Genre Paper
In this paper, you will demonstrate your understanding of the power of genre – that is, how “format”
effects what is said, and what is able to be said. To do this, you will select a genre of your choosing,
produce something within that genre, and write an argumentative analysis of your genre.
PART ONE: Creative Genre Artifact
In preparing for this assignment, you have carefully studied a genre of your choosing. Now, to
demonstrate you understand this genre (and genres more generally), you will create a piece that:
1. conforms to the expectations of the genre, and
2. breaks the rules of the genre.
What do you mean by conform and violate the genre?
As we discussed in class, The Onion is a famous example of a text that both conforms to genre
expectations – it maintains the conventions of a newspaper in style and tone – but also violates those
norms – by having funny and ironic content. Other examples from previous classes include a formal lab
report on how to make coffee, and medical warnings for OTC products that were written confusingly.
But why are we breaking the rules of the genre?
Simply reproducing a genre doesn’t take much work on your part. But by breaking the rules of the genre,
you are forced to think about the genre very closely. For instance, a student in a previous class chose to
write “wedding dis-invitations” (she was working on her own wedding), and she explained that having to
break some rules caused her to see features of the genre she had never noticed, such as that women are
often listed by first and middle name, while men are listed by their full names. Breaking the rules also lets
you have a bit more fun.
PART TWO: Arguments About Your Genre
In Part Two, you analyze what your genre, integrating these two parts:
Genre Analysis
Carefully analyze and make arguments about the genre you chose to explore. Focus on the samples you
have obtained for support. What are the expectations or “rules” of the genre? What features of your
genre “work” for those who use the genre, and what features need to change? Return to the questions
on the “Analyzing A Genre” handout for more questions to get you thinking and analyzing. By doing this,
you demonstrate your ability to recognize rhetorical features of a text and evaluate their purpose. Stay
away from simply describing or focusing on the obvious – your challenge here is to come up with an
interesting analysis of how your genre works and why.
Argument about Your Creative Genre Artifact
Interpret what you have created – what argument does your piece make? In what ways does it exemplify
your arguments about this genre, as explained in your Genre Analysis? (or not?) Again, stay away from
the obvious and from simply describing what you did – I’ll have it there to look at so description isn’t
necessary!
How do I integrate these parts of my paper?
It is your job to design an argumentative paper that addresses both of these issues – this is part of the
challenge! It may be that you integrate discussion of your Creative Genre Artifact throughout the paper,
or it may be that you begin or end by talking about your Creative Genre Artifact, or you may come up
with another idea. It is likely that you will have more to say in the “Genre Analysis” section.
Rules & Due Dates
Part One: Because everyone’s genres will be different, what you produce for Part One will vary wildly.
You want to produce one solid, good, sample of your genre. Obviously, if you are examining the post-it,
you will want to produce more than one. But if you are analyzing assignments in your major, one
thorough assignment reproduction is sufficient.
Part Two: Your analysis should be 4 pages for the first draft (that means to the end of the fourth
page!), and five pages for the final draft. See Assignment Expectations on the syllabus, and no fudging!
full first draft, appropriately revised before submission
Wed, February 14th
final draft, with new sources and Works Cited
Mon, February 19th
conferences will be Feb 14th & 15th
What I’m Grading On
Part One is worth 25% of your grade, and Part Two is worth 75%.
Part One
critical thinking and writing ability (do you demonstrate critical understanding of the genre?)
effort in design (is it clear that you took some time thinking about this? critical creativity is more
important than being “arty”)
Part Two
clear, innovative, and convincing analysis of your genre
incorporation of specific details as evidence
avoidance of vague language and obvious commentary
clear introduction that indicates what the analysis is about and WHY
clear points in each paragraph, no repetition
thoughtful paragraph and sentence structure
effective organization strategy
thorough revision
proper use of MLA (final draft)
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