Multigenre Papers

Dr. Tom Romano, author and teacher education professor at Miami University, is a firm believer in writing in multiple genres. Each of Romano’s students left his classroom knowing the importance of having their students write multigenre papers. Multigenre papers are papers that are composed of several genres, just as the name indicates. These papers, even though written in several genres, are written about a certain topic or theme. There are several resources about writing in multiple genres. The majority of these resources are texts—not web based resources.

 

The National Council for the Teachers of English (NCTE) has a wealth of resources for writing in multiple genres. If one visits www.ncte.org, he or she will find an overview of what multigenre papers are. There is also a section that can be visited by NCTE members that includes full text NCTE journals. Some of these full text journals include the following:

·        “Multigenre Teaching”

·        “Multigenre Teaching as Student Empowerment”

·        Circling through Text: Teaching Research through Multigenre Writing”

·        Exploring the Past through Multigenre Writing”

·        “Fusing Social Justice with Multigenre Writing”

 

There are also web-based publications that have been made by NCTE members that have links on the NCTE website. Some of these publications include the following:

·        “Multigenre Writing: Beyond the Five Paragraph Essay”

·        “Beowulf Multigenre Project”

·        “The Multigenre Research Paper”

 

Additional text resources are also listed on the website. These resources all have a synopsis of the text. Below is a selection of the resources:

·        Allen, Camille A. The multigenre research paper: Voice, passion, and discovery in grades 4-6

·        Moulton, Margaret R. “Cookie” The multigenre paper: Increasing interest, motivation, and functionality in research

·        Reid, Louann. Reflective activities: Helping students connect with texts

·        Romano, Tom. “A time for immersion, a time for reflection: The multigenre research project and portfolio assessment”

·        Romano, Tom. Writing with passion: Life stories, multiple genres

·        Tremmel, Michelle. Multigenre writing and Bakhtin

 

 

 

In addition to the multitude of resources that NCTE provides, there is a website created by msu.edu entitled “Exploring Genres,” which provides visitors with four levels for writing multigenre papers.

·        Level 1: What is Multigenre? 

o       In this section there is an example of a web-based multigenre paper by Becky LeBoeuf, author of the website. There are also three multigenre paper examples in PDF format, which include a multigenre paper by a high schooler and two multigenre papers by college students.

·        Level 2: Exploring Genres

o       In this section students can view different types of genres that fall under the following categories:

§        Print Media

§        Visual Display

§        Informational

§        Creative Writing

§        Expository Writing

·        Level 3: Continuation of Exploring Genres

o       This section merely builds in the previous section. Students can view additional genres.

·        Level 4: Extra Credit

o       In this section, students are given the opportunity to get extra credit.

 

 

Dr. Romano’s students at Miami University are required to write in multiple genres, which includes writing multigenre papers. In his Adolescent Language Arts Methods block, students are required to compose a multigenre paper about their field experience, as well as a multigenre paper about piece of Literature. Below are some examples from his students.

 

 

Literature Based Multigenre Papers:

·        “Hope in Havoc” by Holly Oldham

·        “Filling the Void” by Meghan Kopp