Multi+Genre+Paper

// 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. (x-xi) // // The best way I can describe a multigenre paper is to say that each piece in the paper utilizes a different genre, reveals one facet of the topic, and makes its own point. Conventional devices do not connect the pieces in a multigenre paper, nor are the pieces always in chronological order. The paper is instead a collage of writing and artistic expression with an overarching theme that engulfs and informs the reader. //**// (2) //** Multigenre pushes convention, challenges "This is the way writing is done," and "Hey, wait a minute, you can't do that in a piece of writing."
 * What is a MULTIGENRE paper???? **
 * From Tom Romano's __// Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers //__ (2000): **
 * From Camille Allen's The Multigenre Resarch Paper (2001): **
 * DEFINITION OF MULTIGENRE IN THE SPIRIT OF MULTIGENRE **

Multigenre speaks, "How come I read imaginative literature but I have to write about it in an essay  that is thesis driven, argumentative, and exactly  five you-know-whats (each you-know-what, of course,  of the 3.8 variety), an essay in which the writer  overpowers readers, beats them  into submission, and concludes  with 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 steps the 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


 * __ The Process and Assignment: __**

You are going to take one of the essential questions you have brainstormed from //Beloved// and respond to that question in this multigenre form. The goal is not to answer your question definitively or exhaustively (if you have picked a good question, that will be impossible), but to comment and express your unique voice through this form. The key to this assignment, as with most that we have done, is to focus on good writing and language. You should consult the rubric for the specifics, but here is the overview:


 * 1) Select an essential question through which to respond. See the generated list of questions here: [[file:Big Idea Questions 11.docx]]
 * 2) Brainstorm what you would like to convey in terms of content or message.
 * 3) Brainstorm the best forms in which to convey this message.
 * 4) Read! Research magazines, books, photographs, primary documents to support your work.
 * 5) Draft pieces of your work.
 * 6) Conference with your peers and me to get feedback for revision.
 * 7) Revise, revise, revise.
 * 8) Polish and assemble final draft.
 * 9) Complete note page
 * 10) Complete self assessment
 * 11) Select one piece to share with group.

** Nitty Gritty: **

Each multigenre paper will contain the following. See rubric for more specifics:


 * 1) An interesting and engaging title and title page
 * 2) A letter/preface/introduction which lays out the paper.
 * 3) A minimum of four pieces of work. Some of you may choose to do more.
 * one of these pieces must be an expository piece of 250-350 words
 * one of these pieces must be a visual
 * 1) A bibliography
 * 2) A note page
 * 3) A self-assessment sheet: [[file:selfassessmentmulti.doc]]
 * 4) A rubric: [[file:multirubric11.doc]]