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Erin Coggins
Dr. Rieman
UWRT 1103
September 24, 2014
Individual Genre Response
Throughout the Framework for Success genre analysis project, I was able to
practice writing techniques both individually and within a group. After being given the
topic of creativity, our group decided to create a t-shirt design, a Twitter feed, and a Prezi
presentation. Our various brainstorming and establishment of our genres allowed me to
experiment in practicing my rhetorical knowledge, critical thinking as well as reflecting
on the collaborative and individual writing processes, conventions, and compositions.
When producing these creative genres, I was able to practice using rhetorical
knowledge to understand the audience and purpose of our assignment in order to write
accordingly. As a class, we decided that the habits of mind should be taught to 8th and 9th
grade students so that they will be able to develop the necessary skills to succeed in high
school and college. Upon making this decision, our group started brainstorming ideas
that would keep the students entertained and engaged. Keeping the students in mind, we
chose a t-shirt, a Twitter feed, and a Prezi to present our information on how to write
creatively. We discussed creating a video, a speech, and a short story; however, after
looking at our project schedule, we decided to create mediums that would be easier to
present to the eighth graders in a short amount of time. Thus, we decided to produce a tshirt design, a Twitter feed, and a Prezi. As a group, we found that it was challenging to
also keep our purpose in mind. We wanted to present information in a fun, interactive

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way while keeping our main purpose, teaching the students to write and think creatively,
as the central focus. Thus, each genre contains the same information with a personal,
creative flair. In creating three distinct genres to convey information, we were able to
practice rhetorical knowledge to best serve our audience.
In this genre analysis, I was able to personally practice my critical thinking,
especially through designing the t-shirt graphic. After I had volunteered to work with the
t-shirt design, I began to pay more attention at the various t-shirts on campus. I noticed
that there are three main designs for t-shirts: shirts with a front pocket with a small, cute
design on it and then a large design on the back; shirts with simply a large, front design;
and lastly, shirts with a central front design and a large design on the back as well.
Looking at the amount of information we were trying to convey, I decided that we would
need a design on both the front and back of the shirt. I have had experience designing
shirts for my student council in high school so I was able to use that knowledge to create
a digital graphic. This experience was helpful in working with the online program and
choosing color schemes and fonts that would be easily read. However, with new
information and a new audience, I had to take into consideration what the shirt design
need to say and a style that would appeal to middle and high school students. Working
with the t-shirt graphic genre allowed me to practice and expand my critical thinking.
Both the collaborative and individual writing process included brainstorming and
experimenting with various genres and ideas. As a group, we sat together and discussed
ideas that we could use to efficiently communicate with the 8th and 9th grade students.
Afterwards, we looked at our ideas and discussed our restraints as a group. We debated
making a rap music video to upload and be available at their disposal. However, we

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realized that this genre was not feasible given the close due date and busyness of our
class schedules. Thus, we edited our list and revised our three genres to be a t-shirt
design, a Twitter feed, and a Prezi presentation. We each began to work on a portion of
the project, bouncing ideas off the other group members as we created the genre. As a
group, we collaborate discussed the main topics of interest to be a common thread
throughout the three genres using the original Framework for Success document as a
baseline. Individually, I began to create the t-shirt design, discussing ideas and possible
puns with my group. They were helpful and insightful in discussing their favorite aspects
of a t-shirt design as well as possible revisions to make after the first draft was finished.
Each writing process included brainstorming ideas and making revisions discussed by our
group.
With creativity being the focal point of our three genres, our group found that
conventions drastically changed between the products of our project. The structure,
diction, and format of each genre seemed to be completely different. In the t-shirt
graphic, we used various colors, shapes, and short, humorous sentences to convey
information. For example, on the front of the t-shirt, Creativity is spelled out using
different pictures and various fonts to create a sporadic, yet aesthetically appealing
design. The Twitter feed uses short, 140-character posts to display various tips to write
creatively, examples of creativity, and a chance for students to respond and discuss tips
that they have found helpful. Although both the t-shirt design and Twitter posts include
short, direct sentences, our Prezi allows for more detailed examples and descriptions of
writing creatively. Within the presentation, we included an example of an interesting
piece of writing in which the author took risks and incorporated novel ideas as well as an

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example of an unoriginal, boring piece of writing. It is expected to have examples and
more detailed descriptions throughout a Prezi presentation. Conventions, the formal rules
and expectations for writing in a specific genre, changed and adapted as our different
genres changed and challenged a different aspect of creativity.
In this assignment, our group composed both on paper, online, and in a word
processing document, all of which are very distinctive environments. To brainstorm, our
group made a list in our daybooks of questions we had, genres we wanted to look at with
more depth, and concepts we wanted to include in our genres. It was helpful to see our
ideas on paper and physically organize them in lists. Then, we began to compose online,
working on our respective assignments. I began to create the t-shirt graphic while John
started setting up the Twitter page, and Katie began to create the Prezi. It was extremely
helpful to compose on the Internet because we could all work simultaneously. In word
processing documents, we composed our group genre analysis and the individual genre
analysis. This environment allows for changes, reorganizations, and edits to be made
easily. Each environment, on paper, online, and a word processor, proved to be helpful in
the creation and success of our genre project.
Throughout creating and analyzing various genres, I was able to develop my own
habits of mind both in a group setting and individually. In addition, practicing using
rhetorical knowledge and critical thinking to better serve the 8th and 9th grade student
audience enabled me to explore the writing process, conventions, and writing
environments further.