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Writing Project #1: Comparative Analysis of Scientific and Medical Genres

Objectives: Closely study the genres used to communicate scientific and medical information to varied audiences Understand how writers in various discourse communities communicate to various audiences Introduce effective research in the library databases Analyze documents for their genre features Practice summary, paraphrase and quotation Develop skills in written and visual communication Develop skills writing clearly, accurately and concisely. Make informed decisions to communicate knowledge with an audience

Task: This assignment calls you to write a paper comparing a set of documents written in different genres about the same or related subjects. Our aim is to INFORM the reader of the subject and its related issue(s), and how different writers with different purposes write about this subject for different audiences using different genres.

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Your Purpose and Genre: To inform. This is not a traditional ‘argumentative’ paper. You will need to make choices about how to present and organize your findings.

About Genre Analysis: The practice of genre analysis requires that you closely examine how genres work: The forms and formats, language and practices of writers who share information through these different document forms. We also consider the audience and the expectations they bring when reading in these genres.

You will use summary, paraphrase, synthesis and quotation to INFORM the reader of the subject and its related issue(s), and how different writers with different purposes write about this subject for different audiences using different genres.

A comparative analysis is just a bit different from a comparison and contrast essay that you may have written in the past. While it does compare, which requires an examination of similarities and differences, it also requires that you analyze.

What to Study: You will need to study multiple genres. You will need to compare at least six documents of different genres on the topic you have chosen. You will need to choose…

· A Popular Text: magazine article (print or online), book chapter written for the general public

· At least one scholarly journal article on the same or similar subject (preferably peer-reviewed)

· A Webpage: Informational page or set of pages about the subject

· At least two alternative genres that share information.

Alternative Choices include: A Video : You Tube/ TED Talk/Vimeo, newspaper story, news broadcast clip, “How-Stuff Works” page, comic/cartoon, sketch, fact sheet, instruction sheet, legislation, podcast, infographic, graph (table, chart, pie chart, data table) blog entry, satellite images, press release, etc ….

What to study and discuss in your project:

The Genre Considerations/The Genre Features /Audience Expectations of each Genre

· What is the audience? Who reads this genre?

· What is the purpose of the document?

· What do readers of this genre expect?

· What are the features of this genre? How does it communicate and meet with the needs of the audience? How is the information shaped by the genre? (Consider the limitations/freedoms of space, time, layout, audience.) How is this genre organized to convey the message?

· How does it fulfill its purpose?

Rhetorical Issues:

· How does each genre help to evoke an emotional response from the audience?  Which emotions?  Why?

· What types of evidence are used to support the claims of the information in the genres? Is it appropriate? Why or why not?  

· How does each genre help to establish the information's credibility?  Is it effective?

Style/Language:

· How formal/informal is the language?

· What specialized vocabulary is used?

· What other language features do you notice?

Details: Your analysis should

· be at least five (5) full pages in length.

· have a title that effectively prepares the reader for the content

Ex: Stem Cell Banking: A Comparative Genre Analysis

Comparing Genres in the Sciences: How Writers Share Information

A Genre Analysis of Scientific Writing about the Zebra Mussel

· include an introduction that sets the context.

· include a Works Cited page in MLA format (in-text citation will likely be necessary only in your introductory material, and in the body of the paper where it is unclear where information comes from).

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