The Multi-genre Adventure

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The Multi-genre Adventure

• Ms. Griffith, I want to write dialog so Joey and
  Billy will be more real to my readers. Will you
  help me?

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What is a multigenre paper?

• A multigenre paper arises from research,
  experience, and imagination. It is not
  uninterrupted, expository monologue nor a
  seamless narrative nor a collection of poems. A
  multi-genre 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
  authors. The trick is to make such a paper hang
  together.
• Tom Romano, Blending Genre, Altering Styles, 2000

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Theory as cited by Tom Romano Blending Genre,
Altering Style, 2000 Jerome Bruner (1986)
paradigmatic thinking facts, analysis,
chronology and logic narrative knowing
stories, poetry, drama, painting and
movement Peter Elbow (1990) showing--not
telling rendering experience, both real and
imagined Tom Newkirk (1997) such rendering
penetrates experience taking readers inside a
present moment, present because narrative
thinking lets us experience the writing Louise
Rosenblatt (1978) literature offers readers a
chance to engage in a lived through experience,
an experience that has been penetrated
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Tom Romano on multigenre writing In such
writing, it is often solely up to readers to
reflect upon meaning and make abstractions.
Authors of narrative thinking ask readers to live
the page. And we leave the world. Essays, too,
of course may contain narrative thinking, though
often they do not. Multigenre papers, however,
as I conceive them, demand that writers think
narratively. Writers must meld the cognitive
with the emotional Genres of narrative
thinking require writers to be concrete and
precise. They cant just tell in abstract
language. They cant just be paradigmatic. They
must show. They must make their topics palpable.
They must penetrate. And that is what
multigenre papers enable their authors to do.
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Day One Romano/ high school Share the article
and poem about Count Basie. Let students
respond to each other and share their thoughts.
Discuss the characteristics of each genre as a
class and how it affects the reader. Griffith/
middle school Brainstorm places you would like
to visit if you could go anywhere in the world
you wanted to go. What would you want to know
about the place before Daddy Bigbucks buys you
ticket? Allow students to work in groups of
three then share questions with class.
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Day Two Romano/ high school Share an entire
multigenre paper in class. Divide the genres
among the students to practice and perform for
the class. Discuss the meaning of each piece and
the authors style and intent. Make connections
to theme, imagery, language, personas, tone,
moodetc. Griffith/ middle schoolShare an
entire multigenre paper in class. Model one
dramatic performance then volunteers will read,
practice and perform the other pieces. Use
samples from previous years students. If none
are available, use examples from Romanos book.
Discuss the authors purpose and the effect the
pieces have on the reader.
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Day Three Romano/ high school Topic
choice workshop. Share the topics other have
chosen. Brainstorm a list of possible topics and
generate a lot of talk about writing
possibilities. Griffith/ middle
school Demonstrate how to collect information
and paraphrase. Review how to use the library
resources and document resources. Review
fiction, nonfiction and poetry.
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Day Four Romano/ high school Students will
submit their topics in writing with a brief
rationale of why this subject is suitable for
study. Peers can help generate ideas and give
suggestions. Submit rationales for teacher
feedback. Above all, validate topic
selections. Griffith/ middle school Students
will write a plan and generate some possible
writing and art ideas for their project. Discuss
ideas in groups then submit plan for teacher
feedback. Above all, validate topic selection.
Teacher can give suggestions for ideas and
resources.
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Day Five Begin multigenre writing workshop in
earnest. Romano/ high school Focus on lead
piece first because multigenre papers are so
unconventional, it is crucial that their authors
ground readers immediately, orient them to the
terrain, establish the central tension. Suggestio
ns for consideration tone and topic
photographs theme and topic defining moment
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Griffith/ middle school Teach a mini lesson and
demonstrate Topic Task Audience Purp
ose Point of View I begin with a short,
nonfiction article from the newspaper. We discuss
and identify topic, task, audience, purpose and
point of view. I demonstrate how to use my
research to create an article about my topic.
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How to Identify Genre Possibilities Romano/
high school 1. Examine a multigenre text like
Avis Nothing But the Truth and let students
work together to identify different
genres. 2. Brainstorm a list of genres,
subgenres and modes of expression. For
example instructions for media
components, CD covers, music video scripts,
advertisements 3. Read an example of a style of
writing like stream of consciousness and
allow students to try it out by writing a
short selection in class. 4. Get ideas from
class work readings.
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Griffith/ middle school 1. Brainstorm a list of
nonfiction and fiction ideas. Discuss how
art could be integrated to enhance the
writing. Some genre naturally include art like
picture books, comic books, and reports that
have graphs and maps. 2. Share examples of
different genres from newspapers, magazines,
novels, plays, and media connections like
news or talk show scripts. 3. Demonstrate how to
write different types of nonfiction in a
nonfiction seminar. Do minilessons about
titles, leads, organization, illustrations,
graphs, charts, parts of a book,etc. 4.
Demonstrate how to write different types of
fiction in a fiction seminar. Teach
minilessons about story elements, suspense,
character development, language, point of
view, theme,etc.
Success is in the cans, not the cannots.
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Cognitive Struggle Romano (high school)
identifies a problem with the open-endedness of
the multigenre format. Some students need more
structure than others. The analytical thinkers
may struggle with imagination and creativity.
Romano points to a need to develop many kinds of
skills so that students will be able to go beyond
the mere factual No matter what professions
they enter, facts and analysis are not enough.
If our decisions are to be both sound and humane,
we need to understand emotion and circumstance,
as well as logic and outcome. Writing in many
genres helps minds learn to do that.
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Griffith (middle school) notes that struggling
readers and writers will need extra support and
scaffolding before they can be successful with
this kind of writing. It is good to have graphic
organizers of many kinds to aid them in
prewriting and planning. They will need to learn
the importance of prewriting and how to take take
good prewriting and turn it into a first draft.
They will also need many opportunities to
conference with strong writers and the teacher
for additional support.
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Things to Consider Romano (high school)
playing with different types of dialog the
development of persona in expressive writing
like a diary entry turning a narrative summary
into a dramatic scene. Griffith (middle
school) texts written from differing points of
view a character sketch written in biographical
style a short mirror piece written with plain
verbs and adjectives then a second piece with
altered connotation using specific vivid verbs
and awesome adjective (denotation vs..
connotation)
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Poetry Romano (high school) Use quick
writes to discover topics for poetry then web
images to create the pictures for you words
found poems haikus that have a quality of
actualityof the moment seized on and rendered
purely photograph poems prose poems poems
for two voices Griffith (middle school) Shape
poems cinquains rhythm/rhyming poems humorous
poems like Shel Silverstein limericks bio
poems simile poems nursery rhymes rap lyrics
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Assessment Romano (high school) Assessment
takes the form of grading guides that allow
teachers and students to assess the multigenre
paper based on criteria that has been agreed upon
like completeness, mechanics, content,
format, documentation. Students should also
be expected to complete a self-assessment as well
as receive a teacher assessment.
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Griffith (middle school) Students use
rubrics, a type of grading guide, that includes
criteria and a scale of accomplishment to self
assess. The teacher and students agree on the
criteria, and the students have the rubric before
they begin writing. The teacher and student
conference about each piece during the writing
and upon completion. The teacher gives specific
feedback, and both teacher and student negotiate
the grade. The finished work can also be
assessed using a rubric based on how well the
pieces hang together.
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Final Thoughts Romano (high school) I revel
in seeing human minds at work. There is no right
or wrong about this. It is simply remarkable to
see people make meaning, regardless of their age
and the meaning they make. We teachers--if we
are paying attention to those whom we teach and
expecting more of them than rudimentary thinking
and memorization--see this common miracle of
sense making all the time. No wonder we take the
plungesignificant learning comes when students
launch their own dives and teach the teacher.
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Griffith (middle school) Im not really sure
where the multigenre paper will take me, but I
have had a glimpse of where it is taking my
students. We recently took the TAKS benchmark, a
practice test to have an opportunity to discuss
the new format. Jon, a special education
student, wrote his response to the prompt in
dialog, and he carefully explained to me how he
crafted his writing piece. He was an author, and
he knew it! I got responses in diary form,
narrative form, letters to friends and
relatives--one student wrote using a metaphor
from her Mexican American culture. I have
discovered I am no longer driving--I am in the
backseat, and Im just along for the ride!