Summary- Multigenre Paper

In today’s time and age, it is necessary for students to be able to write a research paper. Most high schools require them and almost all college classes require them. Also, many school districts are now requiring their seniors to present something closely resembling a thesis paper before they can graduate from high school. With a growing emphasis being placed on the ability to conduct research and narrow it down into a sound paper, students are being pushed into research papers that they only complete to fill the requirement.

            The traditional research paper is the one that most of us are familiar with. It is a structured paper with a specific format that must be followed. While it may be monotonous, all students are well aware of what it should look like and how it is to be written. Also, because the structure is basically the same from paper to paper, it makes it easier for the teacher to grade. However, in many cases, the research completed for the paper is just that- only conducted for the paper and is forgotten soon after the paper has been handed in. It leads to research of, but not depth into a subject.

            One suggestion that has been made to break the mold is the multi-genre paper. There are many advantages to completing a multi-genre paper. The student is allowed to use multiple sources ranging from the traditional research from books, journals, and newspapers to CD album covers, videos, and web sites. Students are then allowed to present the information that they find in over 100 different types of writing. These different types of writings are aimed more toward everyday type writing skills- the ability to write a letter, a journal entry, a narrative, and many other types of “non-scholarly” writings.  Because of this, students participating in these experiments seemed to apply a more personal note to their writings; they gained a deeper connection with their subject by thinking about how they would have felt in different situations that their subject was involved in. Also, being able to write in their own way encouraged students to develop their computer skills as the strived to present artifacts that would resemble what they were modeled after. End notes presented with the various artifacts explains the students reasoning for choosing the items that they chose for presentation. These end notes showed a further depth of research than could be allowed in many of the artifacts themselves. However, there are several uncertainties presented by a multi-genre paper. Since this is a relatively new concept, there is no set standard about how this paper should look. In all actuality, they may never be a set “standard” for this type of research paper in that they rely heavily on the creativity of the writer. They are also extremely unstructured, an idea that many students cannot handle. This type of research paper would also present a problem for a teacher who is not willing to adjust their grading criteria as needed for each presentation. While multi-genre papers present multiple potential problems, in many cases, the students participating in writing these types of papers enjoyed them more than the traditional research paper.

            I think that the possibility of writing a multi-genre paper is a wonderful idea. It seems like it would be something that would allow students to show creativity and understanding that they would not normally be able to show in a research paper. However, there are several questions that I was faced with when reading this paper.

 

Question 1- All of the students participating in the experiment conducted in this paper were either high school or college students. Would it be feasible to present this type of paper to a middle grades student who has not established a firm repertoire for writing papers?

 

Question 2- What (if any) modifications would have to be made to use this type of paper in a middle grades classroom?

 

Question 3- How would you involve other teachers for a possible cross-content area project?