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Jarriesse Blackmon

Writ. 2

Prof. Johnson

Genre Translations

Everybodys heard the saying, Offense isnt given, its taken. Its something I know my

parents used to tell me continually growing up and, although this exact quote has no direct

correlation to literature, literary practices, or the translating of genres; the hidden message in it

does. The quote is referring to how we perceive something, and how we decide to react on it

depending on that perception. Translating literature is like that in its own way. Converting a

piece of writing from its genre of origin to a separate genre allows for you, as the writer, to

creatively and freely express, taking your perception of that text and turning it into something

else. For our third writing project we were tasked with the challenge of translating a piece of

literature from its genre origin, and flipping it into a separate genre, for a separate audience. I

chose to do the first five minutes of the television show The Office, season five, episode fourteen.

Using resources and some of the literary techniques weve been learning throughout the course

of our writing class, I translated one of my all-time favorite television episodes from one of my

all-time favorite shows into a personal business ad.

I began the process of translating the piece by first figuring out who the intended

audience was for the original scene, and who would be the new target audience of my genre. The

scene I would be translating was about Dwight starting a fire in the office, spurring a huge panic,

and all so that he could put his co-workers through a simulated fire safety drill. I figured that

the intended audience for such a scene would be office workers, and I decided my new target
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audience would be high school aged kids. I chose high school kids because its a requirement for

every school to have fire safety lessons, but elementary school aged kids wouldnt be able to

handle Dwights intensity, brashness, and an actual fire drill escape room. Next was figuring out

what I would be translating the scene into. I decided a persuasive Ad would be a good way to go.

The Ad would include some of Dwights credentials, some customer reviews, and a brief

summary of what his personal service could provide for any high school student who needed it.

I chose to change the scene from its informative genre to a persuasive Ad because I felt

like it would be the easiest and best way to go about keeping the comedy of the scene intact,

while still being able to translate it into a separate genre. I also felt that and Ad would work well

because itd allow for me to add a picture element to it. A picture could help add a different

element to the authenticity of my translation, and keep its comedy intact as well. Ads often use

pictures to help relay messages to consumers easier. In Scott McClouds article Writing With

Pictures, he talks about how the usage of pictures not only attracts our audiences, but can also

help them to understand and be more interested in what you are trying to sell them. Ads are

perfect for that. In the very first page of his write up, McCloud states, We want them to

understand what we have to sell them, and we want them to care enough to stick around til

were done (McCloud, Writing With Pictures, Ch. 1, pg. 8). This was one of the ideals I

followed. Adding the perfect picture could peak the interest of a consumer, making them want to

read more. McCloud later mentions, Our choice of moment -- the selection process -- plays

an important role in ensuring that clarity (McCloud, Writing With Pictures, Ch 1. Pg. 12). My

particular photo and genre choice help clarify what I wanted to sell to consumers, which is

another reason I chose to use an Ad as my genre translation.

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One of the challenges of the assignment was trying to figure out what genre the original

scene would come from, and what the intended target audience of it might be as well. To me,

what made this task a little more challenging was that there were no words on a page, but rather

literature being performed in person. It was also a bonus because I could see literary devices

being performed physically, making it easier for me to understand what was going on rather than

having to imagine it. I turned to the concepts that we had learned from Kerry Dirks reading,

Navigating Genres in order to help me understand and better comprehend my genre translation.

Dirk shared one example of how you could go about navigating genres by using country music,

which helped get me started. Dirk said, Assuming I want to write lyrics to a country song, how

would I figure out what lyrics are acceptable in terms of country songs? (Dirk, Navigating

Genres, pg. 249). Using Dirks advice, I was able to sit down and think about how exactly I

would go about turning Dwights attempt at teaching his office a lesson in fire safety, into a form

of writing. Looking through the separate genres of writing, I decided that the original scene was

from the informative category. But how would I be able to clearly and correctly translate that

into a different genre, for a different audience? I again used Dirks metaphor. If office workers

were his target audience in the show, who else would need to take fire safety lessons and be able

to handle Dwight? High school students. I chose high school students because they are at an age

where they can better manage themselves under the type of pressure a character like Dwight

would be putting them under. Their parents would also probably be more comfortable with them

going through an actual fire drill in comparison to a 10-year old. After selecting my target

audience, I had to decide the best way to get this message to high school kids, that would through

an ad.
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Using some of the concepts we had been learning in class throughout the quarter, I was

able to translate one of my favorite movie scenes into a separate genre, for a separate audience.

My start process for this project was a little tough, because I didnt fully understand how I would

be able to translate that particular scene into a form of writing at first. Using the ideas from

Dirks essay, I was able to get my translation in motion. I used some of the concepts we learned

from McCloud to help guide the ideas I learned from Dirk.

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Works Cited

Dirk, Kerry. Writing Spaces Vol. 2. Navigating Genres (2011): n. Pag.

Web.

McCloud, Scott. Making comics: storytelling secrets of comics, manga and

graphic novels. Ch. 1. New York: Harper, 2007. Print.