Exploring writing through a multigenre approach

TOM Romano, writing in his book Blending Genre, Altering Style, suggested alternative ways of sharing research material. The majority of research application formats came directly from the newspaper.

Known as multigenre writing, this approach has become one of the most productive ways teachers can help students write creative, informational research reports.

With the great changes in society, research is still essential, but not necessarily in the traditional format expressed above. Few people today will need to write their research in a formal essay with footnotes and an extensive bibliography.

Instead, people today are asked to publish their research in a manner that other people can easily digest. Readers want graphic application formats that speak to the type of information that needs to be communicated.

For example, if a student or the class were producing a multigenre newspaper for Min Fong Ho’s

The Clay Marble, the newspaper published might include (but is not limited to) these genres: hard news articles, display ads for fashions and/or products from that time period, obituaries for those that die in the story, letters to the editor regarding a possible trial and an editorial cartoon depicting the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

Additional components could be included. Students could use desktop publishing skills to design the report in actual newspaper format with columns and images just like the front page of the newspaper. The written content could also be produced as a multigenre web page or website.

With multigenre research, students must come up with an application format that they themselves create for use with their information. Students must also make extensive use of technology and have a solid knowledge base in different writing formats.

The Star’s Newspaper-inEducation programme ran a series of lesson ideas for teachers since June 28 in StarEdu. Today, we complete our programme with multigenre writing on food writing articles as well as additional products that can be found in the newspaper.