Shein 1 Sydney Shein English 1101-049 Professor Ingram October 11, 2013 Genre Study Analysis PART 1 In the

high school class of IB biology, each student is required to complete two Internal Assessments (IA for short), in the form of a lab report, in order to complete the course. IB stands for international baccalaureate. The IB program is a system of classes that require a higher level of thinking and an IA to be completed for the time spent in the course. The purpose of the IA is for students to create their own lab that studies an aspect of biology learned in class, to accurately record the data, and manipulate the data accordingly in order to evaluate the results. The IA contains three sections within it. These sections are the design, data collection and processing, and conclusion and evaluation. The rubric for the IB biology IA is further broken down from within those sections into three aspects within each section. For each aspect, an IA can receive complete, partial, or no credit. These coincide, respectively, with the point values of two, one, and zero. In my senior year of high school, in IB biology, I completed two IAs that were graded according to this rubric. I would classify the IA rubric as a lab report grading scale genre. This genre has a very formal tone to it. The text is very direct and to the point with no added details or frill. The genre tells the readers the bare essentials to know and nothing extra. Writings within the genre are meant to serve as guidelines for grading for the grader and for a basis of knowledge of what is expected of the assignment for the student. The lab report grading scale genre can be found

Shein 2 within the classroom of certain subjects such as the sciences. This genre may also be found in certain workplaces, such as a research laboratory, where lab reports are written and haven guidelines to abide by. A limitation of this genre is that there is no room for the authors creativity. Further, another limitation is that although teachers use the same rubric to grade, each one can interpret it and grade differently. The author also has no room to add in their own opinions within this genre because it is extremely factual and to the point. An advantage the author has by choosing this genre is that it conveys the authors points in a clear, concise manner. For example, to receive complete credit under the controlling variables aspect within the design section, a student must design a method for the effective control of the variables. In this sentence, what is needed is for complete credit is explicitly stated and easily understood which is a major advantage. The genre is advantageous to students because it allows them to see how their teacher will be grading their work. Within the lab report grading scale genre, the rules are set by the person or people employing the author to create the rubric. The IB Biology IA rubric is a quintessential part of making the IA a worthwhile and fairly graded assignment for students. The rubric is written by and approved by those who run the IB program. Its important that those who run the IB program create the rubric because then all those who write an IA for IB biology are subjected to the same grading scale and there is a reduced amount of grading bias on the behalf of the teacher. The whole purpose of having an IA rubric is so that all teachers use the same rubric and have the same grading guidelines. This is an attempt to create consistency for teachers and students who are a part of the IA. Also, the IA rubric is important to students because they will know how they are going to be graded prior to beginning the assignment and can work accordingly to the guidelines to ensure they get the grade they want. The rubric has value for many reasons. By having a universal IA rubric, all students

Shein 3 participating in the IB biology course are graded by the same scale. The rubric gives power to the students by allowing them to see how they will be graded. The rubric helps to eliminate some biases of teachers by giving them guidelines to grade by and not allowing them to create their own, biased rubric. Although it is not possible to eliminate all biases from teachers grading, the rubric is a good start to trying to limit bias. The rubric is representative of the IB program. It is, therefore, written to such a degree that the IB program feels is adequate to suffice their standards and uphold the program name. The students and teachers of the IB biology classes are the intended audience of the IA rubric. They are the ones who will be actually be using the rubric for its purpose; as a guideline for grading. However, the author is also, most likely subconsciously, making the audience to be those higher up within the IB program that must approve the rubric before it is used. Proof of this can be seen in the formal text used throughout the rubric that for a student may be slightly confusing. For example, in the design portion, to receive partial credit the student, formulates a problem/research question that is incomplete or identifies only some relevant variables. The tone of the text is extremely formal with high-level intellect, concise statements that are eloquently written. The reason behind this is because the author must impress the higher powers within the IB program for the rubric to be approved and used. Looking at the text of the rubric, the boxes explicitly state the requirements to receive complete, partial, or no credit. By doing this, the rubric tells the reader what is correct or incorrect within an IA. The rubric is clearly broken down into the three sections and thus, all IAs should correspond correctly. By meeting the requirements within a box, the IA will garner the points assigned to that particular box. Under the surface, the IA rubric implies that there is no room for gray areas. An IA can only receive two, one, or zero points per aspect. By not having

Shein 4 the option of receiving half or quarter points, the rubric becomes extremely black and white and leaves no room for possible in-between situation. Because this is the rubric endorsed by the IB program, it can be understood that this is the only accurate and accepted grading scale. This implies that other rubrics are not as valuable as the one from the IB program. I believe the IA rubric is a truly successful example of its genre. The rubric is formal and to the point just like all writings within the genre should be. The rubric is simple and therefore creates an understandable, usable basis for grading. No matter the audience, the rubric is successful and able to be understood. PART 2 When working in a medical profession, the patient is the number one priority. As a nursing major, I know in order for a nurse to accurately record a patients treatment, a care plan is an essential part of a nurses job. A care plan is, basically, a compilation of notes of how the team of nurses are planning on caring for the patients ailment or disease. In a care plan, the patient and staff are able to review progress and see what treatments are available in an organized, easy to understand way. A care plan consists of a table with four columns and a spot at the top for the patients diagnosis. The four columns are the date, the expected outcomes, the treatments/interventions, and the evaluation. Nurses are able to write within the columns and take notes about all things related to the progress and treatment of the patient. Nursing care plans can be classified under the treatment plan genre. The rules of this plan, made by the facility using the plan, include having an easy to understand system, using formal diction, and keeping the wording concise. This genre can exist in any medical field or setting. Hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and counseling centers are a few, specific examples of where the treatment plan genre would be found. A downfall of this genre is there is no room for

Shein 5 long, detailed sentences. However, the genre is a great method for jotting down quick notes, which is important for a nurse because nurses are very busy actually taking care of patients and do not have the time to spend writing a lot of detailed sentences. For example, a nurse can easily jot down a patients vital signs, like for this cystic fibrosis patient, BP 130/80, HR 105, Temp. 100.5, blood glucose 90, Oxygen saturation 92% on 3.5 L nasal cannula, and respiratory rate 21. The nurse now has all of this patients vital signs in one location and there was minimal writing or effort involved in recording this. Because of this, the nurse now has more time for his or her other duties. Care plans are advantageous in the sense that they are a safety net for nurses if they were ever wrongfully accused of something. Also, care plans are a good, understandable form of communication between staff and staff or patient and staff. The template for nursing care plans is generated by the medical facility in which they are being used. However, the nursing staff completes the care plans. Care plans have the obvious audience of nurses, but other staff members, patients, and patients families are all also the audience of care plans. Nursing care plans are an essential part of a nurses job. Like within any medical profession, nurses have to be extremely good at recording their steps on paper so as to have documentation for defense against being sued or having lawsuits brought against them or the facility in which they are employed. Therefore, medical facilities create and circulate the templates of care plans for their nurses to write in. Care plans are so vital to a nurses job because they record everything the nurse does or plans on doing. For example, with a cystic fibrosis patient a nurse writes, the nurse will perform every 4 hours chest physiotherapy. The nurse will teach the patient how to perform effective coughing techniques daily. This quote shows how, within a care plan, a nurse accurately records, literally, everything they do and how

Shein 6 by writing everything down, a nurse creates a safety net for him or herself. Care plans are seen by nurses, other staff members, patients, and other patients families and therefore, the whole purpose behind them is to have a systematic and organized way of documenting the care a nurse gives to a patient and have the ability to share it amongst the audience. Care plans explicitly state what treatments have been applied to the patient in the past and which treatments are future options. Implicitly, however, the care plan states the progress of the patient. The progress can be seen by the nurse because of the notes written in the evaluation column. From there, the nurse can tell if the evaluation is positive or negative. Also, by writing in the care plan, nurses are implicitly saying they followed their own written word. This document is important because of the organization it creates and for there to be a unanimous care plan for nurses to use. Care plans hold value because they are the testimony for what a nurse did or did not do. They are an important part of a nurses defense if he or she were sued. Also, there is value in its ability to be shared with the patient and the patients family. I believe nursing care plans are a successful representation of the treatment plan genre. They are the basis of organization for nurses and their notes. Also, the care plans allow for good communication among staff members and to patients, which is a very important part of nursing. No matter the audience, because of its simple format and ability to be well understood, the care plan is successful universally. PART 3 For my two genre analyses, I analyzed the IB Biology IA rubric for my high school genre and a nursing care plan for my college genre. The IA rubric falls under the lab report rubric genre, while the nursing care plan is a part of the treatment plan genre.

Shein 7 Because nursing care plans and IA rubrics are very different texts, falling under unrelated genres, comparing and contrasting the two is difficult. There are few similarities and differences that are easily found. Within the two genres and texts, some similarities are apparent. Both the treatment plan and lab report rubric genre are used in a science related way. The treatment plan genre is used within a medical setting, while the lab report rubric genre is used within a science classroom or a research lab. Both the IA rubric and the nursing care plan give a sense of security to the people using them. The care plan provides security because it is the written word for the actions that have taken place and is testimony for what occurred within the care of the nurse. The IA rubric provides security for students because they will have written guidelines to follow and complete their lab report according. Both texts also have similar rules. They both use formal diction with concise sentences. They both contain short sentences or even just fragments of sentences. Also, the IA rubric and the nursing care plan both have the same purpose of providing unification throughout a large group and providing security for the parties involved. However, the uses of the two different genres and texts vary greatly. The treatment plan genre is more of an organizational tool than the lab report rubric genre. It holds the plans for treatments and keeps all the notes in one, secure place. The lab report rubric genre, on the other hand, is a system of grading. In order to be successful in the treatment plan genre, I would suggest keeping all sentences short and using formal diction. This is important to do so all audience members have the ability to understand the care plan. Also, I would suggest that within the genre, it would be helpful to really know your audience because the author might need to change their diction depending upon who will see the document. In the lab report rubric genre, to be successful, the

Shein 8 author should be very direct and keep their sentences short. Also, they should focus on using vocabulary that is widely understood because many people, of all different levels, will be using the text. From writing the genre analysis essay, I have gleaned a lot about genres. When studying the two different genres, I have noticed that although the genres may be different, I can find many similarities between them and there tends to be widespread trends within all genres. This assignment has taught me a lot about the actual act of analyzing genres. My method of analyzing genres is, now, to analyze sections of the texts first, then the whole text, and then to make connections throughout the whole text. This system works for me because it helps me to break down the difficult texts into understandable portions. This assignment has helped me to grasp the concept and importance of genre and I know I will be using this gained knowledge in the future.