An Introduction to the Genre Academic Writing An Introduction to the Genre Notice: genre is professional language. Does two things--summarizes lots of knowledge and gives credibility

What’s a genre? Examples include Cowboy movies Chick flicks Slasher movies

Genres are formulas. Genres follow certain formulas. Readers can predict Plots (madman wants to rule world) Characters (hero, villain…) Outcome (happy…or not)

Genres are predictable. In which genre would the boy get the girl? Martial arts movie Chick flick Disaster movie

What are writing genres? Examples include Personal journals Poems Instructions Professional reading (books/articles that people read to keep up with their fields) Peer-reviewed research

Which are writer-centered? Personal journals Poems Instructions Professional reading (books/articles that people read to keep up with their fields) Peer-reviewed research

Writer-centered? Written to express personal feelings or points of view May never be read by anyone else Has to make sense only to the writer Main purpose: express what the writer wants to express

Writer-centered example I am the mother of five children, so I am aware of the importance of watching what my children do online. Why might you not take this seriously? Your children may not be typical;mothers can be overprotectie; there are a lot of clueless mothers out there.

Reader-centered example Youth who engaged in four or more risky online behaviors were much more likely to report receiving online sexual solicitations. The online risky behaviors included maintaining buddy lists that included strangers discussing sex online with people they did not know in person being rude or nasty online “Internet Predator Stereotypes Debunked in New Study,” 2008 [APA press release] What’s the difference? Research-based; objective; from reputable source http://www.apa.org/releases/sexoffender0208.html

Writer- vs. reader-centered Is personal Expresses feelings and ideas Can bring healing and/or clarity Allows people to experiment with making beautiful language Is objective (not just true for one person) Provides information to be used or Explores ideas critically Aims to be clear and formal

Opinion as good as evidence Road rage and teens. (n.d.) Retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.angelfire.com/ al/alyplace/mystory.html Rathbone, D. B., & Huckabee, J. C. (1999). Controlling road rage: A literature review and pilot study. Retrieved from AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Web site: http://www.aaafoundation.org/resources/ index.cfm?button=roadrage Notice: no author, date, sponsoring organization Second has credentialed authors. Would need to be updated.

Solid sources are Correct Current Credible Complete Critical

Tips for current sources Search by date range In EBSCO, use limiters On web, use whonu.com

Scholarly vs. popular Written for experts by experts Detailed Images tend to be diagrams or pictures directly related to topic; no fluff Most credible are peer-reviewed Written for people with no special knowledge General Lots of pictures Often don’t even give full details about source

Skimming for 5Cs results for “stem cell research” from clusty.com

Skimming for 5Cs results for “stem cell research” from google.com

What about Wikipedia? Wiki: a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content Definition: A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content "What's more disconcerting is that Anderson was relying so heavily on Wikipedia for his information in the first place; even middle-school book-reports shouldn't be crafted with ancillary information from that site. Confoundingly, many of the passages that appear lifted were readily-available definitions of terms that would appear in more credible reference books like the Oxford English Dictionary.” Fast Company as quoted in discussion of Chris Anderson’s plagiarism (Publishers Lunch Daily, Jun 24, 2009) Example: http://killfile.newsvine.com/_news/2009/05/06/2781651-students-wikipedia-hoax-quote-used-worldwide-in-newspaper-obituaries

Can I use Wikipedia? Directly: no Indirectly: yes Overview References External links

Follow external links ADHD

Check related topics

Capture sources Save a search (print or email link) Write down search terms that work (e.g., revolving door > recidivism) Print just first page of website so you’ll have URL Create personal online archive with tools like Furl or Zotero