EXPLORING POSSIBILITIES WITH MULTIGENRE WRITING

Sami Peil

Dakota Writing Project

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WHAT IS MULTIGENRE WRITING? Choose a paper to look through

Tom Romano on multigenre writing VIDEO

WHY MULTIGENRE?

TOM ROMANO:Blending Genre, Altering Style

“A multigenre paper arises from research, experience, and imagination. It is not an uninterrupted, expository monolog nor a seamless narrative nor a collection of poems. A multigenre paper is composed of many genres and subgenres, each piece self-contained, making a point of its own, yet connected by theme or topic and sometimes by language, images, and content. In addition to many genres, a multigenre paper may also contain many voices, not just the author’s. The trick is to make such a paper hang together.” (Romano x-xi)

How can you utilize

multigenre writing in your

classroom?

MULTIGENRE UNITStudents will… Use different types of writing and multiple

perspectives to convey a message about a theme.

Individualize projects by selecting topics and genres.

Write goals specific to future educational or career plans. What do you need to learn from this unit?

Research skills Information about the topic Organization

MULTIGENRE UNIT

Immersion

Research

Writing

SharingRevising

Presenting

Reflecting

WRITING ACTIVITY PART I

See?

Feel?

Taste?

Hear?

Smell?

People?

Objects?

Activities?

Write a newspaper article or memoir about the first day of school. 3 minutes

Kobe and the Ball“Hey Kobe!” came a noise.

“What? Who’s there?”

“Over Here!”

“God?” Kobe replied.

“No silly… me!” said a basketball from across the room.

“Whoa! I must be going crazy!”

“Why are you just sitting around playing video games?” said the basketball.

“Why not?”

“Where are you planning on going in life that will require you playing those stupid games?”

“I’m twelve. What else would I do?”

“Well you know, I have just been sitting here for quite a while now… maybe you want to go play some hoops with me?” The ball said timidly

“Nah, I’m almost past level two!” said Kobe

“KOBE!!! You may think we basketballs are just stupid chunks of rubber, but we know more than you think.” said the ball.

“Well obviously! I mean you’re sitting here talking to

me.”

“Kobe we basketballs know when a player has potential, and you, well let’s just say I have a strange dribble about you.”

“You think I have potential?”

“Oh yes, but […] that doesn’t mean squat unless you work at it.”

“Well, I guess I could go shoot around a bit.” said Kobe

“Just one day won’t do much. You will have to practice much more if you want to go somewhere with basketball.”

“Alright then, every day I will practice with you for two hours instead of playing video games.”

“That’s more like it!” said the ball with a grin

(5 years later)

The T.V. turned on and said aloud, “With the thirteenth pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Hornets select Kobe Bryant from Lower Merion High School.”

The basketball said to the T.V., “I told you he could do it.”

EXAMINING GENRE: Adolph Hitler

Biography Poetry

Adolf Hitler’s Bio

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau-am-Inn on the Austrian-German border on April 20, 1889

(“Adolf”). Being found insufficiently talented at seventeen, he was denied admission to the Vienna

Art Academy (“Hitler”). Acquiring an ideology based on belief in a German master race while he

remained in Vienna, he also believed that the master race was threatened by an international Jewish

conspiracy [...] (“Hitler”). Hitler immediately volunteered to join the German army [...] and was

promoted to corporal and [...] was assigned the task of spying on local political groups. Hitler became

interested in the German Workers Party and joined. His skills [...] helped him transform the party into

the Nazi Party. In 1923, Hitler led an attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government (“Rise”). This

attempt failed and he was sentenced to five years in prison. […] (“Hitler”). [...] Hitler wrote his book

Mein Kampf. He rebuilt the Nazi party after 1925, […] blame Jews and Communists, using them to gain

himself support (“Rise”). Against a background of political turmoil and economic depression, the Nazi

Party grew stronger (“Adolf”). On January 30, 1933, Hitler was declared Chancellor. […] (“Hitler”).

They proved no match for his ruthlessness and genius […] Hitler had dictatorial control (“Hitler”)

[…] Nazis conquered and millions of others who were considered racially impure were rounded

up [in concentration camps, such as Auschwitz,] and killed. Hitler declared war on the United

States […] Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker (“Adolf”) by putting a bullet in his brain (“What

are”).   

Why Did 6 Million Have To Die?One crazy mad man

While the world did nothingMurdered innocents

 One crazy mad man

Convinced a whole country to Follow his Third Reich

 One crazy mad man

Sent people to death camps andMurdered six million

 One crazy mad man

Frightened people to silenceAnd found ways to kill

 One crazy mad man

When he was about to loseDid something extreme

 One crazy mad man

Put a gun to his head andEnded his black life

Adolf Hitler 

Failed painterDecorated soldier

Manipulative fascistMunich Putsch leader

Greedy ChancellorCalculating Mastermind

Ruthless DictatorMurderer

Dead Coward

EXAMINING GENRE: Adolph Hitler

1. Compare and contrast your experience reading the biography vs. reading the poems.

2. Which genre (biography or poem) do you prefer to read? Why?

3. Identify one advantage and one disadvantage that you think may occur in multigenre texts.

EXAMINING GENRE:Rosa Parks

Parks, Rosa Louise (1913-2005), an African American civil rights activist, became best known for her role in a 1955 boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama, bus system. Parks triggered the boycott when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus. Her action helped bring about the civil rights movement in the United States.

Parks was arrested for violating a city law requiring that whites and blacks sit in separate rows on buses. She refused to give up her seat in the middle of the bus when a white man wished to sit in her row. The front rows were for whites only. The law required blacks to leave their seats in the next rows when all seats in the front rows were taken and other whites still wanted seats.

Garrow, David J. "Parks, Rosa Louise." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2010. Web.  16 March 2010.

It Happened in Montgomery By Phil W. Petrie 

Then he slammed on the brakes—Turned around and grumbled. But she was tired that day.Weariness was in her bones.And so the thing she’s done yesterday,And yesteryear, On her workdays,Churchdays, Nothing-to-do-guess-I’ll –go-and-visit

Sister Annie Days— She felt she’d never do again. And he growled once more.So she said: No sir…I’m stayin’ right here. And he gruffly grabbed her,Pulled and pushed her—Then sharply shoved her through the doors. 

The news slushed through the littered streets—Slipped into the crowded churches,Slimmered onto the unmagnolied side of the town

While the men talked and talked and talked. She—Who was tired that day,Cried and sobbed that she was glad she’d done it,That her soul was satisfied. That Lord knows,A little walkin’ never hurt anybody; That in one of those unplanned, unexpected,Unadorned moments—A weary woman turned the page of History.         

STUDENT PAPERS Choose a paper to look through

Read at least two genres from the paper What do you notice about the writing? What questions do you have for the writer?

But first!

How to read a poem for multiple voices…

The “Stars” AlignUlrich Renate Papa

She’s pretty He’s handsome

Her radiant violet eyes His kind blue eyes

Her chestnut-colored hair His wavy bleach-blonde hair

She’s graceful as she glides through the crowd

The way he carries himself, so bold

I don’t think she goes to the Hitler Youth I wonder where he goes to school

Or does she?

I know I’ve seen her before I think I’ve seen him before

Where? Where?

What is that?

Oh, no

She’s wearing the Star

Why is he looking at me like that?Wait…

That’s where I’ve seen her!! I have seen him

She came to get a star He was handing out the Stars

She’s a Jew He’s a Nazi

Why does she have to be a Jew? Why does he have to be a Nazi?

I will never forgive him for that

A Few Years LaterDuring Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)

Ulrich Renate Papa

I don’t want to do this They are all enjoying thisVandalizing is wrong Destroying dad’s mercantileAll that glass The windows are decimatedWhat about all those poor people? Do they really hate us?What have they done to deserve this?

Why? What have we ever done?

I’ll just wait in the street Why is that boy standing there?I’ve seen him before, at the marketHe handed out the Star

I can’t do thisBut I can’t desertThere’s only one wayThis gun is heavy What is he doing?It’d be an easy fixI just got to look down the barrel NO!!!Who screamed? I haven’t done it yet My scream makes him pauseWho is that girl?I know her, she’s that girlWhat is she doing? I have to stop himShe took my gun I took his gun and set it downI let her He just stood thereShe drags me into a building I pull him into our house before the

soldiers come back

Ulrich Renate PapaHer family is there Mama, Papa, Opa and Inge are

thereI saw what she did

I look at Papa I meet her gazeHe saw I understand

Her father nodded He understands That poor boyHe leaves the room Papa went to the hallway He needs different clothesThe girl wants me to follow I tell him to follow Papa Renate gets him to follow me

Good girlIs he going to kill me? I hope he’s not too scared He looks scaredHe has every right to Papa will help him Here they areClothes? He needs to get rid of that

uniformHe seems surprised

He is going to help me? We can burn it laterWho are these people? I smile at him and nodHe handed me the clothes He took the clothesHe is risking his life for me I’ll dispose of his uniformMy eyes feel hot, everything is blurry

He started crying

That poor boyI thank him He is grateful

Sympathy washes over meHe hugged me I hugged himHe gives me time to cry So many tearsThis family is so kind He must’ve had a hard life

Ulrich Renate PapaLike how mama use to be before dad sent me off to Hitler Youth

Mama believed in God Thank the Lord Renate saved him

We rejoin the family There he is I observe Mama’s reaction

I’m introduced to them all He meets my family Mama smiles and introduces us all

Renate? Ulrich? He’s a strong boy

Such a pretty name His name fits him Sturdy name

Can she forgive me? He’s no longer a Nazi I think those two could be a good match

He was going to end his life

Just to get out of the wretched army

She smiled at me He smiled back They seem to get along

I can’t believe I’m saying this You can do it

I forgive him

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXCERPTS Before, I wouldn’t have thought about writing from a plate’s

point of view or trying to combine professional words with individual thoughts, but having to write this with different genres was difficult and definitely made me look at more diverse options.

…it was easy to incorporate different perspectives in my multigenre project…my paper [had] more depth when I added different genres.

I was very passionate about my topic. … I learned that you don’t have to just write about facts in order to convey a message and information. I also learned how to write different genres, which is something I usually don’t do.

…I really don’t understand how a multi-genre paper gets a point across more effectively or informs a person better than a regular research paper.

Taking things I knew and taking the things I learned and putting them together was tough but really cool.

…once or twice a week there was a new way to look at something or a new technique to try to make the paper better…I think that this will help me during college because it will give me a variety of ways to display information.

…knowledge and emotions are better communicated through different genres rather than one long, tedious research paper. This project made it much easier for me to speak about my topic in ways that I felt were appropriate, such as through a sitcom transcript or a poem.

…it is tedious and that it works very well to get the point across. Because different people comprehend things differently, it allows me to be understood by more readers.

I kind of liked writing in different genres because it was easier to communicate in some ways. For example, in one of my genres I used a lot of dialogue. With writing in different genres it was easier to switch over from me giving information to someone else speaking.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXCERPTS

dirty

Find love. Find love? How? How do we “find love”? Where is love? Is there even a possible way to find it? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you all I know of love. What is love you may ask? Don’t ask me – ask them. Yes, them, the smelly, dirty, homeless kids. They know all about love. Trust me. Ask them.

WRITING ACTIVITY PART II

Write about the first day of school from a different genre and perspective. If you finish, try another!

Genres: interview, screenplay, rap, poem, map, comic strip, dramatic scene, advertisement, personal note, monologue, short story, dialogue, top 10 list, e-mails/txts, memoir, tweets, bedtime story, etc.

Perspectives: student, principal, teacher, special education teacher, superintendent, librarian, kitchen staff, secretary, custodian, technology coordinator, counselor, student who likes school, student who hates school, popular student, foreign exchange student, etc.

WRITING ACTIVITY PART II Share your writing with a partner and

discuss your thoughts on the questions below.

Did you capture the essence of the first day of school with your mini-multigenre piece?What are the strengths of your multigenre

piece? Is one of your texts better than the other? If

so, why?With more time, what other genres and

perspectives would you like to explore?

TIMELINE: March - May English IV SharePoint Calendar

http://sp101.k12.sd.us/deubrookenglish4

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

Men’s Rights Movement=Fail

Come on, guys! Don’t you realize? They’re trying to kill us off! This is it,

men; we’ve got to do it. We’ve got to start a Men’s Rights Movement and

start it now. We have rights too, you know! Because before we know it, we’ll

be gone the way of the dinosaur if it’s up to those women. With all those

science advancements these days, they wouldn’t even need our help when it

comes to reproducing and continuing their society. Heck, they could probably

take a fingernail clipping from some chick’s perfectly painted nail, plant it in

some Miracle Grow, and bam! Out pops a miniature blonde bombshell,

already set to tempt, terrorize, and destroy men everywhere. I bet they just

want to create an all-female human race, where only women rule. Yeah,

that’s it. Women are pretty much like Australian redback spiders; they make

babies with us, and then they turn around and eat us for lunch. Men, we can’t

stand for this any longer!

DEFINITION OF MULTIGENRE IN THE SPIRIT OF MULTIGENRE

Multigenre pushes convention,challenges "This is the way writing is done,"and "Hey, wait a minute, you can't do thatin a piece of writing." 

Multigenre speaks, "How come I read imaginativeliterature but I have to write about it in an essaythat is thesis driven, argumentative, and exactlyfive you-know-whats (each you-know-what, of course,of the 3.8 variety), an essay in which the writeroverpowers readers, beats theminto submission, and concludeswith a summative you-know-what that restates the thesis?" Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But writing that way is not what multigenre is about. Multigenre removes the lid of Pandora's Rhetorical Box.Multigenre twirls you and spins you and you hope the stepsthe writer asks you to follow lead to fulfillment. Multigenre knows that feeling is first. Multigenre grooves on pulse, has flushed cheeks,hair on the back of the neck that stands on end. Multigenre makes readers sit up in their chairs. Multigenre is not roast beef; it is ciappino. It is less like mashed potatoes,and more like red beans and rice.                   Tom Romano

MINI-LESSONS In-text citations Writing inspired from a photo or song Taking your writing further Letter to reader Thesis statements Revision Opening piece

POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR RESEARCH BASED PAPERS

Holocaust Careers Historical Events

Social Issues

Family Member Literature Stereotype

s Science

Disease Hobbies Athletes ANYTHING!

Personal Hero

Historical Villain

21st

CENTUR

Y SKILLS•CREATIVITY

•CRITICAL THINKING

•PROBLEM SOLVING

•SELF-DIRECTION

•COMMUNICATION

•COLLABORATION

SD LANGUAGE ARTS CONTENT STANDARDS

12.W.1.3

Students can revise document for ideas, organization, diction, fluency, voice, and presentation.

12.W.2.1

Students can edit a document for all conventions.

12.R.2.1

Students can evaluate how style affects the meaning of text.

12.R.3.1

Students can evaluate text for the author’s style.

12.LVS.1.3

Students can narrate a multimedia presentation that combines text, images, and sounds to reflect, to inform, to persuade, or to entertain.

OTHER CONTENT AREAS How could you use multigenre writing in your

classroom?

History Write about an event or time period from multiple perspectives and genres.

Science Write a journal article , a diary of a patient, a conversation with a doctor about a disease.

Elementary Write a how-to piece about learning a task and a short story from the perspective of the person learning OR create a multigenre book as a class about a theme that includes advertisements, stories, poetry, maps, etc.

HANDOUTS ON WIKI Assignment description (with research design & rubric

included)

Example paper

Links to classroom calendar

Dakota Writing Project handout

Requests for information? samantha.peil@k12.sd.us Twitter @sampeil

CHANGES FOR FUTURE Presentations as digital stories??

Start earlier

Require students to read a book for research at the before 2nd semester

Works Cited

Dickson, Randi, Jon DeGraff, and Mark Foard. "Learning about self and others

through multigenreresearch projects. " English Journal  92.2 (2002): 82-

90. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.  15 Mar. 2010.

Grierson, Sirpa T.  "Circling through text: Teaching research through multigenre

writing. " English Journal  89.1 (1999): 51-55. Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 

15 Mar. 2010.

LeNoir, W, David.  "The multigenre warning label. " English Journal 

92.2 (2002): 99-101. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.  15 Mar. 2010.

Romano, Tom. Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers.

Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2000. Print.

Romano, Tom. "Multigenre Writing." Multigenre Writing. University of Miami--Ohio,

2006.

Web. 16 Mar. 2010. <http://www.users.muohio.edu/romanots/index.html>.

Slack, Delane Bender.  "Fusing social justice with multigenre writing. " English

Journal  90.6 (2001): 62-66. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.  15 Mar. 2010.

Styslinger, Mary E.  "Multigenre-Multigendered Research Papers. " English Journal 

95.4 (2006): 53-57. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.  15 Mar. 2010.