Genre Analysis Assignment Sequence

Chris DoxtatorUniversity of Colorado Denver

Class: Core Composition Time: Eight 75-minute sessions

Rationale OverviewAssigning a genre analysis allows students to explore a type of writing they are interested in. While I allow students to analyze any genre they want, I encourage them to choose one specific to their degree or career choice because it will give them a focus and direction for their writing practice after the class. This assignment introduces students to using research to create a report, and to analyze a writing genre as they might a piece of fiction or poetry. I include specific points of rationale for each day of the lesson plan, but before jumping into the instructional plan, here are a few things to be aware of/consider:

Each day’s activities should only be undertaken if students have demonstrated an understanding of the previous

Each reading assignment is taken from the third addition of The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings and Handbook and picked to compliment either the discussion of the next class or a short homework assignment

Students are not used to discussing genre in terms of workplace/professional writing, so spend time explaining the difference between that and literary/film genres

Something else to be mindful of with this assignment is that it is intended for the middle of the semester, after students have been introduced to the structure and concepts of essay writing, but before they are expected to take research and make their own unique academic argument. This assignment is meant to bridge

the gap between analyzing and summarizing information and presenting an evolved stance on previously researched ideas.

Assignment Grid

WEEK ONEDAY 1

Review requirements of essay 2 Characteristics of reports Genre and convention discussion

Report on an event on campus that took place from 5:40pm-6:10pm

Read pages 432-456DAY 2

Finding sources Works cited page Sample genre convention analysis

Read pages 457-460

Find 2 sources that discuss conventions of your chosen genre

Create annotated bibliography with your 2 sources

WEEK TWODAY 1

Transitions Elements of style Rhetorical grammar

Find or create genre example for your draft – if creating example, no written analysis necessary. If finding example, outline the key points of analysis

Bring 1 copy to classDAY 2

Discussion of genre artifacts Revision vs. Editing

Write the first page of your report – bring 1 copy to class

Read 269-274 & 282-286 & 342-347

WEEK THREEDAY 1

Short presentations with Q & AGenerate list of 10 questions for peer review; bring 3 copies of questions

DAY 2 Paper #2: First Draft Due Submit revision plan before the following class

WEEK FOURDAY 1

Introduce the elements of document design

Design workshop

Finish draft

DAY 2 Paper #2: Final Draft Due Yay!

Instructional PlanThe following instructional plan includes a rationale specific to each day of the assignment sequence, followed by the in-class/out-of-class assignments for eight 75-minute sessions. For in-class assignments, an estimated time for the task will be in parenthesis next to the task.

Day 1This assignment has three parts that will require students to work on understanding their future writing requirements, reporting the textual characteristics of their future writing, and analyzing those characteristics with regard to specific rhetorical contexts they identify. Because these three parts can seem a bit complicated as understood together, it’s important to introduce them one at a time and offer ample time for clarification on the parts of the assignment. Overall, the assignment requires students to write a report, but they will also have the chance to write in a style of their choosing, understand a genre of their choosing, and gain introductory knowledge to what will be required of their writing after their core classes. Day 1 is intended to introduce students to the concept of professional genres and the genre of informational reports.

Review requirements for Genre Report (10) (Appendix I.a)o I recommend introducing the assignment at the end of the previous

class to give students time to ask questions about the prompt/tasks before jumping into scaffolding toward the final product. If you have not already introduced the assignment, start with the assignment introduction.

Introduce the characteristics of reports (20)o Read and analyze “Does Texting Affect Writing” (pg. 87) What are the

parts and characteristics that make this a report? Have students gather field notes to report on an event on campus for

homework (25) Prompt: This report needs to be at least one page double-

spaced and should answer the 5 w's (who, what, when, where, why) of a situation, event, object, or any other manner of detail of campus. Organize your report logically; give it an introduction and a conclusion. Remember, reports still contain analysis but it relates more to answering what is in an objective, evidence based way.

Introduce genre convention terms and definitions (15) (Appendix I.b) Review for next class (5-10)

Homework Write one-page report based on field notes and submit online before next

class Read pages 432-456 in textbook (this can be supplemented or replaced

with any reading you find useful for introducing students to finding quality sources.

Day 2Here is a chance for students to get a brief introduction to finding sources and using them to inform their writing. It’s important to introduce them to the idea of evaluating sources and not assuming everything on the internet is credible. Also, this is a good chance to set expectations for the types of sources you expect students to use on the assignment. Lastly, relay to students that they can use this same research process whenever having to complete a new genre or style of writing.

Ask students about difficulties or accomplishments with writing their reports (5-10)

Finding Sources (15-20)o Show students examples of web blogs/articles that discuss genre

conventions related to some of their choices. Top ten lists, how to guides, etc. are good Google-search terms. After finding a few, evaluate them with the class: what makes them useful or useless for this assignment?

Examples: Technical reports -

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/ei/internal/forstudents/engineeringdesign/studyguides/techreportwriting

Lab reports - http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/maderinquiry/writing.html

Business proposals – http://www.business.com/business-planning/write-your-way-to-a-win-business-proposal-101/

MLA Citations (15-20)o Show students examples of in-text and works cited pages. Explain

positions of items in works-cited page. Feel free to share shortcuts with them if you know any useful ones.

Purdue owl MLA citations: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

(optional) Son of Citation Machine Citation Generator: http://www.citationmachine.net/

Sample genre analysis (Appendix II) (25-30)o Walk students through answering the questions required and be

listening for their specific use of the terms. o Review the necessary vocabularyo Have students answer questions on Appendix II

Homework Read pages 457-460 Find 2 sources that discuss conventions of your selected genre Create brief (2-3 sentences) annotated bibliography of what your

sources taught you about your genre.

Day 3

Synthesizing multiple sources to produce a coherent piece of writing and transitioning between different sections of the report are skills students will take with them into any degree. In addition to creating strategies for coherent moves through the text, students will be introduced to the idea of style in writing. Introducing them to the concept of writing as having a rhythm, pace, and grammar intended to direct meaning will give them a fresh and challenging perspective for their writing. For many, the introduction will be the first time they’ve considered the musicality of writing or the fact that punctuation is rhetorical as apposed to something to have done perfectly.

Discuss annotated bibs in small groups: what did you learn; what did you already know; what will you write about? (5-10)

Transitions (20-25) (Appendix III.a)o Discuss the readingo Walk students through handouto Have them combine the texts on the handout with a transition

Elements of style and Rhetorical grammar (15-20) (Appendix III.b)o Discuss voice, style, and tone with your students and ask a few to

share those genre conventions with the classo Punctuate sentences on sample handout

Prompt: Write a one-paragraph introduction to your genre and what you’ve learned about it so far. Exchange that paragraph with someone next to you. Rewrite your neighbor’s paragraph varying the sentence length and style for engaging rhythm and using grammar rhetorically to direct and inform the reader on the relationships between ideas and sentence parts.

Homework Find or create genre example for draft. Students that find an example

need to outline the key points of analysis with regard to evidence of genre conventions. If students create an example, not analysis is necessary.

Day 4At this point students should be comfortable using the vocabulary necessary for the assignment and discussing the intricacies of their genre. After finding or creating their assignment, they’ve thought critically about its conventions and will be ready for a more in-depth discussion of their artifacts. Feel free to offer leading questions for consideration if discussion reaches a stand still. Day 4 is also a good chance to get the students purposefully drafting in class, so they can ask questions about any complications or confusion they run into.

Small group discussion of genre artifacts (15-20) Draft introduction to report (25) Revision vs Editing (25)

o Explain difference between HOCs and LOCs and priority for revising each

Prompt: Analyze your topic sentence, introductory context, and specific claims made. Are they focused, and do they create a solid understanding of the genre for your reader? These higher order concerns should be

considered and revised before focusing on the grammar and word choice. After revising your introductions HOCs, look at the sentence style, length, variance, and punctuation. Could you create a more engaging text by revising on the sentence level? Have you given readers a reason to continue reading your draft?

Homework Write first page of report—bring 1 copy to class Read 269-274; 282-286; 342-347

Day 5These presentations are critical because some students may be lost at this point and afraid to ask questions for clarification. The short presentations give them a chance to teach their topic, helping them internalize the information their presenting. Also, other students will benefit from learning the various ways to understand this assignment.

Short presentations with Q & A (75)o Have students take 2-3 minutes to introduce their topic, conventions,

and why they chose their genre

Homework Generate list of 10 questions for peer review; bring two copies of

questions and three copies of first draft to the next class

Day 6Similar to the presentations, today is a good chance to have students present their work and see it through the group’s eyes. Be sure to pair students who showed some kind of misunderstanding of the assignment during presentations with students who are on the right track. That way, the student’s needing stronger feedback will get it, and the students with a solid understanding of the assignment will have another chance to teach the concepts, further internalizing the information they’ve learned.

Collect Drafts and peer review questions Peer Review groups of 3

Homework

Submit revision plan before next class session

Day 7Principles of document design are important in any writing genre. Rarely will students be in a core composition class and have a theoretical understanding of

importance of balance on the page. Because this is an abstract concept to learn, hands on activities are best. This class functions as a workshop opportunity to experiment with design. Several students will be stressed about the added design requirement, so I make it a point to stress that the design does not need to be perfect, but they do need to provide conceptual explanations for the design choices they make on their final drafts. This is simply intended to help students learn another facet of rhetorical elements in composition.

Introduce elements of design (20) (Appendix IV) Design workshop—you will need several pieces of colored construction

paper, and several different rectangular shapes of white (text spaces and image spaces) paper for students to create their own designs on the construction paper and write a report (40-45)

Prompt: Organize the white sections of paper on your page to adhere to principles of document design. Fill in the white paper with a title, headings, text, visuals, and pullout quotes to report on your first day on mars.

Leave time for Q & A before dismissing class

Day 8 Students are burnt out by this point, so it’s important to start the class off in a relaxed way. Have them reflect on the work they’ve done and congratulate them for tackling such a complex assignment. I like to introduce the next assignment briefly, but also let them know we won’t get started on it until the next week. For the rest of the class, watching videos that introduce the underlying concepts of your final project. Collect drafts

Have students write for ten minutes, reflecting on their writing and revising process for this draft

I like to watch a TED Talk or some other video to introduce the next topic. Give your students a break before tackling the next assignment.

(Appendix I.a)ENGL 1020 Essay #2: Reporting Information: What’s to Your Writing?

Framing Question: All of you have written about how writing fits into your future academic or professional goals. These goals, while unique to you in this class, are likely shared with other writers. What writing genre is associated with your goal, and what are four genre characteristics (voice, tone, design, style, medium, structure, etc.) with that type of writing?

For this paper you will communicate important information about a particular writing genre that you’ll need to be familiar with to pursue your academic/professional goals. This time, imagine your audience is a group of students, who, like you, are pursuing your chosen academic/career goals. You can’t assume that your audience knows anything about the genre conventions, so it is up to you to create for them a comprehensive guide, example with an explanation, or report on your specified genre. To write this, you will need to find two popular blog posts or online articles that discuss the genre conventions of your writing genre. For this assignment, you will incorporate at least one visual (which does not count toward your page length requirement).

Essay Writing Steps: 1. Define your goal, and what writing genre goes along with it (1

paragraph, no more than half a page).2. Report on four specific conventions of that genre, be they

organization, style, voice, tone, format, medium, etc. (2 pages).-Here is a list of questions to help you get started on your report.

What are the genre conventions? Why are they that way? Do they achieve a specific effect? Etc. I want you to analyze the genre as a form of communication

and answer questions about why it is written and designed in a specific way. For example, there are reasons newspapers write short, clear, and direct sentences, while academic articles write complex and sophisticated (sometimes confusing) sentences.

For your analysis, remember your reading on rhetorical situations and consider the author’s goals, the audience’s expectations, the material of the text, and the environment in which it’s generated, revised, and read.

3. Find or create an example that embodies these genre conventions. If you find an example, do a textual analysis of the genre

conventions you reported on by analyzing the effectiveness of the conventions within the example (1 page).

If you create an example, summarize the ways your draft exemplifies the conventions you reported on (1 paragraph).

What I’m Grading On: Your ability to accurately define your academic or professional goal and

the writing genre that accompanies it. Remember, your reader shares your goal, but is unaware of what writing genres are associated with it.

Your ability to identify, critically read, and cite two popular blogs on your chosen genre.

Your ability to structure the informational report on the conventions associated with your chosen genre.

Your ability to revise your work based on my feedback and peer review. Revise, read aloud, and rewrite.

Your ability to proofread and edit common error patterns in your rough draft.

Your ability to meet the assignment requirements. So if you’re struggling, talk to me.

- Your essay must be at least three pages (to the bottom of the third page not including your found or created example). One-inch margins, 12-point standard font, double-spaced, no extra spaces in document.

- First draft is due 10/8/15 at the beginning of class. Bring three copies to class. The late penalty applies starting at 5:00PM, and email submissions are not acceptable.

- Final draft is due 10/15/15, again at the beginning of class.

(Appendix I.b)

Key terms:• Organization/Structure – What’s being said and in what

specific parts?• Format – What does the text look like?• Style – What are the sentence characteristics?• Voice – What signs of the author’s personality or perspective

are there?• Tone – What mood does the piece project?• Layout/Design – Is it pretty? Effective? Both…?

(Appendix II)

Using the key terms, answer the questions for each sign and highlight similarities the signs share.

Take two of those similarities, and considering the rhetorical situation (purpose, audience, message), expand on your answers with analysis that answers why this genre functions the way it does.

Key terms:

• Organization/Structure – What’s being said and in what specific parts?• Format – What does the text look like?• Style – What are the sentence characteristics?• Voice – What signs of the author’s personality or perspective are there?• Tone – What mood does the piece project?• Layout/Design – Is it pretty? Effective? Both…?

(Appendix III.a)ENGL 1020TRANSITION EXERCISE

Transitions help readers move between paragraphs without losing focus of the ideas being developed. Building transitions between paragraphs is especially useful when the ideas between the two paragraphs are not inherently apparent. To help readers understand why one idea is ending and the next is beginning, it’s important to explicitly state what is ending, what’s beginning, and how the two ideas relate.

To practice, take these two unrelated paragraphs and build a transition between them. What sentences do you need to add to the end of the first paragraph and to the beginning of the second paragraph to make the two ideas presented relate?

Build a transition between the two paragraphsIn short, drumbeats speak to the participants in powwows, tribal council events or other ceremonies where drums are often utilized. Whether it is to emphasize a ritual dancing or spiritual event, the drum beats will live on in the heart of every Native American today.

If you’ve never tried it, don’t be shy. Grab a drum, join a group, and find your rhythm. Drumming is a fun, engaging activity that naturally leads to joy and release. By joining in a pulsing rhythm, you can channel your stress into beautiful music and let go of tension. If you’re feeling anxious and aggressive, you can take those emotions out on the drum and watch them transform.

(Appendix III.b)ENGL 1020RHETORICAL GRAMMAR AND ELEMENTS OF STYLE

"You will punctuate with power and purpose when you begin to consider pace and space."

– Roy Peter Clark

In Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer (Little, Brown and Company, 2006), Clark reminds us that the so-called rules of punctuation are "arbitrary, determined by consensus, convention, and culture." Knowing the rules is a good starting point for writers. But it takes practice and a trained ear to turn the rules into useful tools for writing--or, in Clark's analogy, for driving:

Think of a long, well-written sentence with no punctuation except the period. Such a sentence is a straight road with a stop sign at the end. The period is the stop sign. Now think of a winding road with lots of stop signs. That analogy describes a paragraph with lots of periods, an effect that will slow the pace of the story. The writer may desire such a pace for strategic reasons: to achieve clarity, convey emotion, or create suspense.

If a period is a stop sign, then what kind of traffic flow is created by other marks? The comma is a speed bump; the semicolon is what a driver education teacher calls a "rolling stop"; the parenthetical description is a detour; the colon is a flashing yellow light that announces something important up ahead; the dash is a tree branch in the road.

True, we need to follow the rules of the road. But when writing, remember that we're creating our own roads. So be guided by good sense as well as the rules when posting the signs of punctuation.

Period: Stop sign

- Signals the end of a complete sentence (a complete sentence has a subject and a verb)

o My dog ate my steak.

o I locked the dog outside.o The dog stared at me through the window.

Comma: Speed bump

- Separates items in a listo He went to the store for Pringles, Oreos, and Doritos.

- Isolates introductory elements (like prepositional phrases, adverbs, transition words, dependent clauses)

o After the big game, she went out with some friends for a milkshake.o Even though she can’t spell, she writes very well.o Unfortunately, Boris can’t make it to his dentist appointment today.

- With quotation markso “He is the worst person I’ve ever met,” my mom said.

Avoid Comma Splices! Comma splices occur when two independent clauses are separated by just a comma rather than a conjunction with a comma, a semicolon, or a period.

Examples of Comma Splices: The party was great, there were lots of people.My computer sucks, it runs really slow.I hate grammar, commas are my worst enemy.

How to Fix a Comma Splice:Period: The party was great. There were lots of people.Semicolon: My computer sucks; it runs really slow.Comma + conjunction: I hate grammar, and commas are my worst enemy.

*Conjunctions: Use the acronym FANBOYS to remember (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

Semicolon : Rolling stop (do the California roll!)

- Shows that the two parts being joined are equivalent in some wayo Eric never does his work; Mateo can hardly ever stop working.

- Signals relationship between two closely related independent clauseso I can’t believe you missed the deadline; now you won’t be able to

make up the points!- Can be used in long lists where the items in the list include commas

o On my vacation, I traveled to many cities including Irvine, California; Baraboo, Wisconsin; Alexandria, Minnesota; and McMinnville, Oregon.

Colon: Flashing yellow light signaling something important

- Introduces a list of things (but what comes before the colon must be a complete sentence)

o She has 3 more classes to take before she graduates: Principles and Practices of Second Language Acquisition, Rhetorical Theory, and Language Theory.

- Used to provide expansiono Her grammatical issues are often very particular: she can’t help but

add in extra words where she doesn’t need them. - Used to introduce a long quotation from a source

o In his textbook, Strunk says: “Grammar is often seen as black and white, but students may be thrilled to realize that so much depends on audience and context.”

Dash: Tree branch

- Interrupts a sentence with additional informationo He can’t help but train his dog—a 130-lb., 10-year-old yellow Labrador

Retriever—to fetch him a beer from the fridge.o Whenever I visit my friend—who lives on the corner of 5th and Carson

—I always eat all of her food.

Parentheses: Detour

- Like dashes, provide additional information that the reader can choose to read or ignore

o She always (and I mean always) drives like an elderly person.

He never eats popcorn (or candy) when he goes to the movies

ENGL 1020PRINCIPLES OF DOCUMENT DESIGN AND PAGE BALANCE

The design of a page has a rhetorical effect. A giant block of text is less inviting/engaging than concise paragraphs of text. Also, images, white space, and columns can be used to make the page more readable and accessible. Below is an explanation of the basic principles of document design to consider, followed by some examples of document designs to consider for your report.

Design happens on four levels1. Line Level

Font: Font size: Use of Italics: Use of Bolding: Use of Underlining:

When using graphics, pullout quotes, columns, spacing, and white space to make the page appealing, note that items on the right side of the page are heavier than items on the left, and items on the bottom of the

2. Paragraph Level Spacing between lines: Heading typefaces: Indentation: Justification: Column width:

3. Page Level Columns Headers/footers Borders Use of shading Placement of graphics Use of color Pullout quotes/sidebar

quotes Page numbers

4. Graphics Level Captions: Labeling: Borders on graphics: Use of color: Fonts use in

graphics/pullouts:

EXAMPLES:

When using graphics, pullout quotes, columns, spacing, and white space to make the page appealing, note that items on the right side of the page are heavier than items on the left, and items on the bottom of the

Lighter Heavier

Heavier