Due November 29
At the end of Unit 2, we asked the question: what is the most important thing you learned and what audience do you think needs to know about it? For Unit 3, we ask ourselves: what is the best genre to tell that audience the information you learned?
In this unit, you will write about the subject you researched in Unit 2, in the genre of your choice. Whatever topic you choose, the most important factor is that the genre the most important factor is that the genre you choose will, in your argument, best reach the audience you think needs to hear about your topic. It must also be a genre that can showcase, in one way or another, your research.
How are you going to get your target audience to listen? Will they engage with a political speech? Will they watch a video essay or read a magazine article? Will they go and see a play or movie? Read the lyrics to a song? You can use most any genre as long as it’s new to you and appropriate for the audience you select. I only ask that it isn’t offensive (racist, sexist, homophobic, intolerant of different religions). Also, you may not use PowerPoint.
Once you have written your new genre work, you’ll also write an artist’s statement to go along with it, something that tells us what you intended to do, who your intended audience was, what you went through to complete it, how well you think it turned out, and where you’d like to see it published or shared. There will be an additional handout on artist’s statements when that time comes.
To recap, in Unit 3 you will:
- Write about your Unit 2 research
- Address the audience you think needs to know about this research (the most important parts, that is)
- Write in a genre you think will best reach that audience
- Write a one-page artist’s statement that explains your process
What youâll be graded on:
- Genre: Whatever you choose must actually fit in that genre. A video thatâs just a single picture for two minutes isnât a video because it doesnât move; it doesnât engage us the way a video/film should. When you do your proposal, youâll have a chance to set up what the rules and conventions are for that genre.
- Appropriateness for audience: If youâre doing something for 4th grade students, it shouldnât be full of graduate school words. Appropriate means word choice, approach to topic/issue, use of visuals if you use them â does the way you âwroteâ your genre piece fit what would work best for this audience?
- Effectiveness of message: Weâll share these in class so youâll get a chance to see if you got your point across. Did it fulfill your purpose?
- Length/Timeliness: The genre piece can be whatever length it needs to be based on the conventions of the genre, but it should be substantial. One meme is not really enough for 20% of your grade in a major English class. Â
- Artist Statement: Did you thoughtfully reflect on your process, even if things didnât turn out quite how you wanted?Â
Helpful resources:Â
The New York Times on creating a Podcast (the NYT has an entire list of “Mentor Texts” that help you write articles like those for sports or their personal health column. These can be found at this link)
