The Fun Of Multiple Genres And The Fun Of Multigenre
The world of writing is not a snapshot
The world of writing is not a snapshot. It is a mural. It is made of much, composed of many. There is poetry of all kinds, flash fiction of history, fantasy, and realism. There is nonfiction of much creativity. Peruse a newspaper or magazine. Browse the Internet. Genres, subgenres, and hybrid genres abound. The world of writing is larger, more rewarding, and more challenging than the five-paragraph you-know-what. In fact, that reductive form so ubiquitous in 712 classrooms is of little use to students who attend college, where writing is expected to be exploratory, substantive, well-reasoned, and as long or as short as it needs to be.
I encourage students to try the untried. From literature around us I bring to class possibilities for experimentation. A few years ago a student introduced me to J. Ruth Gendler's The Book of Qualities. In this lovely book of intellect, imagination, language, and drawing, Gendler identifies 99 qualities or emotions and writes brief portraits to personify them. We tried Gendler's style and delighted ourselves and each other. Weeks later, after her field experience, Sarah wrote this:
Obituaries: October 29, 2007
Deceased: Motivation
Cause of death: Lowered Expectations
Motivation was found early Monday morning barely breathing as he crawled around the corner of Stout Street, trying to make it to Smith High School in time for the first bell. He was bleeding heavily from the side of the MBT Shoes(http://www.topmbtshose.com) head but still valiantly carrying on in search of the students he was to meet that day in school. When authorities found Motivation, they immediately dialed 911, but tragically it was too late to save him. He died later that afternoon at Good Hope Hospital.
An eye-witness observer later told investigative authorities that he saw Lowered Expectations sideswipe Motivation as she flew around the corner in her red corvette on her way to school that morning. Motivation's brave attempts to continue his pursuit of students were just not enough to make up for his 60 mile-per-hour encounter with Lowered Expectations. We can only hope that Lowered learned her lesson: traveling at 60 mph may help you reach your destination faster, but faster is not always better when students' Motivation is at stake.
Recently, I received a desperate email from one of my college students. She had completed a multi-genre paper but was worried that she hadn't done it correctly.
I wrote to her, "Why do you doubt your work?"
"Because," she wrote back, "I've never had so much fun writing a paper."
In the last 20 years, multigenre research papers have spread across the land (Putz; Romano, Blending). Writers elementary school through graduate school is writing research papers that use a multitude of genres and subgenres, visuals and strategies to think and communicate.
Although many of my students find multi-genre papers fun to write, many of them, also, at least initially, are scared to death of them. Jaclyn describes her reaction to the multigenre assignment:
I could feel the anxiety creeping up inside of me like a spider sneaking up my arm. How am / EVER going to write like this? The thought both thrilled and frightened me: on my left shoulder sat my traditional one point of view essay, on my right sat my future multi-genre paper. After a second reading of the sample papers, my nerves began to ease. Why am I complaining? I have the opportunity to play with words and writing! I have the opportunity to experiment on the page. As a reader, I noticed how enjoyable it was to switch from genre to genre, anticipating the next block of ideas to see how else ideas could be expressed. Likewise, I also recognized Clearance MBT Shoes(http://www.fashionmbt4sale.com) the functionality of a repented. In a paper as unstructured as this, a repented connects the whole paper together like clothespins on a clothesline, holding up all sorts of garments.
What I found most enjoyable in this reading was the use of visuals and text to create an overall eye-appealing visage on the page. I almost feel as if multigenre is a piece of art; a collage of many different memories, thoughts, ideas, and reflections.
by: Kevin Garnnet
Lawsuit Funders Need Due Diligence New Patients: Why Some get It And Others Do Not Negativity and Illness thus enabling you to have great fun while taking tight turns and landings Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist By Steven D. Levitt And Stephen J. Dubner Say Yes And Get Couple Of Million Dollars!. Determinism and Punishment Custom Logoed Products Utilized As Fundraiser Giveaways Free College Funding And Grants For Unmarried Moms Stock Update On Veco, Actg, Crwe From Pennytobuck.com Origin Of Textile And Garment Enterprises To Increase Awareness College Scholarship Funding For Struggling Mothers Tgmp, Chevron (cvx) Amd Oneok (oks) Stock Update From Pennytobuck.com