Major Assignment #3

Composition in Three Genres

Reviewing Infographics in Process

Sample (Video)

Sources for Study:

Reading from Textbook:

  • “Writing about Others:  Profiles,” Writing in the Works, 125-163
  • “Data Storytelling through Infographics,” Writing in the Works, 289
  • “Creating a Visual Argument: Public Service Message,” Writing in the Works, 338-365

Library Course Guide

The Assignment

For this assignment, you will use the research project you completed in Major Assignment #2. You should also use the readings assigned for this topic to guide your work.

For this assignment you will move from researching and analyzing your topic, as you did in the research essay, to creating a composition which uses three different genres to communicate to a targeted audience about that same topic. You will use your previous research, along with new sources, to inform your creative strategy and help you make the rhetorical choices necessary to create an effective composition. You will choose two of the three genres, based on your analysis of the rhetorical situation and the way in which you respond to it.

You will first strategically target a specific audience, then develop key messages to communicate to that audience—based on knowledge of your topic gained from developing the research essay—and finally create three genres designed to communicate those messages to your audience(s). You will also write a rationale that gives reasons why you chose the genre, describes your purpose, and connects the genre with a particular audience.

Elements

The composition will include:

  • Three genres of communication created for your audience(s)
  • A rationale for your composition (2-3 pages or 400 words) that orients your reader to the purpose of your work, gives your reasons for choosing the genre,  and states its significance to your audience
  • A works cited page – minimum of five sources (three from Essay #2 may count here) documented in MLA format and appropriate to the audience you define in your audience strategy
  • A postwrite

Potential Genres

You must create an infographic as one of the genres, and then you may use any other genres you feel are appropriate to your audience.  The strategy you develop will guide you in choosing the genres you want to create.  I recommend that you choose genres with which you are familiar. Communicating effectively to your audience by choosing genres best suited to conveying your message will also determine the potential effect of your composition. You may choose genres from the following list:

  • newspaper article/magazine article
  • letter
  • memoir/personal essay
  • profile (based on an interview that you’ve conducted)
  • literacy narrative (story of your own development as a writer and/or reader, such as this famous literacy narrative, “Learning to Read” from Malcolm X)
  • podcast
  • obituary
  • public service message
  • photo essay (a series of several, related photos that you have yourself taken and that convey a single message)
  • website/blog (that you’ve created)
  • short-feature video (of your own making, perhaps using vimeo)
  • musical composition (of your own making)
  • brochure
  • multimedia presentation such as a PechaKucha
  • Other genres you think of, with instructor approval

As I mentioned earlier, I  recommend that you choose genres with which you are most familiar.  Our textbook, Writing in the Works, provides guidance on writing in several genres, including the memoir, profile, short article news story, review, causal or trend analysis, editorial, public service message, and proposal.  If you choose any of these genres, please read (or re-read) the relevant chapter from our textbook.

Just as you did for the research essay, for this composition project you will engage in a series of short writing assignments designed to help you focus your thinking about audience, message, and outcome before you begin the composition.

Deadlines

Please submit your first draft in Google Docs  Monday, Nov. 27.  Please label your draft “Major Assignment #3, Draft #1.” Second drafts, with post write, are due in Google Docs, Sunday, Dec 3.  Please label your second drafts “Major Assignment #3, Draft #2.”