21 GENRES and How to Write Them

By BROCK DETHIER

University Press of Colorado

Copyright © 2013 University Press of Colorado
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-87421-911-1

Contents

Acknowledgments……………………………………………………xixIntroduction: Genres, Moves, and Never Getting Stuck Again……………..1Part I: Genres…………………………………………………….1. Abstract……………………………………………………….2. Annotated Bibliography…………………………………………..3. Application Essay……………………………………………….4. Application Letter………………………………………………5. Argument……………………………………………………….6. Blog…………………………………………………………..7. Email………………………………………………………….8. Gripe Letter……………………………………………………9. Literary Analysis……………………………………………….10. Literature Review………………………………………………11. Op-Ed Essay……………………………………………………12. Personal Essay…………………………………………………13. Profile……………………………………………………….14. Proposal………………………………………………………15. Reflection…………………………………………………….16. Report………………………………………………………..17. Response to Reading…………………………………………….18. Resume………………………………………………………..19. Review………………………………………………………..20. Rhetorical Analysis…………………………………………….21. Wiki………………………………………………………….Part II: Moves…………………………………………………….22. Solve Your Process Problems……………………………………..23. Discover………………………………………………………24. Develop……………………………………………………….25. Gather………………………………………………………..26. Integrate……………………………………………………..27. Focus…………………………………………………………28. Organize………………………………………………………29. Draft…………………………………………………………30. Revise………………………………………………………..31. Present……………………………………………………….Appendix: Twenty Plays……………………………………………..267References………………………………………………………..275Index…………………………………………………………….277About the Author…………………………………………………..282

Excerpt

<h2>CHAPTER 1</h2><p><b>Abstract</b></p><br><p>EXAMPLE: <b>Abstract of <i>Twenty-One Genres, Brock Dethier</i></b></p><br><p><i>Twenty-One Genres</i> strives to be the smallest, most inexpensive all-purposewriting text on the college composition market. Author Brock Dethier, directorof the composition program at Utah State University, offers descriptionsof twenty-one common genres, from abstract to wiki, and suggests for eachgenre a series of writing “moves.” The book presents over two hundred such”moves”—thinking, writing, reading, and researching activities divided into tenchapters, from “Solve Your Process Problems” and “Discover” to “Revise” and”Present.” The book is written to be useful to the individual writer, whether ornot the writer is currently in a writing class.</p><br><p><b><i>Questions about the example:</i></b></p><p>1. Does it show you anything new about the book or emphasize things thatyou didn’t realize were so important?</p><p>2. What details tip you off that the book’s author wrote the abstract?</p><p>3. Boiling hundreds of pages down into a paragraph as I did here is a specializedwriting skill. Can you think of other writing situations where such askill might be useful?</p><p>EXAMPLE: <b>Using Geophysical Methods to Study the ShallowSubsurface of a Sensitive Alpine Environment, Niwot Ridge,Colorado Front Range, USA, Matthias Leopold, David Dethier,Jõrg Võlkel, Thomas Raab, Tyler Corsonrickert, and Nel Caine</b></p><p>This example is the first part of a much longer article. It needs to explain to otherexperts what’s new and interesting in the work discussed, but the authors alsohope to give even non-experts a window into the work. Consider the problemthese geologists face: how can they learn about the rock beneath the surface ofthe earth without digging holes or using other such “invasive” techniques?</p><br><p><b>Abstract</b></p><p>Shallow seismic refraction (SSR) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) arenon-invasive geophysical techniques that enhance studies of the shallow subsurfacedeposits which control many geomorphic and biogeochemical processes.These techniques permit measuring the thickness and material propertiesof these deposits in sensitive alpine area without using extensive pitsand trenches that can impact current biogeospheric processes or distort themfor future research. Application of GPR and SSR along 1.5 km of geophysicallines shows that layers of fine to coarse, blocky deposits of periglacialorigin underlie alpine slopes in the vicinity of Niwot Ridge, Colorado FrontRange. Interpretation of geophysical and drilling data shows that depth tobedrock ranges from 4 to >10 m and is not simply related to local slope. Ourmeasurements suggest that ice lenses form seasonally beneath solifluctionlobes; ice was not present in adjacent areas. Ice lenses are associated withlocal ponded water and saturated sediments that result from topographicfocusing and low-permeability layers beneath active periglacial features.Geophysical interpretations are consistent with data derived from nearbydrill cores and corroborate the utility of GPR in combination with SSR forcollecting subsurface data required by different landscape models in sensitivealpine environments.</p><br><p><b><i>Questions about the example:</i></b></p><p>1. This abstract begins the article published in <i>Arctic, Antarctic, and AlpineResearch</i>. What purposes might it serve for the readers of the journal? Forthe authors?</p><p>2. If you were one of the authors, when else might you use the abstract?Think of situations in which you need to explain quickly what you’ve been</p><p>3. If you’re not a geologist, you may find this abstract difficult reading. Yetit’s not incomprehensible to a nonspecialist. How did the authors make thetechnical intelligible?</p><br><p>To see how an abstract fits in the context of a larger work, see the secondexample in chapter 14: Proposal.</p><br><p><b>Questions about the Abstract</p><p>1. What are its purposes?</b></p><p>An abstract is a miniature version of a much longer document or oral presentation.It presents readers with the highlights of the longer document—its purposes,conclusions, and recommendations. It gives the reader an opportunityto decide, quickly, whether to read the entire text, how to file or catalog it, orwho might be interested in it. For the writer, an abstract can be a demandingpiece of writing, as it forces the writer to decide what’s crucial about the longertext aand boil something complex down to just a few words. Writing it can helpthe writer focus and organize the longer text.</p><p>Abstracts are popular on the Internet, since websites like to present readerswitth a short version of their information to interest the reader in viewingthe whole website. The little blurbs that search engines provide along witha title and a web address could be considered abstracts. See how maaaany kindsof abstracts you can find on the Internet and how many different functionsthey serve.</p><p>I wrote the first abstract just for this chapter, but something similar couldturn into a book jacket quotation or a blurb that the publisher sends out todistributors. Playing up the book’s strengths more would transform this intoadvertising.</p><p><b>2. Who are its audiences?</b></p><p>The audience for an abstract is generally the same as for the longer piece thatis being summarized: readers of genres like business reports, academic journals,and conference programs. While Dissertation Abstracts International andsimilar publications contain nothing but abstracts, most abstracts are parts oflonger pieces and are intended to give readers a good sense of what the longerpiece contains. They can be a boon to researchers and casual readers alike.</p><p>Given what I said about the purposes of the first abstract, you can imaginethat its audience is composition students and their teachers. Who do you thinkmight read the second abstract?</p><p><b>3. What’s the typical content?</b></p><p>The content of the abstract mirrors the content of the longer piece, focusingon what’s new and/or significant in the piece. The abstract contains nothingthat is not in the longer piece and generally reflects the organization of the longerpiece. An abstract for a scientific report, for instance, will probably cover,in order, the report’s purpose, research questions, methods, findings, conclusions,and recommendations. The abstract should make sense on its own,without reference to the longer piece.</p><p>Do you think my abstract fairly represents the book? Can you see report elementsin the second abstract?</p><p>An <b>executive summary</b> is related to an abstract but is generally more completeand longer (roughly 10 percent of the report’s length), covering thereport’s purpose, scope, background, findings, conclusions, and recommendations.Findings and recommendations can be listed first, as a kind of summarywithin a summary, or they can follow the order of the report.</p><p><b>4. How long is it?</b></p><p>An abstract is usually a paragraph or two, generally not over 350 words.</p><p><b>5. How is it arranged on the page?</b></p><p>Usually the abstract is simply labeled “Abstract,” and it often precedes the restof the paper, sometimes single-spaced or indented to set it off from the bodyof the paper.</p><p><b>6. What pronouns are used?</b></p><p>The writing in general follows that of the main piece; abstracts in the sciencesare likely to use passive voice, avoiding pronouns altogether, while those in thehumanities may occasionally use first- and third-person pronouns.</p><p><b>7. What’s the tone?</b></p><p>As objective, as neutral, as possible. The writer is not passing judgment oradvocating, just clearly stating what’s in the document.</p><p><b>8. How does it vary?</b></p><p>Considering purpose is crucial. Is someone making a decision based on yourabstract? If so, make sure the recommendation and a key bit of evidenceappear in the abstract. Will the abstract be read by researchers trying to decideif they should read the whole article? Then make sure your abstract includesappropriate keywords. If you’re trying to catch a reader’s eyes, try to work themost startling bit of information into the abstract.</p><br><p><b>Suggested Moves for Writing an Abstract</p><p>1. Discover.</b></p><p>You might think that there’s nothing to discover when writing an abstract, butyou’d be surprised at what you’ll find when you try to boil down an entirereport into a single paragraph. You might try <b>Outline your draft</b> -> 160 to geta clear sense of what the text says and how different ideas are weighted. Ortry <b>Make ends meet</b> -> 197 to see what the headings of your paper tell you isimportant. A different tack would be to <b>Freewrite</b> -> 72 without looking at thetext—what sticks in your mind as being crucial to the paper? If the differentmoves lead you to different answers to that question, you may need to revisethe text itself.</p><p><b>2. Develop.</b></p><p>There’s not much room for development in an abstract, but you do need tomake sure that your ideas are developed enough, and specific enough, tobe useful. <b>Answer the journalist’s questions</b> -> 87 to make sure you coverthe basics. Try writing a single sentence about the core of the text, then use<b>Explain your code words</b> -> 93.</p><p><b>3. Gather.</b></p><p>Consider using a <b>Double-entry journal</b> -> 106 with important points onthe left side and on the right how they connect to the whole. Try to makesure you’re representing the whole text. Go back through the headings orthe table of contents to make sure you’re not forgetting anything significant.<b>Skim</b> -> 103. <b>Force yourself to read intelligently</b> -> 154. Look at the beginningand end of each paragraph. Use all the clues the writer gives you aboutwhat’s important—words like “because” and “therefore” that indicate causeand effect as well as any comparatives (“better”), superlatives (“best”), or keywords(“crucial”).</p><p><b>4. Integrate.</b></p><p>Many writers borrow key phrases from throughout the text to use for theabstract. One challenge, therefore, is to integrate borrowed lines with newones. <b>Integrate sources</b> -> 133. And if possible, work with someone: <b>Checkthe flow</b> -> 139.</p><p><b>5. Focus.</b></p><p>Writing an abstract is itself a good focusing activity, since an abstract is all aboutsummary -> 150. <b>Brainstorming leads</b> -> 143 can help you with that difficultfirst sentence and maybe give you some possibilities for sentences two, three,and four. Try brainstorming all the key elements of the text, then group themuntil you have three to five groupings. <b>Group, label, and order</b> -> 62. Thenyou’ll probably have to go through and cut out anything that isn’t crucial.</p><p><b>6. Organize.</b></p><p>The abstract can either follow the text from introduction to conclusion orit can highlight three to five main points regardless of where they appear inthe text. Put yourself in your reader’s shoes and <b>Answer readers’ questions</b>-> 159, starting with the basic “What’s this text about?”</p><p><b>7. Revise.</b></p><p>An error in an abstract might literally drive readers away, so do a lot of rereadingand get help from others.</p><p><b>8. Present.</b></p><p>Usually the abstract appears right after the title page and before the table ofcontents, on a page by itself.</p><h2>CHAPTER 2</h2><p><b>Annotated Bibliography</b></p><p>EXAMPLE: <b>Partial Annotated Bibliography for “The Logan Nunnery:Discovering an Obliterated Site,” Allie Anderson</b></p><br><p>Bell, Michael Mayerfeld. “The Ghosts of Place.” <i>Theory and Society</i> 26.6 (1997):813–36. Print.</p><p>Bell’s article argues that ghosts are part of our everyday lives. Their presenceexists even if their physical body does not. He goes on to describe how ghostsset boundaries of possession and ownership of place. A ghost will let a humanknow when his or her presence is not wanted by making them feel frightened,disturbed, or unsafe. Bell also explains his belief that we experience placessocially, similarly to how we experience other people. Because ghosts are apart of place they become part of the social experience when discoveringthat particular locale. Locations that are well known for their supernaturalinhabitants are treated differently. They are approached with a measured stepand their aura calls out to those with curious minds. This theory very muchapplies to my topic of the Nunnery. Its landscape is treated differently becausepeople believe it to be haunted.</p><p>Bennett, Gillian. <i>Alas, Poor Ghost: Traditions of Belief in Story and Discourse</i>.Logan: Utah State University Press, 1999. Print.</p><p>In her book, Bennett claims that even though supernatural experienceshave been demoted to nursery, commercial, or fantasy worlds, people haveencounters with supernatural forces that cannot be explained or put intothose categories. She also explores the relationship between narrative andbelief by interviewing people about their beliefs when it comes to ghostsand ghost stories and then analyzing their responses. Bennett believes thatghost stories are communal and reflect attitudes and beliefs of the societythey circulate in. They also help to create and shape a community’s folklore.I found this last point to be especially useful in my research as the Nunneryhas greatly impacted Logan’s folklore.</p><p>Ellis, Bill. <i>Aliens, Ghosts, and Cults: Legends We Live</i>. Jackson: University Press ofMississippi, 2003. Print.</p><p>In this book Ellis takes a deeper look into legends. He studies how legendscome to be and what impact they have on society. He describes legends asa kind of “living” thing because each version of a legend is somewhat theteller’s creation. He also says that legends are a process and not just a collectionof texts. Ellis explains that people tell legends in order to define theworld they inhabit. Legends contribute to the social experience of one’ssurroundings. While conducting interviews on the legends of the Nunnery,Ellis’s research helped me have a greater understanding of the importanceof the various legends I was gathering.</p><p>Foote, Kenneth E. <i>Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy</i>.Austin: University of Texas Press Austin, 2003. Print.</p><p>This book shows how violence and tragedy have affected landscape inAmerica. Foote gives several examples of different landscapes across theUnited States that have been altered because of events that have occurred.He discusses what obliteration means and how violence and tragedies cancause a landscape to become obliterated. Foote is very clear in the way hepresents his research and thoughts which was something I really appreciatedabout the book. I drew my main idea from Foote and altered his criteria ofobliteration to fit that of the Nunnery. I was able to compare and contrastthe Nunnery with examples he provided to further prove my own theorieson obliteration of landscape.</p><p>Goldstein, Diane E., Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas. <i>HauntingExperiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore</i>. Logan: Utah State UniversityPress, 2007. Print.</p><p>This book looks at ghost lore from various angles. The authors take a closerlook at how popular culture affects tradition and belief when it comes to thesupernatural. Ghost stories can reveal different things about personal life,culture, and nature. This book document the authors’ field work by givingaccounts of ghost stories and pictures of sites that are said to be haunted. Ifound this book particularly useful because it focuses on how ghost storiesaffect our culture today, which related to my research of the legends surroundingthe Nunnery.</p><p>Olwig, Kenneth R. “Recovering the Substantive Nature of Landscape.” <i>Annalsof the Association of American Geographers</i> 86.4 (1996): 630–53. Print.</p><p>Olwig’s article presents several ideas on the use and meaning of landscape.He discusses how landscapes are not just places but home to nature andcustoms. He claims that variables such as community, law, and customshape the human geographical existence. Landscapes are more than justlocations they are home to memories, culture, and ways of life. This articlewas useful for my research because the landscape of the Nunnery hasgreatly impacted the culture of Cache Valley. It is a place where people goto discover more about their community and their customs.</p><p>Tucker, Elizabeth. <i>Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses</i>.Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2007. Print.</p><p>This book is rare in that it focuses specifically on ghostlore in academia.Tucker travels across the United States to discover what ghosts haunt thehalls of college campuses. She presents several theories about ghosts andhas research to back up those ideas. Tucker’s research also includes personalinterviews and photographs of haunted sites she visited. It was veryinteresting to read these students’ accounts and see the places that Tuckerwas talking about. She also discusses the importance of legend trippingand how it adds to the social experience of campus life. Tucker’s book wasvery helpful in my research. Many of the Nunnery’s visitors are collegestudents so much of the information in her book related to my topic.</p><p>Tucker, Libby. “Legend Quests.” <i>Voices</i> 32.1 (2006): 1–6. Print.</p><p>Tucker gives an in-depth analysis specifically on the importance of legendquests. She states the importance of legend tripping lies not only in thedestination but also in the trip. Typically a legend quest involves morethan one person, thus making a trip of discovery also a social event. Thereare emotional components of legend tripping that include feeling afraid,thrilled, and excited. The desire for these emotions also makes legend trippingmore enticing. This article was very helpful in my research because itallowed me to gain a greater understanding behind the purpose of legendtripping.
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