The Multi-genre Research Project

Purpose:
The multi-genre paper asks students to see, understand, interpret, synthesize, and know
their subject through multiple genres rather than a traditional or linear research-based paper. In
employing genres as both a lens and a rhetorical tool, the multi-genre research paper asks
students to be explicitly creative and scholarly, to pay close attention to matters of style as well
as matters of research. In handling research in this way, students build rhetorical repertoire
and learn how to better recognize that their thinking is conditioned by the genres they write in
and the strength of the message depends on the best choice of genre for their purpose.
What is a multi-genre paper?
Its a collection of pieces written in a variety of genres, informed by your research on a
particular subject that presents one or more perspectives on a research question or topic. A
multi-genre paper is personal, creative, and cant be copied from some other source. It involves
you, as a writer, making conscious decisions about what information is important and how it
should be presented to the reader.
Okay, this is completely different from anything I have ever done before, and Im having a
mild-to-severe panic attack over it, what do I do?
As you research, youll need to consider your audience and what genre would be the most
effective in communicating your message to that audience. What genre will speak to the
people you most want to reach? And why? Youll need to be fully engaged in your research
dont approach it as a scavenger hunt in which you collect information and spit it back out in an
academic paper. This is NOT that drill. This goes beyond the academic paper in a variety of
ways. You will be demonstrating all that youve learned through research, all of the tools and
writing techniques youve studied, all of the questions you have explored, and synthesizing it all
into a new and wonderful whole something completely unique that only you can do!
Well, maybe if you told me the topic of this paper, I could calm down a little.
Your topic is simple. Who is _____ (your author you know, the one whose book you
read in second quarter)? Prove to me that you know them better than their own mother. You
should know about their personal life, their writing, their relationships, the area and time period
in which they lived everything!
Genre Ideas:
The genres you can use are just about limitless. You can write and relay important
messages in so many ways its mind boggling! But BEWARE! This should not be a haphazard
collage of disjointed elements: you must connect the genres and what they represent with a
central, significant theme (kind of like a thesis.) Your creative efforts MUST be informed by
SOLID research, including research about the genres themselves.

When you choose a genre, ask yourself, Why am I choosing it? What do I want to show
through this genre? Your purpose must be clear and each genre should express a different piece
of the whole puzzle, not repeat the same thing in a variety of ways.
Okay, lets get started!
You must include one genre item from EACH of the six groups listed. Your sixth entry MUST
be a critical essay on the work you read by your author.
Week One Personal Writing
Journal or Diary
Editorial
Memoir
Personal Monologue
Public Speech
Week Two Letters and Forms
Letter to a friend, relative,
or lover
Memo/Telegrams
Letter to Editor
Letter of complaint or
apology
Public Notice
Will
Property Deed
Police Report
Insurance Claim
Week Three Visuals
Cartoon/Comic Strip
Brochure
Poster
Video/Movie Trailer
Map
Character Sketches
Advertisements
Scrapbook
Family Tree
Model
Week Four Narrative
Anecdotes
Satirical Story
Human Interest Story
Psychiatric Notes
Short Stories (in the style of
your author)
New Endings to Stories
Personal Narrative
Conversation
Prayers/Confessions
Week Five Creative Expression
Poem
Song
Ballad
Graffiti
Flyer
Recipe
Games
Skits
Web Page
Play
Week Six Expository or
Explanatory
Critical Essay
Persuasive Essay
Commentary
Case Study
How-To Instructions

But wait! Why is there more than one option for week six? This project is all about choice. While you MUST
write a critical essay for week six, you may, with prior permission, substitute ONE week with a second item from
another category. Whats more, youre not limited to the ideas Ive provided in the columns by all means, come
up with your own! All I ask is that, if what you want to do is not in the list, or if you want to make a substitution,
you draft a short, written proposal about what youd like to do, why you want to do it, and hand it in. If I approve it,
youre free to do so! BE CREATIVE!
Bringing it all Together: Using Repetend
Repetend is something added to your multi-genre project that repeats or continues. The
purpose of repetend is to create unity among the various genre pieces and to give the writer an
editorial voice that the reader can easily relate to.
Since multi-genre papers are unique and non-linear, they require a lot of work from a
reader. You, as a conscientious writer, do not want to let your reader get confused as they move
from genre to genre. If you provide your reader with reoccurring images or phrases, or a running
commentary or even a narrative or story, you will create unity that will help your reader better
understand your central theme. This is much like weaving your thesis without a traditional
essay.
You MUST find some way to incorporate repetend into your project.
Some ideas:
Include the same phrase, sentence, or passage in each genre page as a heading or
somewhere else in the text.
Include a description or design in each piece (written or graphic), placed strategically and
meaningfully for easy recognition.
Include a running commentary from you, the writer, following or preceding each genre
piece.
Create a character and follow his/her reactions to pieces.
Create a character involved somehow in each piece of writing an ongoing story.
Create a cartoon strip at the top or bottom of each genre that comments on the ideas
presented.
You can do this!
Here come the requirements



Section Description Helpful Hints
1.) Presentation Binder You must present your multi-
genre paper as one cohesive
whole. A binder is obviously
the easiest (and least creative!)
way to do this. However, a
binder is not required. The
more creative the arrangement
of your pieces is, the better
your grade.

If a student were researching
Lewis Carroll, instead of using
a binder, he might use a
puzzle box or hope chest with
a tag that said open me.
2.) Prologue This piece greets readers and
gives background information
about your project. Youll
need to introduce the subject
and anything you think the
reader should know about you,
your author, and/or your
project before they read it.
Information you might want to
include:
Why you chose your author
Some of your authors
contributions/why he/she is
important
Important biographical
information (that you wont
eventually cover explicitly)
An introduction to a main
character
A description of a crucial
setting, central activity, or
theme that will be carried
through your genres
Any important information
or lessons you learned
during your research that
you werent able to include
in one of the genres
3.) Body
The body of your multi-genre
project is composed of the various
pieces you created to help your
reader understand your subject.
Some of the pieces will be written,
some will be in various media
formats, and some may be a
combination of these elements.
An important note:
You will turn in a genre entry every
other week, starting 2/27 (pd 2) and
2/28 (pds 5-8). HOWEVER, you
MUST keep your entries once they
have been turned back to you so they
can be turned back in as part of your
final project! If you lose an entry,
you will have to RE-DO it or risk
losing points on the overall project
grade!
4.) Epilogue This is your conclusion. It
should have its own page.
Some aspects you might include:
What you learned overall
How you felt about using
the multi-genre medium to
write rather than just
writing a traditional essay
What you feel you
accomplished on this
project overall



5.) End Notes
End notes should be written for each
genre and should include the
following information:
Why you chose the genre
you did
An explanation of how your
genre showcases your
research
Any information that might
help the reader understand
your genre entry
A real-life example!
Once, a student of mine chose to
research Anthony Burgess, author of
the novel A Clockwork Orange. For
his Creative Expression entry, he
chose to make some graffiti. The
graffiti simply said A. Burgess
Naturally, I failed him for lack of
research how hard is it to draw
your authors name? When he
turned in his end notes, my eyes
were opened! If you looked
carefully, the graffiti was a timeline
showcasing Burgesss descent into
drug addiction in a very visual way.
Once this student explained what
each piece of the graffiti showed, I
was blown away! End notes make
all the difference in this case, they
were the difference between an F
and an A. Literally.
6.) Works Cited

You must have, at the absolute bare
minimum, six sources from a variety
of sources. You will probably need
many, MANY more. It is absolutely
acceptable to Google certain things
I mean, good luck finding what an
18
th
century death certificate looks
like in a book. However, Wikipedia
is NEVER EVER EVER
EVER EVER EVER
EVER EVER EVER
EVER EVER EVER
EVER EVER an acceptable
source. It kills good research habits.
Stay away from it. Forever. To
paraphrase Mean Girls, Dont use
Wikipedia. You will catch laziness,
and your grade will die.
Were I you, I would make good
friends with the great online
databases here at NWCTA. Learn
how to find old newspapers, census
data, letters, etc. This isnt the kind
of project you can do with just a few
biographies!

*Remember: The goal of this project
is to show me that you know your
author better than his/her own
mother DIG DEEP!
And now for the part we all care about the points breakdown!
This project will be a major component of your second semester grade, and will be scored as follows:
Genre sections and endnotes *40 points EACH (or 240 total points!)
Works cited page 40 points
Oral presentation 35 points
Binder appearance 25 points (with possible extra credit for amazing work)
Miscellany (repetend, prologue/epilogue, etc.) 60 points
Total Score 400 points
Your genre sections (and endnotes for each section) will be turned in every other week beginning
on 2/27 (pd 2) and 2/28 (pds 5-8). The finished project will be due 5/14 (pd 2) and 5/15 (pds 5-
8). You will only turn in the critical essay once (as part of your final project.)
We will be in the library 2/5-6, 2/18-19, and 4/9-10. Other library dates may be planned if time
allows, but should not be planned for. All research not completed on the above dates must be
completed on students own time.
*40 points, except for the critical essay, is a cumulative score. 20 points will be awarded for each genre entry when
they are turned in initially, and another 20 points will be awarded for each genre entry when the entire project is
turned in. If a genre entry loses points when it is turned in initially, a student is encouraged to make changes so that
they get all 20 points for that entry at the final due date.
**Rubric adapted from one created by Ms. Devyn McNamee.