Suggested Genre Sequence for English 2000

1. Exploratory essay: An exploration of the issue, what it is, why it is worth investigating, the writer's relationship to the issue & why the writer cares about it, what the writer knows, what the writer thinks others know, some important questions, where the writer is likely to find information that will answer those questions. Use headings.

2. Report on primary research: A report on research like a survey of people on the issue, interviews, particularly with any possible people who have some expertise on the issue. The writer gets some sense of common knowledge and if possible, directions for research from experts or quasi-experts. The writer reports on that research, using a modified form of IMRD (Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion), possibly just moving to MRD. The report should be for others who are also investigating the issue. This project should be done in teams. Use headings.

3. Annotated bibliography. Summaries on articles, whether other investigators would find these articles useful.

4. Literature Survey. An expansion of one's own research by reading articles recommended by others and working from the annotated bibliography, synthesize the information as an introduction to what previous writers/researchers have said about this issue. This genre usually serves as an introduction to a position essay.

5. Analysis. An analysis of disagreements on this issue. What are the different positions people take on this issue? What are the points on which they agree and disagree? What about their backgrounds, social positions, ideologies, professions (everything that constitutes their subject positions) might account for these disagreements? This should be written to other members of the class, the writer speculating about these disagreements. The writers will make speculative generalizations, but they should be supported with textual evidence from the writer's research. The emphasis should be on recognizing a range of positions rather than imagining either/or thinking.

6. Reflexive Analysis. A reflective speculation on the writer's own position on the issue or on one of the major sub-issues on which others disagree. The writer should tentatively define his or her position and speculate on speculate on what in his or her previous experiences (i.e., his or her subject position) has shaped the position he or she takes.

7. Oral Presentation. Group oral presentation on the issue and the different positions people take on it or on sub-issues.

8. Position Essay. An essay that might take several forms, depending on how the writer intends to present it to a reading public (blog entry, newspaper opinion essay, magazine/zine publication) and who that reading public is. The writer can also employ several strategies from classic theories of argumentation. Depending on the rhetorical situation, the writer will employ varying degrees of pathos, ethos, and logos. Nevertheless, the writer should focus on recognizing when the writer makes claims that readers might not grant as a priori truths and which therefore need to be substantiated by evidence and logic that link that evidence to the claims.

9. Abstract. A 300-400 word summary of the writer's position essay.

10. Reflection. A reflection on what the writer has learned about arguing and why people might take different positions on issues.