Jessica Smith
Writing 2
De Piero
1 March 2016
WP3
No
matter what area of school you end up in, you remember the first research paper
you were assigned and searching through books to find information for your
report to write down on index cards.
While this type of writing is still important to the academic fields of
writing, some argue that the genre is too broad to be characterized. In the
article “The Research Paper, and Why We Should Still Care” Doug Brent argues
the importance of research papers in today’s society.
To help address
the concerns of critics of the genre, Brent suggests a switch in name of genre.
He believes that “writing with sources” better address the elements of the
research paper and can help students better understand the purpose of the
genre. Brent discusses how students and educators often differ in their
expectations for papers of this sort, but with this new name, the gap in
differences of understanding of the topic will narrow. He also explains his
beliefs that this genre is still very important to academic writing and should
not be any less relevant today. The
focus stays on how this genre will be significant forever and that with the
changes he suggests that those interacting with it will better like the genre.
A few options to get to the project:
**Recommended: 1. go to http://jessicansmith03.wix.com/mysite
2.Click on Shop
3. Compare the products "Writing with Sources" Snuggly Bear! and Research Paper Bear 1988
4. Review the information on both pages for the project!
Option 2:
Check out the pdf versions of the webpages here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hsGGwyHSbmGxMCsU6fXVuVmQ7-3kQb-DubuKLTbRMB4/edit?usp=sharing
Older Audience
Check out this piece: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nOlyBg-xcLQTehw6uiosD3kmuKXh4XUrITW2qWKcXts/edit?usp=sharing
Refer to the far right column of the project for specific content related.
Analysis
What
catches a younger person’s eye more than toys do?! I decided to choose a toy
review on a fictional website “Literary Bear” to explain why the genre research
papers were being booted from the system because the attraction of toys will
draw the younger audience in. I aimed this review at a 5th- 6th
grade audience. This age group can fully navigate a website and is interested
in making choices for themselves, including which gifts they want to receive. Once
the reader sees that there are two options of toys, they are wondering what the
differences are of both, which is why the features are included. I chose to
make a short features list for each in order to share information about the two
different teddy bears for sale, Research Paper Bear and Writing From Sources
Snuggly Bear. Keeping the list of features concise and informative helps give
across great descriptions of the different genres and used tone to “engage
[the] audience in a way that will invite them to be receptive to [the] message”
(Losh, 150). Instead of getting super detailed oriented, I took the approach of
short and sweet gets the point across. I did this because I thought that for an
audience with a smaller attention span, they really just want the nitty-gritty
to make a snap judgment of which to buy. I also chose one very appealing picture for
the newer genre Writing From Sources, than I did for Research Paper and
“[rendered] the characters, objects and environments in those frames clearly” (McLoud,
156). I think one of the biggest selling points for Writing From Sources is
that the idea is new and fresh. I picked a modern looking teddy bear full of
color to show that it looks current with vibrant colors and these features
immediately draw in a younger audience. Also,
I strategically priced this bear much cheaper than the Research Paper bear
because the lower price would appeal to the young audience.
I believe that the
basis of the appeal of this new genre is going to be shining a negative light
on Research Paper bear. The new genre is extremely similar to the old- it
really is just a rebrand of the classic idea. A new, younger audience does not
understand and appreciate concepts in the same way as other generations. For
example, because of technology, younger children are far less accustomed to
going to a library to get information for research papers from the books on the
shelves, but instead hop onto the internet for their information and find a
Google answer in less than a minute. Research Papers, for generations without
technology, were less complex in essence with the process at hand. Although it
took longer to find some information, there was only one way of getting
information so the process seemed simpler. I believe that the advancements in
technology that have contributed to the way in which people research can be
attributed to how and why the genre was pushed to become more complex. The
image choice and price for Research Bear are the initial factors that are meant
to turn off customers to the product, especially when compared to the other
newer, cheaper and raved about product.
The purpose of the
research paper has become lost over the years. While it once was very clear
that one finds information on a topic and then compiles it together in an
organized fashion to create a piece, students and teachers now see a
disconnect. When being assigned just a research paper, students often think
that they are just informing a reader without any argumentation and educators
are expecting more than just informative. The switch to the new genre of
Writing From Sources, in Brent’s eyes, makes the intended purpose of being
informative yet opinionated, like in most other papers, more clear to students.
I attempted to show these ideas mostly through the product reviews included on
the webpages. I used very positive feedback from the teachers for the Writing
with Sources and more negative for the Research Paper. Although the reviews are
more intended for an older audience I wanted to include them because although
the intended audience is young, some students of that age would be interested
in the product reviews. Since the website itself is aimed at the younger
audience, I used simple language that is understandable in case the younger
audience did use the reviews to choose a product. Additionally, I chose
teachers as the reviewers because at that late elementary age, students really
look up to and admire their teachers and would follow their advice.
For the older
audience, I chose an obituary because I thought that it was a profound way of
telling the main point that research papers are no longer “alive” and I saw the
importance in “knowing how to effectively communicate with different
communities,” and believed this fit this audience well (Losh, 144). Obituaries
share information in a concise way and I thought that I was able to give the
right amount of detail to still tell the story of what Brent shares in his
article. I chose to make the name of the deceased Re. Surch Payper for a little
comedic effect, but also to make the idea see more humanized. The main point is
that this genre no longer is going to exist and this reasoning is because the
purpose was too difficult for students to understand. I tried to best fit the
genre of obituaries to the topic and even included other example obituaries to
show that the information was similar for the research paper as well. Although
some information seems silly because it is not applying to an actual person, I
think that the understanding is still evident.
Immediately
obituaries initiate an emotional response in people. It is obvious to people
reading it who are familiar with the genre that this is about death. One may be
confused as to why this genre of writing is chosen to describe research papers
but Brent is trying to in essence kill the genre and give life to Writing With
Sources.
I focused the end
of the obituary on the new genre Writing With Sources. I think that creating a
“memorial fund” that would donate to this new genre is very indicative of what
Brent is trying to do. In his piece, he explains that the genre of research
paper is no longer the best option for students to understand how these papers
are supposed to be written. Writing With Sources is a more specific genre that
helps writers view the paper from a different viewpoint. In the past, research
papers have been seen as only including information from other resources and
then organizing that information to get across a story. This new title for the
genre helps writers better orient themselves with the style.
Works
Cited
Losh,
Elizabeth M., Jonathan Alexander, Kevin Cannon, and Zander Cannon.
Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing. Print.
"Obituaries." Legacy.com.
Legacy.com. Web.
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