DaBlogGod: 2016

Summary:

I decided to analyze the scholarly article “Reading and Writing Without Authority” by Penrose and Geisler. Throughout the article, the authors examine two articles written by two different writers – one of the articles is a written by a first-year college student named Janet, while the second is written by a doctoral student who goes by the name of Roger. The author argues that writing with authority is more than just gaining knowledge of a topic, its about using rhetorical knowledge and finding your own voice within that to be known as a reliable source, respected, and therefore credible. To accomplish this, the author really wants to emphasize that 1) You must create an open environment that allows writers to input their voice and not be observers, 2) You must analyze the authors assumptions, rhetorical analysis’, and look at the disagreements in the text to develop your own contribution to the claims, and 3) You need to become aware of ongoing textual conversations and take part in them. For example, the author says “Roger knew how to write as an authority inside the conversation of ethics; Janet was an outsider looking in.” It explains how Roger’s article was more competent because of his ability to be an insider and incorporate his own voice while Janet’s article wasn’t as thorough because of the inability to incorporate her own voice into the article. Overall, the article is reaching out to educators in the mission to create classroom environments that allow students to excel in their writing using these specific techniques.

Transformation for young audience:

I have uploaded the actual word doc on gaucho space if you are unable to read these pictures clearly.

Transformation for older audience:

Henry Bernard: January 9th 1996 - August 24th 2085

It was a great privilege to be such a close friend of Henry’s. The first day I met him, there was just something that made him unique. The way he presented himself in front of others gave off a positive and encouraging feeling. Even if you weren’t the same way back, he continued to exemplify these characteristics throughout his entire life.

Henry was an English major in college and went on to do extraordinary ventures with that degree, such as teach, mentor students, practice therapy, and professionally write. He always wanted to help people improve in whatever they strived for which was so admirable. He would always try to be a part of every discussion as he was always striving to learn new things and gain different perspectives. I remember him once telling me “Always be aware of the conversations happening around you…in order to better yourself, as well as others, be an “insider” in every conversation, understand what the person is saying, and take part in the discussion because discussion builds character and allows you to truly find yourself…what you say is important and is not disregarded.

One of Henry’s most proud accomplishments was his novel. I remember nearly 60 years ago when he approached me and told me that he had been thinking about this for awhile and wanted to write a novel. I was shocked considering that it is a huge undertaking but knowing Henry, I knew one hundred percent that he would be able to create something beautiful. He had so much talent in the way he wrote; it spoke to many different people but especially me. I was one of the few people that knew how passionate he was about this novel. It sincerely displayed how much he cared about not only his own goals, but the goals of others. There was never a day where he wasn’t supportive. There was never a day where he wouldn’t cheer you up if you were down. It made me want to be more than I imagined I could be. He always said you have the option to put your own voice and opinion into every decision you make. Never judge and be open-minded he would say. Always hear out a person before inputting your own ideas, whether you agree or disagree with them.

An instance in which I always look back to is a time when I was applying for a job some odd years after we graduated. I had to write an in depth paper analyzing another employees writing but really had no idea how to do that, so knowing Henry, I called him up looking for advice. I sent him a copy of the employees writing for him to look at and awaited his highly regarded advice as I would like to think of it (haha). After he took a look, he spewed out information over the phone about rhetorical analysis, conventions, purpose, reading claims, exigence, etc. After he finished talking, I literally just laughed over the phone because I had no idea what he was talking about. I have never heard about or written anything regarding ‘rhetorical analysis’ or anything he said for that matter. I was at a complete loss. After informing him that I had no idea where to even start, he slowly walked me through what it all meant and how to go about it. I felt as if he was Yoda and I was Luke Skywalker. He knew so much about how to analyze writing when I didn’t. Granted, I was always knowledgeable about what I was writing about, but I never knew how much deeper I could go. I never knew the analytics put into analyzing rhetorical features in any sort of writing.

I bring up that story because that conversation has stuck with me to this day. Whenever I struggle or think I’ve done all I could, whether it be about writing or anything else, I will forever think back to that conversation. He pushed me to constantly dig deeper and go further. He built me up and everyone that surrounded him his entire life. He was an inspiration to me and so much more. I’ll never forget what an impact Henry made in my life, which resonates through me every single day. You were one hell of a guy, Henry. We all love you so much and will never forger everything you did for yourself, others, and this world. You will be eternally missed. Rest in peace, buddy.

(I have also uploaded the actual word doc for this on gaucho space as well)

Self Analysis:

When transforming one genre into another, it can be challenging at first. In order to accomplish a transformation, you need to be able to capture the essence of the original genre (main ideas, arguments, and points) while also allowing it to be its new genre that tailors to a new and specific audience.

After analyzing the chosen scholarly article about the rhetorical features in writing, it was apparent that it may be hard to transform that genre into a genre that is child-friendly. When I went about transforming this genre, I really wanted to make sure that the new genre contained the main arguments and ideas that the original included. Not only do I want to keep the ideas, but I want to be able to present this information in a way that very young students could understand while also understanding and benefiting from the message of rhetorical writing. In order to do so, I had to tailor my genre to the right audience. My intended audience is a 6^th grade English class. In order to capture this audience, I had to be very careful on which words I chose. The students need to be able to understand the complex ideas in the scholarly article and in order to do so, I had to include certain moves that allows the students to fully comprehend those complex ideas.

My moves are what make my genre transformation really come to life. One of the first things I considered was, what does an actual project prompt in 6^th grade look like? It needs to be able to grab the students’ attention while also having a professional layout. Considering both of these points, I included (in the upper left hand corner) the teacher’s name, the writing unit, and what week it is. By doing this, it allows the students to be organized and know which unit it is and which week of school we are in. Another move I made was to have vibrant colors, also catching the student’s attention. For example, I incorporated a picture of Mickey Mouse (in the upper right hand corner) and I made the title of the project a vibrant red and black, signifying Mickey Mouses’ colors. Not only will this capture the students’ attention, but it allows them to make the connection between the colors of Mickey Mouse and the title. This move is also a very common convention of most project prompts in middle school. Another move that I incorporated into my transformation was the way I structured it. For example, I made the size of the text bigger than that of text in a college project prompt. Also, I put in what activity will be done on each day by inserting Day 1, Day 2, etc. and having an arrow pointing to the directions. The clearly visible and neatly organized structure makes it very easy for students to see exactly what is expected of them and when, instead of having to guess on what the teacher is looking for.

When transforming this genre into a brochure project prompt, wording is one the most important aspects. As McLoud says in Writing with Pictures, the clarity of writing is within the choice of word with the goals of “Clearly and persuasively communicating ideas, voices and sounds in seamless combination with images.” In order to capture the audience with a transformed genre, you must be able to communicate those ideas effectively enough for them to be able to understand and be engaged in the information being presented. In the brochure prompt, I first had to give the students the actual assignment before transferring over the ideas. Therefore, I begin the prompt with the topic which outlays very briefly what I am asking them to do. After, I decided to outline the prompt into a five-day schedule that would be completed over a week’s class time. Specifically, in day two, I began to incorporate the ideas in the original article. For example, much like Zach asks us in our prompts, I presented the students questions that I wanted them to think about and include in the final product. One of the main ideas in the original article that I used in this section was that you need to be able to include your own voice. For example, I asked the question “How does the reader know that this is my brochure and not someone else’s?” By introducing this question, it has the students begin to think about their own voice and how they will use that to make a brochure unique compared to everyone else’s.

Another important move that I made, although difficult, was telling the students to use rhetorical knowledge but with words that they can understand it through. For example, I told them to find the purpose of the author’s research they uncover and to incorporate your own ideas and the research you found to achieve a unique brochure. It conveys the need to read and write rhetorically but in a way that 6^th grade students can understand. Another way I tried to transfer that idea was by saying that I want every student to be his or her own expert on Disneyland, and that no one way was better than another. I tell them this to encourage the need to read and write rhetorically, even if they don’t formally understand what that is. This prompt was made with the goal to have students start learning to write this way at a much younger age than most students do. In supporting that point, I was not consciously aware of writing rhetorically until this class and by allowing students to understand exactly how to do that in 6^th grade is a great way to prevent the further loss and understanding of writing rhetorically.

When I transferred my article to an adult-friendly genre, the moves I made were much different because an older audience is capable of understanding much more than a 6^th grade class might. One of the moves that I made was to make the eulogy seem as if it were a majority of first-order thinking. I attempted to make my transformation as real as it could be by writing in a way that makes the reader think that the speech was spontaneous and unplanned, that I was just remembering great memories with the deceased. For example, when I say “I remember nearly 60 years ago...” it gives off the message that your thinking back to the story and just talking about it in the way that you remember, but not reading it off a script that you prepared before hand. Another very important move was the way that I actually transferred the ideas of the original article into a eulogy. The way that I did this was incorporating those ideas into a story that connects to the listener. When you are being told a story, you want it to be able to pull you in and not let you go until it’s over. Although I wanted the listener to be pulled in, I needed to incorporate the ideas from the article in a way that would allow the listener’s attention not to be interrupted. For example, I integrated the idea of needing to write and read rhetorically into a story or ‘lesson’ that Henry taught me when I was applying for a job after college. I made him an advanced writer that knew much more than I ever did with writing which allowed me to be the 6^th grade student learning about rhetorical knowledge in this scenario.

After telling the story of how I learned to write rhetorically and about rhetorical knowledge in general, I connected the message back to how he “pushed me to constantly dig deeper and go further.” When a eulogy is given, it often emphasizes how great of person they were and what affect hey had on other people. By utilizing and connecting to the common theme in many eulogies, it allowed me to associate the ideas of the original article as well as making it seem as if it were an actual real-life eulogy.

After designing two transformations for two completely different audiences, I can now see that it is definitely possible. I was skeptical at first on how to do so, but now after completing two of them, I am able to understand how the process and its usefulness for multiple audiences. By incorporating the original genre’s main ideas while also creating a new genre tailored to a different audience, I am given insight on how to understand and better interpret genres for years to come.

Works Cited
McCloud, Scott. Writing with Pictures. Making Comics. William Morrow Paperbacks. 2006.

Writer: _________
	Did Not Meet Expectations	Met Expectations	Exceeded Expectations
Transformed Genres (Overall)		X
Younger Genre’s Conventions and Rhetorical Factors		X
Older Genre’s Conventions and Rhetorical Factors		X
Consideration of “Big Ideas” in the Scholarly Article		X
Perceived Effort		X

Self-Analysis Reflection (Overall)		X
Description of “Moves”		X
Attention to Genre/Conventions and Rhetorical Factors		X
Use of Translated Genres as Evidence of “Moves”		X
Use of Course Readings (McCloud, Losh/Alexander, Etc.)		X
Sentence-level Clarity, Mechanics, Flow		X

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