Project 2: The Unfamiliar Genre Project

Optional Genres for the Project 2 and your Genre Centerpiece

The following list contains the genres that you can choose from for this project.

Note: you cannot choose the same genre that you wrote about for Project 1, even if it’s in the list below. You will need to choose something different.

• Blog Article (Professional or semi-professional blogs only. These are more formal and polished than non-monetized/personal blogs, which can vary wildly in skill and presentation.)

  • • Travel blog, sports blog, mommy blog, food blog, or another special interest blog. 

    • These aren’t necessarily professional blogs as far as coming from a company vs. individual but should be polished and professional in their presentation. Basically, look for blogs/bloggers who have made a brand for themselves if you choose this one instead of someone who keeps up an informal personal blog. A professional company blog is also fine to choose, but then I would recommend using only company blogs since they will be written differently, particularly from the “author” perspective. 

• Newspaper article

  • • Options: feature story, sports article, home & living article, etc. 

• Tabloid article

  • • This can be one of those sensationalist news articles (that are almost never true), like National Enquirer, or you could go the Gossip Magazine route like US Weekly or In Touch (both of these styles generally fall under “Tabloid Journalism”)

• Magazine article

  • • Options: feature story, fashion article, etc. 

• Encyclopedia or Wikipedia article (if Wiki, use more thorough articles as examples)

• Newsletter

• Quick Reference Guide 

• Lesson Plan

• Personal Memoir (of one event in your life)

These are the only approved genres for Project 2 because I want to ensure that the genre options are within a similar range of difficulty and requirements.

Similar to Project 1, you will be expected to read extensively in your genre. In order to be able to write in this genre, you will need to pull from many samples. After you choose your genre, you will find samples of this genre online, print or save a copy of the genre, and annotate those copies. 

Analyze how each model was written or crafted. Look at audience, purpose, context, genre conventions, design, style, tone, and anything else you notice. 

These samples will be due with your Project 2 submission.  

You will be expected to write several drafts while creating your Genre Centerpiece. 

Since this is the focal point of this assignment, you should experiment with this genre first. There will be options and choices to make within any genre, since conventions tend to be tendencies within a genre, not hard and fast rules. Play around with it, see how it turns out when you make different choices. 

You will need to turn in several drafts or experiments of your genre, along with the “Genre Centerpiece” which is your final draft of your genre.

Required length: Determined by genre

Genre: Determined by genre choice

After writing some experimental drafts, you will eventually revise one of these drafts into your centerpiece – this is the showpiece of this project, your final draft of your genre. See the following page for a list of genres that you can choose from for this assignment. 

Optional Genres

For Project 2, you will need to choose from one of the optional genres that are listed under "Optional Genres" above.

What should I write about in my Genre Centerpiece?

For this project, I will be limiting you to picking a topic that is local and/or personal to write about in your genre centerpiece. You’ll be brainstorming this more during Week 6 and then getting feedback from your peers and me on your topic at that time. But you may still want to start thinking about possible topics when you first choose your genre. 

Some ideas on how to keep it local/personal based on the optional genres:

• Travel blog: Write an article about visiting Detroit or a museum or an attraction in one of the suburbs. 

• Fashion blog: Write an article about clothing you own (or a friend owns) and use your own photography for the article. 

• Food blog: Write about a local restaurant (if you’re really into cooking, you could even make a copycat recipe for the article) or write about a family recipe (telling the story of your family/something personal along the way as some food blogs do). 

• Newsletter: Write a newsletter for incoming students at Macomb or for a club/organization you belong to. Or you could write something for your workplace. 

• Quick Reference Guide: Write up instructions and a guide on how to register for classes at Macomb or for something at your workplace. 

• Lesson Plan: Create a lesson on local history or something that is specific to Michigan or your city/town. 

• Sports news article or blog: Write an article on a local game or local high school game or player. 

• Encyclopedia or Wikipedia article: Write an article about something very local (that doesn’t currently have an article), such as a park by your house, the high school you went to, a club you belong to, or your church. You could even write one on yourself, your cat, a friend, or a family member (if you choose this option, look at Wikipedia articles/Encyclopedia articles on people). 

This list is not exhaustive or the only options. These are just examples to get you started and give you an idea of what I mean by local! 

Requirements

For this project, you must...

1. Select one of the approved genres. 

2. Write about a local or personal topic (not something that is widely already written about, such as pro-sports or famous people). 

3. Write Original Content (see below for more on this)

4. Incorporate the conventions of your genre, such as style, tone, organization, and visual elements (to name a few). 

Write Original Content

Hopefully, by limiting the topic to local topics, this won’t be too much of a problem, but you should try to write about something that is original (e.g. a Wikipedia article for the Detroit Zoo has been done, but one for your favorite local coffee shop might not be).

Remember that when you write in an unfamiliar genre, you’re trying to copy the style of the genre, not the individual content of one example.

If an article/writing already exists on your topic, you’ll still want to make sure that you aren’t writing something too similar. I recommend not reading it until after you draft your assignment so that you don’t accidentally word things similarly or organize your writing similarly. After you’ve drafted your genre centerpiece initially, then check the article to ensure that yours isn’t too similar.

For example, if a Wikipedia page already exists for Belle Isle, you’ll need to make sure that your genre centerpiece doesn’t read similarly—include different information, organize it differently, etc. In short, make sure that your article/writing is original and different enough from any similar writings that it’s adding something new to the topic and wouldn’t be seen as plagiarism (accidental or not).

If you are writing a news article, I don’t expect you to scour the internet to see if the topic has been done, but if you stumble upon an easy-to-find article, ensure that you are writing a unique take on the topic. This is something that happens in public writing all the time—magazine writers and bloggers need to ensure that they are writing something different enough than the other things that already exist on the topic. 

Creating Your Genre Centerpiece

Once you’ve decided on a genre and a topic, you’ll start drafting your genre centerpiece. Be patient and expect that it might take a few attempts to get it right. You will want to focus on replicating the conventions of your genre as much as possible. This includes tone, style, organization of content, formatting, visual elements, and so on. 

Formatting Your Genre Centerpiece

Your genre centerpiece should be formatted to match the conventions of the genre. There will always be some differences across different iterations of the genre, but look for the trends and try to match them as best as you can.

We will be looking more at Visual Rhetoric during this unit, but keep in mind how much design will be necessary before you choose your genre. You may use sites like Canva to help you design something or even use PowerPoint or Google Slides. I’ve created a video on how to use presentation software for page layout here: https://youtu.be/Q8oEfRuAPzc

This will go the same as the peer review for Project 1--you’ll do two reviews total for your teammates. 

The Reading

Observe the following about the essay:

• Are there any points at which you found yourself confused?  Is the sequence of the points logical? 

• Are the ideas well developed? Does there seem to be anything missing?  Are there areas that could use more information?

• Does the Genre Centerpiece seem to follow the conventions of the genre?

• Is it well organized and well developed (for the genre)? 

• What is one thing the author is doing well?

• What is one thing that could be improved in the draft?

Note: If you miss peer review and go to the Reading and Writing Studio, you do not need a letter like below, but ask them if they can focus on the questions above during your session. You will need to save a copy of the review session email you get from the consultant and upload that to your Project 2 folder.

Peer Review Letter

After you have read the paper and considered the above, write a peer review letter to the writer (the student whose paper you are looking at) based off the above observations.  Remember, BE SPECIFIC!!!  The point of peer review is to help your partner become a better writer.  Please write/sign your name on the peer review letter. 

 Write the letter at the end of the rough draft you are reviewing. You might consider changing the text color for clarity. 

Required length: 300 words minimum

Genre: Letter 

This is to be completed AFTER peer review. 

For Project 2, consider the following:  What was the process that you used in working on this project? How did that process work for you? How did you go about researching your chosen genre? What conventions did you include? And how did the process of writing in an unfamiliar genre go? What were your goals for writing and understanding this project? Do you feel you met those goals? What did you focus on for revision? How did the revision process go for you? If you had additional time to work on this project, what else would you do?  

Your Project 2 Submission Packet will need to include the following:

• Annotated collection of example genres including...

  • • Copies of 5-10 samples of your chosen genre

    • Annotation of all samples (either typed up or as a photograph uploaded into Google Drive)

• All drafts of experimental writing (these are the drafts of your centerpiece)

• Your Genre Centerpiece (the final draft of the genre you created)

• Peer review notes (the peer review need to be from peer review day or the RW Studios, not the workshop day where we look at everyone's experimental drafts)

• Reflection Letter

Remember: All of the requirements for the individual items need to be met and all of the items in the submission packet need to be included in your Paper 3 folder to get full credit (check plus).