1. I am intrigued by Reiff’s idea to ask our student to produce
new genres for class. That said, it seems like a pretty broad request,
particularly considering that our students are likely to have just learned about
genre in such detail. How can we ensure that our students are not overwhelmed
by the idea of creating a new genre from scratch?
2. Yancey discusses how portfolios in writing courses are
useful because they train the students to be reflective on the themes and
patterns of their own writing. Do you think there is a way to reinforce to
students the importance of self-reflection on their writing?
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteI think the best way to instruct our students in the making of new genres is to make sure that we point out the way that the texts they engage with are actually modeling that act. I think that there is a series need when we teach genre to demonstrate the way that few texts actually fit neatly into any one genre. Most are pushing the boundaries of their dominant genre is some way. By highlighting now just the ways we can recognize genre but how texts are forming new genres via their own actions we can instruct them on the flexibility of genre. Similarly, we can ask that their final project in 3 genres not only translate their earlier work into new genres but to push the boundaries of those genres. We might even ask them to point out the ways they are fighting back against those conventions in their reflections n that project. By making the complication of genre a part of how we teach genre itself we will be making them comfortable with the creation of new genres from the beginning of class until they prepare to work on that multi genre project themselves. Hopefully they will be less intimidated due to a better understanding of how making new genres is inherently part of working with genres.