Dalia Gonzalez

Zack De Piero
Writing 2
February 17, 2016
One Night Stands: Disastrous or Not?

Yeah, Im just looking for a friend with benefits, not a relationship. If I had a dollar for
every time Ive heard that sentence as a college student, I would perhaps be able to pay off my
student loans. Across many campuses around the world, more and more students in college are
participating in casual sex, making the long term effects of this act an interesting topic to many
researchers. Many disciplines explore the consequences of casual sex among those who engage
in this act such as psychology, biology, chemistry, sociology, and many others. I analyzed two
scholarly articles: No Strings Attached: The Nature of Casual Sex in College Students by
Catherine Grello, Deborah Welsh, and Melinda Harper from the biological discipline and Risky
Business: Is There an Association between Casual Sex and Mental Health among Emerging
Adults? by Melina Bersamin, et al. from the psychology discipline as well as one mainstream
media article, Is Casual Sex ALWAYS a Bad Idea? by Kristen Sollee. Despite the facts that all
these articles share similarities in their topic, they differ in their authors use of rhetorical
features such as in audience, context, and tone/style as well as in conventions and particular

moves the author utilizes to demonstrate the damaging effects of casual sex within college
students.
Initially, looking at all three articles it is clear that the scholarly articles include the most
similarities because they fall under the same genre: scholarly pieces. Their intended audience are
those who are experts in a particular field or individuals such as college students interested in
either the biological or psychological analysis of the detrimental effects of casual sex. The
diction in these articles is very specific to these individuals and therefore effectively answers the
So What? Who Cares? questions (Seven 53). For example in the No Strings Attached: The
Nature of Casual Sex in College Students by Grello, Welsh, and Harper, they use terms known
in biology such as evolution or reproduction when describing why college students decide to
engage in casual sex. Likewise, in the psychological disciplines paper the authors includes
language specific to psychology. Studies found that among those who participated in casual
sex, brain pathways had been alteres The jargon employed in these articles makes it clear that
these articles are formal academic pieces intended for those is a particular profession or group
to facilitate clear and precise communication (Boyd 66). Conversely, when analyzing the
intended audience for the article by Solee, it is obvious that it is not an academic piece due to the
fact that the language isnt too formal and does not show an emphasis on any discipline but
rather it shows humor and a conversational tone aimed for anyone. Besides the language, it
exhibits other rhetorical features that contrast it to the scholarly articles. The conventions
presented in each of these articles help one get closer to deciphering their genre.

Not only is audience an important factor when detecting key conventions needed to
identify a genre, but also the context of each individual article. Through the context in each
article, one can compare the articles No Strings Attached: The Nature of Casual Sex in College
Students and Risky Business: Is There an Association between Casual Sex and Mental Health
among Emerging Adults? and realize that they share yet another great similarity in regards to
what is found within each piece. Both share similar conventions such as the format of the work.
Both the scholarly pieces include bold titles and include things specific to them such as abstracts,
introductions, methods, purpose, results, and discussions of the experiments that were conducted
in order to conclude the effects of casual sex within the college population and bring important
information to light. A move that the researchers included in their articles was the inclusion of
tables demonstrating the effects of casual sex among extended periods of time. Not every
scholarly piece includes tables, but these particular researchers did employ them and it was a
smart move, because it solidifies their findings and does a good job at convincing others about
their argument by presenting facts. Another interesting move that (Grello et al. 2006) did was
that they used an interesting, bold, italicised print, transitional headline. Headlines are often used
in scholarly pieces, however the bold print and italics makes it unique to this author. This
move makes it an easy way for the reader to follow what is happening in the text since it adds
a bit of liveliness to this articles since scholarly articles tend to be a tedious read. The text,
another convention found in scholarly articles, is also similar. The text is plain black with a basic
white background. Meanwhile, in the Is Casual Sex ALWAYS a Bad Idea? article the

difference from the scholarly pieces is immediately noted. There is no format, is very casual and
the text found in this article is colorful, and sometimes bold in particular areas, showing the
informality and casualness of it. It also suggest that it will be a fun read unlike the scholarly
pieces. The contrast between the scholarly articles and the mainstream source is significant
because while the scholarly articles are supported by tables of data that the researches included
in their work, the mainstream source is not, which limits its ethos--credibility. In limiting its
ethos it also limits who reads the article. It is unlikely that researchers or knowledgeable people
would take Sollees article as serious as an article that has facts and does not just provide
entertainment, therefor eliminating this specific audience.
Style and tone also play an important role in distinguishing these articles from one
another. The psychology and biology articles utilize the same tone and style although there are
some subtle differences. Their tones are formal and academic based on the diction they use.
...diction, or choice of words, Imyanitov establishes a tone (Boyd 68). They utilize words
such as mental health, reproduction, and evolution. Comparably, they both have the same
structured style, two columns, black font, and white background, yet they differ in the arguments
they are making in regards to casual sex. The biological article takes a more relaxed stance on
casual sex claiming that it is human nature to act upon their primal instincts, meanwhile the
psychology discipline takes a serious approach as it analyzes the damaging effect in the brain.
Alternatively, the mainstream media article is significantly different from the scholarly articles.
Its style is colorful and bold, it capture ones attention with a humorous and casual tone, while

utilizing big lettered titles to draw in the reader, making it obvious that this is not intended for
those interested in academic work.
All in all, the similarities and differences in regards to each articles rhetorical features
and conventions, as well as the moves the authors employ aid the reader in identifying the
articles genre while also becoming aware of what the implications of casual sex are. These
articles demonstrate how genres differ in key areas such as in conventions and rhetorical features
across various disciplines and the variety of ways one can go about writing about the same topic.
Being able to understand how different genres work is an essential part of becoming a astute
writer and perceptive reader.

Works Cited

Grello, Catherine M., Deborah P. Welsh, and Melinda S. Harper. "No Strings Attached:
The Nature of Casual Sex in College Students." Journal of Sex Research 43.3 (2006): 255-67.
Web. 10 Feb. 2016.

Bersamin, Melina M., Byron L. Zamboanga, Seth J. Schwartz, M. Brent Donnellan,

Monika Hudson, Robert S. Weisskirch, Su Yeong Kim, V. Bede Agocha, Susan Krauss
Whitbourne, and S. Jean Caraway. "Risky Business: Is There an Association between Casual Sex
and Mental Health among Emerging Adults?" The Journal of Sex Research 51.1 (2013): 43-51.
Web. 10 Feb. 2016.

Sollee, Kristen. "Is Casual Sex ALWAYS a Bad Idea?" Women's Health. 24 June 2014. Web. 10
Feb. 2016. <http://www.womenshealthmag.com/sex-and-love/benefits-of-casual-sex>.