To Do Before Class:

Throughout the semester, we’ve seen people talking about (for example) education in a variety of different genres. In each of these instances, the author is trying to reach a different audience and they pick the genre that will best speak to that audience. Think about Lynda Barry’s comic or James Baldwin’s speech, or Sherman Alexie’s novella excerpt on paragraphs. These are all different genres.  Why might one write in any of these genres?  Who do these genres reach?  

In this unit, you’ll be writing about the topic you researched in Unit 2 for an audience of your choosing– so now it’s time to think about what genre you think will best reach your audience!

WRITE:  You will need to write a proposal of at least 200 words outlining what you plan to do for Unit 3. Post to Brightspace. This proposal should tell us: 

  • A 1-2 sentence statement of what you want to teach your audience (the most important thing you learned in Unit 2) 
  • The audience you are trying to reach
  • The genre you are planning to write in and why you chose it
  • A plan — how do you intend to get started? What will be your FIRST STEP?
  • Anything you might be worried about.  What are your concerns about finishing this project?

Class Topic:

Reading New Genres

In-Class Activities:

To Do After Class:

READ (and comment): Read at least two of your colleagues’ Unit 3 proposals, and comment on them. Comments should be at least 150 words. Please do not simply say “sounds great!” because that is not helpful! Think about the kind of things that might be helpful to you as you embark on this project. Here are some ideas: 

  • A specific publication or website you think the author could write for
  • A question or comment to help narrow down the audience: “You say you want young people to watch this video essay, but there’s no publication that all young people watch. Are you actually trying to reach New Yorkers?”
  • A question or comment to help narrow down the genre: “There are a lot of different kinds of articles in the world. You could be writing for a newspaper like the New York Times or a website like Buzzfeed, and the writing is totally different for both. Can you be more specific?”
  • You can also just talk about things in the proposal you find especially cool or exciting. 

SKIM/PREVIEW: “Pee on Water,” Rachel Glaser

EXTRA CREDIT: Pick a section from “Pee on Water.” What did you learn about what life was like at that moment in time? Your response should be at least one paragraph of 250 words.