"Be the Change you Wish to see in the World"
--Gandhi

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Assessment Activity

1. From class discussions, I have gathered that a genre is defined by its context, its intended audience, and the structure. Genres are partially defined by the context of the work which involves how the context is written. For example, a research essay is written more formally and with more facts than say a romantic love letter. Also, who the intended audience is for a specific work makes up the genre that it belongs to. For example, a research paper or argumentative paper is usually intended for a scholarly audience so the genre will be written more formally and more grammatically correct. However, a creative writing work such as a poem or a satirical story may be written for a less serious audience so the genre may include more room for grammatically incorrect work. All of these add to how a genre is structured. A formal work of genre like an analysis or research genre may be structured more traditional with an introduction, body paragraph, and a conclusion while poems may be structured with five lines with long breaks and no clear indications of when the genre begins or ends. I learned in class that each genre is usually cited differently but most are cited unless the genre allows for work based solely on the writer’s own mind and creativity.

2. One of the genres we did a paper for in class was for an ethnographic essay, particularly current subcultures. My paper was on the subculture known as “exercise bulimics”. The genre of ethnography requires the research of a subculture that ultimately defines a subculture. For the paper, I had to include formal language for the paper but particularly, language that the subculture used or to help depict the subculture. For example, I wrote about the labels they use for each other and when I used descriptive words, I used them to describe the subculture (“stick thin, overly obsessive”). For this genre, the language’s ultimate goal is to paint a picture of the subculture for the audience. For the ethnography essay, I included some form of analysis because I had to go in-depth on their lifestyle such as what they wear, how they wear it, how they communicate, etc. The overall tone of this genre would be more informative but also a little argumentative since you are taking a stand on your definition and including counter-definitions. Ethnography essays generally follow the structure of a traditional essay. However, some may be altered if say, an interview is included because the writer has to find where in the body paragraph (if there) to put it. Also, some in-text citations would be necessary.

3. One of the projects that we did in class that I felt I had a good handle on was the argumentative paper. My topic called for “Boycott Made in China Products”. This project obviously addressed the genre of argumentative/research. The content for the argument paper was shaped to support my argument and show how my argument was well made. The content had to include a lot of evidence. There was not that many limitations but there were things that had to be included to shape this type of genre. The essay had to include content that would show another point of view besides your argument and content to back up how your argument would be better than that point of view. The research was centralized on why people should boycott China. Because of this, I did not include research I found on China’s pop culture, etc because it did not relate to the argument.


4.

Two genres we explored in class were analysis and argumentative genres. Both genres include research and background as part of its content. However, the content for an analysis is more informational rather than for the argumentative paper. The thesis for the argumentative paper shows this, "

It is a universal responsibility to stand up for those being treated unjustly. Americans should boycott products made from China to advocate human rights, good health for the Chinese people as well as Americans, and to help America gain an economic advantage over the Chinese.".

It is meant to be persuasive so the language and the content are bound to promoting this. Although the analysis paper makes a stance on the topic it is more of an informative in-depth stand rather than persuasive. Both aspects that we talked about in class for these two genres are including counterarguments. For example, for my analysis paper I had to include why some people might not like Dane Cook's vulgar humor and for my argumentative paper I had to persuade the counterargument why we should care about the problem in China. Most of the time, the audience for an argumentative and and an analysis paper may be the same. The audience may be the professor. However, for an analysis the audience might be a broad spectrum of the population in need of a review of a topic such as a movie. Arguments and analysis as a genre for writing are hard to manipulate over time if the writer makes their stance or point clear in the primary paper.

5. If I had to produce one of the following texts then I would have to choose the style of a love letter or a letter of affection. The technology that could be used for this style would ironically have to make it look antique. Romantic things are usually reminiscent of the Medieval times and Knights where chivalry originated from. If one could, one should use a type of paper that looks like a scroll or a daintier, lighter type of paper. Also, the writer could choose a font that looks like it was written in cursive form; this style of font would make the love letter look more personal rather than typed up or look as a copy. In order to make the love letter look even more sincere and genuine, the person writing it may choose to write it by hand and not use that many tools to write it. The fewer tools used, the purer the text appears. All of these choices would make the love letter seem more from the heart rather than systematically produced on a computer. A love letter has to look more sincere than other types of texts because it is going to one person usually and is a private, personal matter that the intended audience wants to feel is genuine and one-of-a-kind.

6. Different resources could be used to find out about the current U.S. economical crisis. First of, this topic could be seen in certain genres such as an informational/research essay, an analysis or an argumentative essay. An argument essay could argue the severity of the crisis while an analysis could analyze the cause of the economical crisis along with analyzing the effect or possible solutions out there for the crisis. To start the research for this paper, a student could start by physically looking at newspaper archives from recent newspapers, especially ones that focus on the economy such as Wall Street Journal. A lot of magazines can be found in the library too that focus on the economy and business. A student can look through some of these magazines to find articles about the economy. Digitally, plenty of databases focus on solely politics or the economy. The database, CQ Researcher has articles that focus on politics or current events so you could start your research there. You can find these databases or business journals through WMU’s library website. If you want to go more in-depth with your research by interviewing someone then you can start by interviewing business experts or those in your school that are economics major. One person you could interview, for example, is a professor that teaches an economics class since he specializes in the subject. At this point, you should gather all the research you can and then weave out what you need. First off, you should always keep information about the other side of the argument if you are picking a side of the topic for counterarguments. The most creditable sources should be kept as evidence for the research. Only some information should be kept for the background. However, research that is statistical might be best to keep since it has to do with economics and numbers.

7. Credible sources: CQ Researcher, Wall Street Journal, scholarly journals that focus on business or politics, popular magazines such as U.S. News just to gather up a summary of the problem or to gather popular opinion of the topic, newspapers

Not credible sources: someone’s blog that is not scholarly, popular magazines with no focus on business such as US Weekly, articles found on databases such as Google or AskJeeves.

8. The project for the argumentative/research paper included in-text citations and a formal works cited page. Argumentative genre papers are usually written formally and sounds credible and more knowledgeable if it includes correct in-text citations and a works cited page to back up the argument and the research.

9. Formal in-text citations are necessary for the credibility of any paper. In-text citations make your audience feel as if your research has been well thought out and if you are doing an argumentative genre paper, the citations will help your argument if say, scholars feel the same way.

10. I feel that the grammar problem I’ve tackled best would be what to do with independent and dependent clauses and when to put a comma for these two. I remember it through something a peer or maybe the teacher said, “I.D.”. When independent clauses come before dependent clauses then a comma is used, hence an “I.D.”. “I.D.” identifies when to place a comma in the sentence.

11. For the ethnography genre essay I wrote, I made some good grammatical choices and some bad ones. First off, some of my in-text citations were bad so that might have taken away from my credibility or at least it might have made my audience feel that I was not that advanced of a writer. However, my transitions and correct use of semi-colons and commas were very good for the essay and I feel it helped the essay flow better. For example, the transitional sentence "Beside communication, their attire or way of dress can give them away to those not in the subculture.". The comma is in the proper place for the transition causing the break to come at the right time and not disrupting the flow all together.


1 comment:

Andrea Stemaly said...

Camille-
You have provided well-developed responses, so your grade for this assignment is 50/50.