I can honestly say that throughout my high school and college career I always dreaded writing research papers. It’s not that I disliked writing, or research for that matter, it was just the type of writing that is generally associated with research papers. So many citations, formal language, and not enough room for creativity. Not that I ever fancied myself as a “creative writer” so to speak, but, in my opinion, most writing allows for more creativity than a traditional research paper.
It’s really refreshing to see what Cookie has done for her students in the Multigenre article. I am really impressed with the creativity her students exhibited while writing their multigenre papers. I know that if I had been assigned this type of paper in high school, rather than a traditional research paper, I would have really enjoyed working on it. I think it is very important that she let her students select their own topic, and that she pretty much gave them no limits. This allows students to choose something they are truly passionate about. I’m sure writing poetry, letters, articles, etc. comes much easier when he topic is something you enjoy. This type of paper also forces students to truly analyze the subject they are writing about. Rather than just reading, paraphrasing, and writing students are forced to take it to the next level and totally immerse themselves into their chosen topic. I think this makes the quality of learning multiply.
The portion we read from the book really laid out this innovative method very clearly. It was interesting to see all of the different components that can be used (like the workshops, study groups, and conferences). I also liked seeing student work samples. But really I am very interested to see if and how this type of project can pan out in my classroom.
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Kelly, I enjoyed this reading too. The multigenre paper sounds more interesting than the traditional research paper. I like how you can pick your own topic and choose the genre to write. I believe as you said the students will totally immerse themselves in a project like this because it is something of interest and they can be creative.
So, I didn’t really think about it this way for some reason, but what I did my junior year was also a multigenre project as opposed to a traditional research paper. Ours was also like an “American Studies” class (combined English and history – we called it Paideia), and our research project was on a decade in American history. We created many different products that showcased the literature and major events, famous people, etc. in history for the time period, and just like you said, I remember it because I was really proud of what I did!