3.7 QRGs: the Genre

What do the conventions of this genre - the Quick Reference Guide - seem to be?

Most of the articles seem to be almost like a question and answer session.  The guide is broken up into sections (either a numbered list or hypothetical questions) and then discusses the item in question.  The convention seems to be listing questions we would have, and then answering them.

How are those conventions defined by the author’s formatting and design choices?

The guide is broken up into sections or blocks, each headlined by a title, and then discusses the topic in the headline.  this layout breaks the article up for the reader, making it easier to read than one giant wall of text.

What does the purpose of these QRGs seem to be?

A one-stop solution or guide on a topic that, when you read, will explain the basics to you.  It could be seen as a cliff notes or quick summary of a topic.  It may not be as detailed as a more thorough report, but it's merely to inform you of the basics of something.

Who is the intended audience for these different QRGs? Are they all intended for similar audiences? Or different? How & why?

They are all intended for the same type of audience, but maybe not the exact audience.  It's for people who have probably heard of a particular topic, but don't really know anything about it.  So every QRG will have an audience of uniformed readers, but they might have different uniformed readers for each article.

How do the QRGs use imagery or visuals? Why do you think they use them in this way?

They do use images.  Images probably help a reader visualize a topic, either by putting faces to people named or diagrams to functions.  If we're talking about Bernie Sanders, it probably helps to see a picture of Bernie Sanders so you can visualize what we're talking about.

EDIT: After reading Andrew and Cynthia's posts, it didn't occur to me that the headings of each section could also serve as a summary for the paragraph.  We all seemed to be in agreement that images help visualize parts of the article, or help with summarizing.