoformatthepapersbestforthatsubjectbecausetheyhavenoparametersto
follow.Forexample,awritercoulduseabulletedlisttoshareinformationwiththe
readersifthatbestfitsthepiece,butthisformattingwouldnotbeallowedinacademic
writing.Thelanguagechoiceanauthorchoosesintheirpieceisalsoveryimportantand
differsimmenselybetweenacademicandnonacademicwriting.Innonacademic
writing,languagecanbeusedthatappealstothereader,andheorshecandraw
conclusionsfromtheinformation.Thisapproachcanhelpsomepeopleunderstand
informationbetterthaninacademicwritingbecauseitismorerelatableand
understandable,especiallyforayoungercrowd.Audienceswithradicalviewsmight
arguethatacademicarticlesaremorepersuasivebecausethetoneisformalandtherewill
likelybeseveralhardfactsincludedthattheycanuseassupportfortheirargument.On
theotherhand,moreliberalandopenmindedaudiencesmayfindnonacademicwriting
morepersuasivebecausetheappealtoemotionthiskindofappealtoemotioniscalled
pathoscouldplayahugepartintheargument(Carroll).

Academicandnonacademicwritingdifferinmanywaysandonecanobservethat
theintendedpurposeofthearticleinfluencesthewritersmovesbasedontheinclusionof
backgroundinformationandlanguageusedwithinthearticles.Thethreedifferent
disciplinesofpsychological,biological,andsocioculturalallexamineMDMAbut
becauseoftheauthorschosenmovesbasedonthedifferentintendedpurposes,the
importanceofinformationvariesfortheaudiences.Theauthorswereabletousemoves
involvingtheinclusionofbackgroundinformationandjargoninordertostaytruetothat
disciplinewhileallexaminingdifferentaspectsofthesamesubject.

WorksCited

Hysek,C.M.,Y.Schmid,L.D.Simmler,G.Domes,M.Heinrichs,C.Eisenegger,K.H.
Preller,B.B.Quednow,andM.E.Liechti."MDMAEnhancesEmotional
EmpathyandProsocialBehavior."SocialCognitiveandAffectiveNeuroscience
9.11(2013):1645652.Web.16Feb.2016.
Lowe,Charles,andPavelZemliansky.WritingSpaces:ReadingsonWriting.West
Lafayette,IN:Parlor,2010.Print.
Lunsford,AndreaA.,andJohnJ.Ruszkiewicz.Everything'sanArgument.Boston,MA:
Bedford/St.Martins,2013.Print.
NavarroZaragoza,Javier,ClaraRosSim,MaraVictoriaMilans,OlgaValverde,and
MaraLuisaLaorden."BingeEthanolandMDMACombinationExacerbates
ToxicCardiacEffectsbyInducingCellularStress."PLOSONEPLoSONE10.10
(2015).Web.16Feb.2016.
"FromGarytoMolly:TheFeminisationofEcstasyinPopularCulture|Thump."Thump
RSS.Web.17Feb.2016.

Writing 2 Feedback Matrix for WP2

Table of Textual Features and Qualities
Did Not
Meet
Expectatio
ns
Thesis Statement
Use of Textual Evidence
from Genres
Use of Course Readings
Analysis
Organization/Structure
Attention to
Genre/Conventions and
Rhetorical Factors
Attention to Moves
Sentence-level Clarity,
Mechanics, Flow
Comments and Grade

Met
Expectati
ons
X
X
X
X
X
X

Exceeded
Expectati
ons