Long 1 Jonathan Long Professor Suzanne Ingram ENGL 1101 049 10 October 2013 High School Genre Analysis

s Numerous students in high school are required to complete a Senior Project mandated by the state of North Carolina. This assignment involves the writing of a research paper and a product, which must be completed under the supervision of a mentor. Many students procrastinate on this assignment and often become over-stressed, which makes their junior and senior year in high school sound merciless.

For the first part of the project, we are required to write an eight page research paper based on a controversial topic. This research paper is very similar to other papers of its kind through applying critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition. Research papers are used in a variety of disciplines such as education, scientific research, and business with the purpose to provide analytical facts or to argue a point on a controversial subject. A research paper can be difficult to write because in order to support an argumentative paper, the writer must provide viable real life facts that the reader or intended audience can relate to and question their own morals and views. A writer must use reliable sources and not base his/her argument on mere facts as this in return would not be considered a research based paper. The use of facts and research methods in the context of a research paper must be quoted to ensure protection of ones intellectual property. Educational institutions require that writers quote their sources and follow standardized methods of citing works.

Long 2 Since I have always enjoyed the concepts of evolving technologies, I decided to argue the point that everyone should know how to use technologies, such as computers and cell phones, through free educational classes across the United States. In order to backup my thoughts presented in the research paper, I boasted facts in regards to the benefits on the environment, educational benefits, equality, and other economical benefits. To promote the idea of equality, the text explains ...getting ready for the networked world creates new opportunities for firms and individuals in the developing world... and ...eliminates barriers that have traditionally stiffed flows of information and goods to and from developing nations... Rather then beating around the bush to explain ones view on the topic of technology, the text explicitly employs factual statements backed up by research methods, such as the decennial United States Census. To further persuade the reader, facts from the US Census such as ...the rate of growth of Internet adoption in the Unites States is currently two million new Internet users a month, with Internet use continuing to increase across income, education, age, race, ethnicity, and gender lines... are included to supplement explicit messages. Our papers were to be written to our panel of judges who decide our grades of the project, which also determines your opportunity to graduate. Although I wrote towards this specific group, I intended for a larger audience, such as the Cleveland County School Board to read the text as these officials have higher power to make changes within a community. When it comes to evaluating the text, I would consider it successful. Through the presentation of the research in a speech and a product, a new Moodle system was developed and deployed across high schools within the Cleveland County school district which allowed teachers to develop their own virtual learning environment and bridge the gap between learning on campus and learning back at home. College Genre Analysis

Long 3 Something new to me in this English course that I had never done in my academic career was blogging. When the assignment was first explained at the beginning of the course, I was a little nervous because I thought that I wouldn't know what I should write about but I have learned that this is not the case. Our professor provides us with a general topic in which we should discuss and relate to our past and present. I have liked blogging so far because it gives me the opportunity to write to myself how things are going in the course and ask questions.

The genre of blogging I have chosen to analyze is Directions for Blog Post #1, written by Ms.Ingram. Ms.Ingram wrote to her first year writing students requesting that they (a) practice having a curious and inquiring mind, a trait that will help you a lot in college, and (b) to make sure you understand the syllabus, your "roadmap" to the course. However, the author has a deeper purpose in mind. She would like to have her students to take in the key concepts of a first year writing course such as critical thinking, independent inquiry, responsibility for one's own learning as this could lead to their development of writing to be applied in later coursework. Not only should the student answer the questions explicitly stated in the prompt, they could also consider their own intellectual standings and see where they can improve. The text states make some inquiries about the key concepts...and the course themes, which is high school versus college. As the students write these blog entries for Blog #1 and other subsequent blogs, it is implied that they will develop deeper thoughts and inquiries about writing. The genre of blogging for academics in college or high school can be advantageous as it gives students the ability to reflect on their own learning and to give themselves a mental break away from writing long essays. Not only can it be a place to converse with other students, but it can also be a place to plea for help from your professor. But with advantages, there also comes

Long 4 limitations. For those that are less fortune, blogging may not be an option since it requires access to computers and the internet that some families and cultures cannot afford to have. This limits the audience of the author. The rules of the genre tend to by set by the individual themselves, since blogging is normally freelance writing. Some professors may provide specific guidelines of certain topics to hit, or a word count. In terms of successfulness, I believe this piece achieved its goal in getting first year writing students to begin to think critically about the course and how they could improve over time. Many students responded to this prompt with ideas of taking risks and asked other questions. Conclusion Throughout this course, we have been comparing our high school experience and knowledge against our forthcoming college experiences. So far, there have been countless differences academically, socially, and even physically. I consider the academics of college to be a lot more focused and to the point than that of my high school experiences. I become exposed to more genres of writing including technical writing and programming in my Computer Science classes, and blogging in my english class. The two genres I chose to analyze are vastly different when it comes to their purposes. One is aimed more towards gathering facts and presenting them or arguing a point whereas the other is based solely on the persons thoughts. Its aimed to allow the author to get their thoughts and questions down that usually are intended to be read by an audience and spark discussion. Both of these writings were written by myself in different academic settings aimed towards my instructors in the course, but each genre had another audience other than the instructor. I dont see many similarities in these two types of genre as they are completely different in their purposes and uses. However, both of these genres exists to assist students in their academic develop-

Long 5 ment. By writing a research paper, a student spends time becoming an expert on a concept being presented in a piece of writing. Blogging helps a student write about how things are going, ask questions, and rant on and on about their lives. When students are engaging into these two genres, they need to be aware of their specific purpose. Are they wanting to argue point, or just present facts in a clear and logical way? If so, proceed with writing a research paper. If you are looking to keep a journal as you develop in a course, or to communicate with your instructor or other students in a course, them begin and maintain a blog. Also, when blogging, do not limit your audience. These days, everyone is connected via the Internet. You never know who could come across you blog and would actually want to follow your thought process as you progress in your academic career. It could also be beneficial to keep an online portfolio that contains other genres that you may have written, such as the research paper, and publish those for others to see. Even though these audiences are so large, you still need to make sure that your text is focused on your intended audience so that you are not steering away from your general purpose. These two genres have informed me a bit more about what my college course work could be made up of. To be honest, I had no idea that I would be blogging as soon as I began my freshman year of college. I always viewed blogging as time consuming and potentially pointless if you did not have an audience to follow you and provide feedback. But now I see that this is not necessarily the case. All of our blog URLs are posted on our shared class website for not only one, but two classes to read and view. Anyone in these classes including the TAs and the instructor can view this blog, and comment to provide support and answer questions as needed. You fellow classmates could also receive ideas from reading others blogs to see the way they are working to perform well in the class.

Long 6 Another thing I have learned is the differences between high school instructors and college professors. I would consider college professors more strict as they are looking for specific things, and if you cannot reach those things, then oh well. High school teachers will baby you more to ensure you meet some goal, as it would look bad on them if you didnt. This assignment has helped me to cope with this change in teaching style. I have learned that when I am assigned a prompt, I need to consider several key questions to ensure that I am writing exactly what the professor wants such as knowing who the intended audience of the text is, knowing my specific purpose, the rules of this paper, and ensuring that my piece of text is successful in each of these aspects. If there is something that I dont quite understand, I shouldnt be afraid to ask clarification questions as a grade is at sake here.