Author's Notes
My Writing Minor Journey
Going into the writing minor program, I had no idea what to expect. The word "experiment" when used in the context of a writing class did not fully compute with me at first––after all, it's writing, not rocket science. Going through the process of researching each potential experiment then analyzing the entire genre seemed very daunting, especially as someone who had never so much as written a genre analysis before. Reflecting upon the journey I had throughout the course of the class, however, I am very glad to have been afforded the opportunity of being in the writing minor program.
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At the beginning of this semester, I did not have a very structured way of writing. I sort of jumped in headfirst with very little thought beforehand into what my piece was trying to accomplish, who my audience was, and what medium I was working with. When writing a paper for class, for example, I would skim over any instructions my instructor had, crank out a paper that was on-topic and answer any questions that may have been posed by my instructor in one sitting, and either skim over my paper for mistakes or simply turn in my paper without looking back. Throughout this class, I am happy to report that I now have a different, more thoughtful writing process and have gained a new appreciation for pre-work and other work that goes into crafting an effective piece.
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When writing my first genre analysis, I was very confused as to what the point of the assignment was. What was the point of writing about numerous different genres and delving into all of them if I was only going to focus on one as my final result? And what was I supposed to learn from these genre analyses, anyways?
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As I continued with the class and continued to engage with the course material, however, I realized that writing and effective writing are two different things. Yes, you can go into a piece with the final product and only the final product in mind, taking no time to delve into potential ways of showcasing, framing, presenting, and exploring your message or reflecting upon the audience that the piece is intended for and the audience you think will reach the piece, but taking the time to do these things, even without writing an entire genre analysis on the piece you have in mind, will allow you to better engage and curate your piece to fit the context you need it to, making it more effective in the long run.
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I think the components of the genre analyses I wrote for class that were the most helpful when crafting my final experiment were the connections that I had to make between the genre as a form and examples of the genre that I found to be good or especially effective. Having to think about the choices that authors make and why they may have made them made me reflect upon these questions when doing my final experiment.
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That being said, each genre analysis and ensuing reflection that I wrote over the course of the semester helped me create my final piece to the best of my ability. The experience of writing my first genre analysis and reflection on my first potential genre, political poetry, first and foremost gave me a better sense of genre analyses and their usefulness. When writing this analysis, I forgot to weave examples from pieces within the genre that I found effective, instead focusing more on historical analysis of where the genre came from and its purpose during its founding and over time. Looking back, I do think that reflecting upon and picking out specific examples would have helped me to better understand the genre I studied for that piece, but looking into the historical purpose of the genre turned out to be both interesting and engaging, and that gave me a better understanding of the genre in its own way.
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When writing my second genre analysis and ensuing reflection on podcasting, I was in the middle of recording a group podcast for one of my other classes and thought it would be fun to blend the two projects together. It was not only fun to compare what I was learning through my research to the project I was working on for my other class but also immensely informative. Having this perspective made me realize that podcasting may not be the best platform for the kind of piece I wanted to make for my final experiment. It also helped me out tremendously with the pre-work for my other class’s project, allowing me to create a better piece for that course.
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By my third genre analysis and reflection on editorials, I felt like I was a research veteran. Before I even began my genre analysis, I made sure to look into different types of persuasive media, since persuading my audience was part of what I planned for my final experiment, and while doing my research into the genre, I was actively thinking about how the example pieces I looked at were tying in main aspects of the genre to their pieces.
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Through this research, I was able to figure out that the editorial genre very effectively and clearly did what I was hoping to achieve––educate an audience about an important issue, show them the main thoughts on the issue, and call upon them to take action in regard to the issue. While this could have been done using a variety of different methods, I felt it fit my intended audience, everyday people around the state of Michigan, well, especially since editorials can be a bit more personable than some other genres.
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Though I will probably not be writing genre analysis upon genre analysis when deciding what mediums to utilize on every project I work on in the future, I will make sure to utilize the techniques I learned when doing my assignments for this class in my future endeavors. I feel as though I have come out of this class a stronger, more purposeful writer, a skill that will serve me well as I continue my academic and professional careers.