How to write and produce newspaper genres

TOM ROMANO has published numerous bestselling books including Crafting Authentic Voice; Blending Genre, Altering Style; Zigzag ; and Writing with Passion.

He has been teaching for 45 years: 17 years as a high school teacher and 28 years as a college professor. Romano earned his bachelor’s and master’s in Education at Miami University and his PhD at the University of New Hampshire.

His classroom routine lists two non-negotiables: he reads a poem at the beginning of every class meeting, and students in his class will write in different genres, not only expository essays.

In his book Blending Genre and

Altering Style, Romano says: “A multigenre paper arises from research, experience, and imagination. It is not an uninterrupted, expository monologue nor a seamless narrative nor a collection of poems.

“A multigenre paper is composed of many genres and subgenres, each piece self-contained, making a point of its own, yet connected by theme or topic and sometimes by language, images, and content.

“In addition to many genres, a multigenre paper may also contain many voices, not just the author’s. The trick is to make such a paper hang together.”

When given a choice, most students will opt for a multigenre paper because they feel that it is less difficult. What these students don’t realise is that more critical thinking is involved in this process than the traditional paper.

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.

For example, if a student or the class were producing a multigenre newspaper for Dear Mr Kilmer by Anne Schraff, the newspaper published might include (but is not limited to) these genres: hard news articles on the ravages of World War 1, display ads for fashions and/or products from that time period, obituaries for the soldiers who perished in the war, unity projects to crush out discrimination and an advice column for loved ones who have lost fathers, sons and brothers in the war.

Multigenre writing has become one of the most productive approaches teachers can use to help students write creative, informational research reports.

This guide, which features Lesson 13 and 14 this week, will help teachers succeed in that effort.