Due date for final version: Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Composing in a New Genre, plus writing an Artist Statement

In the conclusion of your Project #2 annotated bibliography, you addressed the question What are the most important things you learned and what audience do you think needs to know about it? For Project #3, you will address the question What is a useful genre to tell that specific group the information learned in Project #2? and then compose that text and write about it.

Think again about the research you conducted and information you gathered for your annotated bibliography, and think more specifically about which audience would benefit from this information. How would they benefit from learning the information? What would be a good way to convey this information to them–that is, in what genre?

For Project #3, you will create a new text using the information you learned in your research, then write an artist statement about your creation and your process. This requires some creativity on your part, and you might need to learn some new skills, like how to make a video or embed images in a post.

Part 1: The new text

See below for examples of genres you can compose in and audiences you might want to reach. Remember that even though we call it a text, it might include things that are not words.

Post this work as its own post, with the category ENG 1101 Project #3 Posts and the tag Part 1 and any other tags that represent the genre you worked in and the topic you focused on.

Part 2: The Artist Statement

Approximately 600-900 words. Post your Artist Statement as its own post, with the category ENG 1101 Project #3 Posts and the tag Artist Statement. Please include a link to your new text in your Artist Statement.

What did you create?

  • Context:
    • Why are you interested in this topic and what did you learn about it?
    • Summarize in a paragraph or two the information you want your new composition to convey.
    • Refer specifically to information you learned from each of your sources, either by quoting or paraphrasing. Be sure it’s clear which source the information came from whether you’re using their exact language or not by using parenthetical citations.
  • Rhetorical Situation and Related Choices:
    • What was your purpose for making this project?
    • Who is the specific audience you want to direct this information to and why?
    • What assumptions, expectations, and/or concerns might they have about the subject?
    • What appeals did you decide to use (which, of course, may have changed later): facts (logos), emotion (pathos), the credibility of you or someone you talk about (ethos)?
    • What tone and diction did you use to reach your audience? For example, if you’re trying to convey information to other HMGT students, you might want to quote from and name your sources. If you want to convey this information to your band members, you might not need to be as formal–in fact, they might tune out if you quote from research or use technical language.
    • Examples of specific audiences include: HMGT majors at City Tech; HMGT majors in general; students in a different major; college administration; people with a particular illness; a client for a particular project; your boss; your employees; investors; elementary school students; city planners; the NY Department of Health–you get the idea!
  • Genre Considerations:
    • Why did you chose the genre you did?
    • What made you think that genre would be a good one for your audience?
    • Discuss at least 3 features of the genre that made it a good choice for your audience.
    • Examples of genres include: a TED talk or the script for a TED talk; a Twitter thread (at least 10 tweets long); an interview (you’ll need to choose the medium for the interview, eg video, radio, written); a podcast or podcast script; a commercial or commercial script; an infographic; a zine; a poster; an advertisement; a letter; a multimedia blog post (Your example can be all written or a mixture of text and another medium such as photograph, gif, graph, or video, etc); a song or song lyrics; a poem or short story or short graphic story; a proposal (eg for any of the above).

What was your Process

  • How did you create your new text?
  • What changes did you make from initial idea to the finished version?
  • What new skills did you need to learn? Who/where did you turn to for help?

A Reflection

  • Now that it’s done, what went well?
  • What didn’t go as well?
  • Are there any changes you would make?
  • What, given all the time and money and expertise in the world, would you have done differently?
  • How will you use your new skills in the future–in life, in your major, in your career?

How will this be graded?

  • Content: Your project, through the new text and the artist statement, has all the components listed above, including the information you want to share from your annotated bibliography, the audience you want to reach, your genre analysis, and is approximately 600-900 words.
  • Genre: I am not looking to evaluate how good you are at writing a song or making a video. Instead, I’m looking to see that your new text follows the conventions and formatting and has the features of that genre, and is appropriate for your chosen audience. Your artist statement accurately identifies how the genre is appropriate.
  • Presentation: Your project is written in a way that someone else can understand what you want your audience to learn and where you learned that information. You use formatting and organization to help your readers make sense of your writing.

Remember that you will reflect on and revise this and all projects further for the final portfolio.

Acknowledgments: This project uses ideas and language from the Unit 3 assignments in the ENG 1101 Model Course, developed by Carrie Hall and Jackie Blain, and the ENG 1101 Core Books Model Course, developed by Ruth Garcia and Suzanne Miller.