What is a Multigenre Research Paper? Multigenre papers are a kind of research paper that relies on research to learn about a subject, but then they are presented in a non-traditional format. The format relies on various genres that are created by the writer to convey a different side of the subject than could be expressed by a traditional paper. This paper requires that you blend narrative writing, other aspects of creative writing, expository writing (essays and research), and other practical forms we see in our daily lives (e.g. advertising, technical writing). Genres or pieces your Multigenre Paper must contain: A cover page A Preface/Prologue/Introduction/Dear Reader page to introduce the piece 5+ various genres of your choice (See A-Z list) in approx. 8-12 individual pieces (at least 3 must be a full page or more in length; the others may be approx. ½ page) Visual elements or art for at least 3 of your pieces. (Try to make the entire work visually appealing!) Works Cited page which acknowledges any works your paper refers to, and at least 2-3 research-based resources which you implement in your pieces A Notes Page which explains the significance and meaning of each of your pieces. (You may either explain every piece or just focus on the most abstract, difficult-to-understand pieces.) A Unifying Element such as a repetend which recurs in each or most of your pieces. You will need to write several genres to create a fully realized multigenre paper. Wherever else you go in the writing is up to you. Range as widely as you want in creating this paper. Research thoroughly and immerse yourselves in your topic, so the writing comes easy. Grade Scale Total Points: 50 ( Major Writing Assignments points) 35 points for individual pieces [Three major pieces (5 pts. ea.), Five minor pieces (4 pts. ea.)] *Students are encouraged to expand beyond the ten required pieces; the highest-scored pieces will overwrite any lower scores if the complete work exceeds the required ten. 15 points for additional components [Prologue (5 pts.), Notes Page (5 pts.), Works Cited + Research (5 pts.)]
Choosing a Topic The Multigenre Paper is incredibly open-ended as to what you are allowed to write about. Consider the list given out during class and the various topics students have written about in the past. First, after considering a major topic such as inspiring people or technology, consider all the other specific subtopics which you would be able to narrow down this focus to. Your entire Multigenre Paper should go into great depth about a very specific topic or issue. Major topics may include but are not limited to (with suggested subtopics in parentheses): -Current events or major events in history -Inspiring or interesting people -Political/Social Issues (child abuse, racism, human rights) -Dreams, Desires, Fantasies -Unexplained or Paranormal Events (UFOs, ESP, hauntings) -Human condition (health/fitness, depression, psychological dysfunctions) -Famous works (favorite novel or writer) -Entertainment genres (different styles of hip-hop or rock music, styles of dance, classic cinema) -Various hobbies or meaningful interests (horses, model train sets, kite flying, gardening) -Social Subcultures (hippie/peace Movement, underground music subcultures, motorcycle clubs) Consider this list and other examples given in class to formulate the perfect topic for you! Remember, you are going to write a lot about a single topic, so make sure it is something you are passionate about and can expand upon with many complex ideas and emotions. Last year s students chose the following topics: Wright brothers Malcolm X teen parenthood eating disorders baking TV show Boy Meets World Bermuda Triangle longboarding Naruto Muhammed Ali crop circles hippies child abuse Steven Hawkings kids and disobedience baby showers fathers love weddings hustling chess romantic comedy lightning and thunder gardening feng shui Ancient Rome colors of the rainbow firefighting clocks and watches NASA fortunes and psychics The Oscars feet angels Air Force
The Genres Consider the list of genres to pursue your project in a variety of ways. Advertisement Advice column Argument Announcement Action sequence Apology letter Answering machine message Biography Before-and-after description Blueprint or mechanical explanation Brochure or pamphlet Confession Calendar or schedule Character profile Classified ad Dialect writing Design notes for setting and clothing/costumes Diploma Declaration Dream description Desk notes Dialogue Engraving Flash fiction narrative Family photo album with descriptions Formal Invitation Farewell letter Genealogy chart or timeline Graffiti Guidebook Guestbook for an event or celebration How-to instructions Hymn Haiku Interview or script dialogue Interpretation of a work of art or writing Joke book Log, journal or diary Limerick List of rules or regulations Love letter Magazine article Medical charts or documents Mathematical formula of emotions or actions Memoir Meeting notes Menu Map Myth, parable, or allegory Mission statement Narrative short story News article Nutrition label Online profile or ad Obituary Pitch for a movie or project Poem Packaging of a product Plan for a party or event Public announcement Phone call Police report Propaganda slogans and images Prayer Psychological exploration Pros and cons list Prophecy or fortune Radio show Recipe Riddle, code, or mysterious clue Receipt Reminder notes Review Resume Religious doctrine (fictional, not copied) Storyboard or comic strip Shopping list Sonnet Sermon Song Speech Tombstone or dedication plate inscription Text message or online chat exchanges Taglines, catch phrases, or exclamations Translation Travel guide Thank you letter Visual or musical description Will Witness accounts of a crime or event Wanted poster Word collage What if? Wish list
The Preface In order to convey the purpose of your paper, you begin with a preface. However, you ought to develop a few of your writing pieces before you can generate a good preface. What is a preface? A preface is an introduction to your work. It is meant to greet readers and give a bit of background information about your project. You'll need to introduce the subject and anything you think the reader should know about you and/or your project before they read it. It will help orient your readers quickly and supply information that will help build meaning the further they read. Be clear what the purpose of your project is: to educate, to praise, to persuade, to celebrate, to honor, to entertain, to inform our awareness? What kind of information might I include in the preface? how you came up with your idea why your topic is important a key element from your topic an introduction to the topic (person, place, event, idea) a description of a crucial setting or central activity a theme that will be carried through your genres an overview of the territory to come The preface can take on many different forms: letter, prologue, narrative, inner monologue, etc. Just remember that the preface tells the reader how to read the paper. The preface may be brief (½ page).
The Repetend A repetend is the unexpected repetition of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. Unlike the regular appearance of a refrain, the repetend gains power and impact by its unexpected use. It surprises the reader and with the surprise comes delight. Take a look at Joan Didion s use of repetition of key words and parallel sentence patterns in this essay about 1960s rock band, The Doors: On this evening in 1968...there was everything and everybody The Doors needed to cut the rest of this third album except one thing, the fourth Door, the lead singer, Jim Morrison, a 24-year-old graduate of U.C.L.A. who wore black vinyl pants and no underwear and tended to suggest some range of the possible just beyond a suicide pact. It was Morrison who had described The Doors as erotic politicians. It was Morrison who had defined the group s interests as anything about revolt, disorder, chaos, about activity that appears to have no meaning. It was Morrison who got arrested in Miami in December of 1967 for giving an indecent performance. It was Morrison who wrote most of The Doors lyrics, the peculiar character of which was to reflect either an ambiguous paranoia or a quite unambiguous insistence upon the love-death as the ultimate high. And it was Morrison who was missing. It was Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger and John Densmore who made The Doors sound the way they sounded, and maybe it was Manzarek and Krieger and Densmore who made seventeen out of twenty interviewees on American Bandstand prefer The Doors over all other bands, but it was Morrison who got up there in his black vinyl pants with no underwear and projected the idea, and it was Morrison they were waiting for now. (Didion 23) The repetend of Morrison s vinyl fashion sense is an emotional payoff, a stimulating intellectual burst of familiarity. In multigenre papers, the repetend can take on many forms and styles; you must find the one that works best for your subject and your vision. Think about how you want to pace your multigenre paper, how you want to bring unity to it, and how much help you want to give your reader in following the twists and turns you will be taking them through but don t underestimate the power of a surprising, fulfilling and unique repetend. The Repetend can be... 1. A single piece broken up into fragments You might place a narrative, for example, early in your paper, and then strategically throughout the remainder of it, place different extensions of the monologue that reveal the story s progression or transformation. 2. A repeated image In The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, the author keeps returning to the surrender of Billy the Kid and the death of his friend and cohort Charlie Bowdre throughout the first half of the novel. With each moment he returns to this scene, he repeats certain images: descriptions of snow, four horses, a mutilated corpse, the names of the men present. 3. A repeated title as in a MG paper about singing: Lesson #1 ; Lesson #2 ; Lesson #3 ; etc. 4. A repeated line Toni Morrison uses the text of a Dick-and-Jane story in The Bluest Eye. The text appears at the beginning of the novel ( Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family. Mother, father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. ) and appears throughout the novel at the beginning of the chapters in different forms to get a point across.
End Notes End Notes are a required piece of Multigenre Research Papers because they allow you (the author) to first explain your thinking process in creating each genre, and to then explain how you used your research to create the genre. Without End Notes, a reader may miss a lot of the reasoning behind your work and may wonder if you are really as researched and knowledgeable as you say you are. You must write one End Note for every genre you write. What do End Notes look like? END NOTES YES, NOVEMBER 9 th, 1966 (performance poem) For this genre, I used performance poetry to show the energy and passion in the first meeting of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Since something momentous was happening, I wanted to pick a genre that was in your face and loud and bombastic. Most of my research came from the Ray Coleman biography. In the biography, he describes the famous meeting at Indica Gallery during one of Yoko Ono s art shows. The word yes is very key to their beginning because for one of her art pieces, you had to climb a ladder and look at the ceiling through a magnifying glass. Written on the wall in tiny print was the word yes. LOVE LETTERS #1/#2/#3/#4 (letters) Since my Multigenre Paper is about a great love story, I wanted to demonstrate the intensity of this love John s love for Yoko and vice versa, their love for the world, and their fans (and thus my) love for them. A few of the lines in John s and Yoko s letters were originally lines from the Playboy Interviews that I rewrote in my own words. CRAZY JAP INVADES LATEST BEATLES RECORDING (newspaper article) One of the biggest legacies of John and Yoko s relationship was the supposed impact on the Beatles. John started taking Yoko everywhere with him, even the recording studio, even though this was before not allowed. My information came from the Jann Wenner book, Lennon Remembers, as well as the wikipedia.com. How do I write End Notes? This is where you explain and reflect about each piece of writing. How did you decide to use this genre? What difficulties did you have in writing it? What did you like best about it? What are areas you would go back and change or do differently? It s simple. Just explain in casual but clear writing why you wrote things the way you did. Make sure to list websites and book titles BY NAME. Be specific, specific, specific!