PB3A

     The academic publication I choose is called "Being Sane in Insane Places." In this experiment, psychologist D. L. Rosenhan makes the observation that when people with mental diseases are put into psychiatric hospitals, they will always retain the label that they are/were once 'insane.' Doctors tend to misdiagnose patients as they try to fit normal behavior into the symptoms of a proposed mental illness. He puts this idea to the test by gathering a group of 8 mentally stable people with normal lives to infiltrate wards around the States. Once admitted, these 'pseudopatients' will act completely normal and record their treatment from caretakers and doctors. The results seem to confirm that despite showing absolutely no signs of illness or abnormality, these individuals are still seen as sick and simply "in remission." 

     For translating the article into a different genre for a younger audience, I will direct it towards children around 6 years old. I think 'dumbing down' the article will be a good idea, so people in that range can relate to it easier. The topic of illness and labeling is also a heavy concept that may not be appropriate for the target age. The complex idea of sanity and insanity should be switched to the simple emotions of happy and sad. While there are multiple subjects in different places in the actual experiment, only one main character will be in the children's story to keep the plot easy to follow. 

     As for the actual genre, I want to translate the article into a fable of sorts, where there is usually a moral or lesson at the end. The sentence structure will be kept very simple. Maybe I can add some rhymes to it for more appeal. The sentences have to be far apart and supplemented with pictures, considering the relatively short attention span of a child. The setting of the plot can be two places: one seen as sad and the other happy. The main character, born bearing an insignia of the sad people, acts abnormally happy and is banished to the other realm. The happy people shun him for his gloomy markings before realizing that he is just the same as they are. The moral of the story would be that people should not judge others based on their origin and the environment they came from. This plot connects to the article's experiment through the idea of labeling (the marks on the main character) and how a label can cause people to make immediate assumptions/judgments about an individual. 

     For the genre towards an older audience, I think of people considered seniors above age 65. After reading the prompt, I pictured an old grandma in a rocking chair, fixated on a tabloid. Rather than moving towards the connotations of seriousness that most genres for older people seem to have, I want to translate the article into a genre that can still be taken lightly. A tabloid is usually in the form of a magazine, telling news by using sensational titles and stories to draw in people such as the poor gullible grandma. I will need to come up with a shocking title for the translation; it can be extremely exaggerated, worded in a skewed way, or even be false. As for the actual content, I should be very biased in my presentation of information by misrepresenting other sides of the argument. I can write in a way that may cause paranoia about whether people are really what they seem to be and make the grandma question her own sanity. By focusing on the mislabeling of individuals and stretching the truth, I can create a sensational story that inaccurately portrays information. 

Academic journal link: http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2384&context=lawreview

PB2B

     In the same way dancers have special "moves" they make on the stage to dazzle the audience, writers use personalized styles and techniques – these so called "moves" – that have a knack for shifting the tone and effectiveness of an essay. When studying rhetoric, students realize that almost everything an author writes can arguably be considered a move. Every individual has his or her own unique approach to creating a piece of writing. Be it big or small, these differences in moves can many times pull a reader's attention completely, or turn them away from the very start of the intro. In Dana Driscoll's informative essay "Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews," she teaches the reader how to conduct primary research. Kyle Stedman discusses proper source citing etiquette in his piece "Annoying Ways People Use Sources." While both writers do a good job of providing examples for the main topics of their paper, Stedman's use of a conversational tone and analogies makes his piece much more engaging and successful.

     A properly executed introduction sets the desired tone for the rest of the essay, as Stedman successfully does so in his paper. He begins the introduction with a short, strongly worded sentence: "I hate slow drivers"(242). While having absolutely nothing to with the actual contents Stedman wants to discuss, this quick and effective hook makes the reader want to continue reading, curious about what else the writer has to say about slow drivers. Stedman elaborates on his statement, which the reader quickly realizes is an analogy towards not following etiquette when citing sources. Additionally, Stedman refers to himself by using words such as "I" and "me." Conventional essays on academic topics usually do not use first person language; he has already set his own essay apart by using unexpected words. This is a good move in that it starts off with a personal opinion to create a conversational tone for the rest of the essay. In contrast, Driscoll doesn't begin her intro with a personal anecdote. Instead, she immediately starts talking about the concept of research in a formal and instructive tone. The rest of the essay retains a sense of formality, despite the use of first person pronouns such as "we." Of course, the effectiveness of a move depends on the audience's reaction to it. For someone who means business and wants to get to the point, Driscoll's paper would definitely be better. However, most students and casual readers prefer a lighter or more conversational tone, which is easier to follow and pay attention to. Therefore, Stedman offers a more successful essay. 

     Furthermore, Stedman's presentation of each source annoyance uses entertaining or relatable stories as analogies to explain each offense. While talking about a seemingly irrelevant tale, the author ends up presenting similarities of the experience with a reading situation. A short humorous scenario before introducing each section keeps the audience from having to read a continuous essay about a possibly boring subject. An example can be seen here, as Stedman talks about a spontaneous Spider-Man. "You're confused because he just dropped in and expected you to understand the context of what was on his mind at that moment, much like when readers step into a paragraph that begins with a quotation"(246). These situations also relate to the correlating annoyance by connecting them to human feelings, which helps the reader understand the issue better. After each annoyance, Stedman offers a fix for the problem. He clearly labels the section as "The Fix." This is a good move because it indicates what the author is going to address next and the reader would know what to expect. In contrast, with Driscoll using her formal tone, she presents ideas in a more informational and objective tone. Her transitions between subjects do not contain analogies as explanations. Instead, she gives the definition of the subject and aspects she will discuss, as seen here: "Interviews, or question and answer sessions with one or more people, are an excellent way to learn in-depth information from a person for your primary research project"(164). This can be argued as either a good or a bad move, depending on the purpose and intended audience of the author. If she wanted to write an objective paper that has a more academic and professional tone, then a direct introduction would be the right move. However, students who prefer a lighter read may turn away from this essay. Amusing stories are an effective way to keep a reader's interest, so Driscoll's essay may seem dull and less engaging. However, she writes a proper paper that fulfills its purpose of informing the audience on primary research. 

     As much as a paper's successfulness depends on the writing techniques of the author, it also reflects heavily upon the purpose and intended audience. A student looking into serious researching may not want silly anecdotes in the way of the actual information, whereas a student looking for casual/simple information may not want to read an unending string of academic material. 

PB2A

     As a genre bearing the unfortunate connotations of tedious reading and monotony, how can the tone of one scholarly publication possibly differ from another? One would think every scientist or researcher needs to write in a formulaic way that offers no leeway for personal style or opinion. Surprisingly, even in peer-reviewed research articles, the writer's style can greatly influence the tone and atmosphere of a paper. The online SCIgen generator creates random scientific journals. These articles can not be accessed again due to the randomization, but they all contain the expected conventions of academic writing."Community College Men and Women: A Test of Three Widely Held Beliefs About Who Pursues Computer Science" is a paper found in the UCSB library that records the results of a survey on gender and the computer science major. The SCIgen and computer science social relations articles both share many conventions of a scholarly publication, but the latter offers a much more reader-friendly style that reaches out towards an audience less experienced in reading scientific papers. 

    Although the SCIgen article focuses on the actual technical aspects of a discipline while the computer science major article focuses more on the social relations to it, they are both still research papers that share a variety  of rhetoric techniques geared towards an academic audience. Everyone has access to these publications, but of course these types of writings are not meant for mere entertainment or amusement. As scholarly writings, these papers contain copious amounts of scientific jargon. To the average person unfamiliar with the involved field of study, these words mean nothing, and will leave the reader confused and disoriented. Only an audience experienced in the specific discipline would understand all the vocabulary that no other field uses. The writers have tailored the papers with the assumption that their intended audience already has a deep understanding of the topic.  Both papers contain a title and an abstract at the beginning to serve as an intro to the experiment. The abstract - a short paragraph that gives a little background info on the experiment topic - also summarizes the purpose, procedures, and sometimes the inspiration behind the research. Almost all research articles contain an abstract, so it is a good indicator of this particular genre. The following table of contents allows for easy navigation when the reader wants to move quickly to a certain part of the page. The labeled sections give off a sense of organization. Both of the articles have graphs and charts, visually presenting data collected during the experiment. A reader can quickly compare or refer back to data in these tables. At the end of the paper is a list of references, as expected for scholarly publications. These references give credit to original writers who recorded information mentioned in the article, showing that it is a legitimate scientific work where the author has put in lots of research and effort. 

        The article on gender and choosing the computer science major uses a few more rhetoric techniques that clarify and give a better understanding of the experiment. Before the authors dive into the actual contents of the experiment, they provide a list of keywords. The entire paper revolves around these main phrases. Together, the words provide a clue of what the article will be about. The audience can construct a general idea of the experiment's purpose by relating the given terms. Acronyms such as CIS (computer and informational sciences) are explained, which makes this article much reader-friendly and understandable if the audience is unfamiliar with jargon. Before writing the explanation of the methods used, the authors show a few questions and claim that they have been the inspiration for the experiment. Now that the readers have context, they have an idea of the importance behind the paper's data and realize that the research extends to other works. Additionally, the actual questions of the survey in the experiment are provided. Not only does this clarify and directly show how the authors proceeded with the experiment, but the reader also has a chance to criticize or find flaws in the wording. The authors of the computer science major beliefs article present a couple paragraphs that discuss the importance and application of the experiment findings in society.  By explicitly explaining the implications, the writers can tell the audience why and to whom the research matters. 

     

Link to Article: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=d54c3689-05b4-4af6-87c3-2f57b204f759%40sessionmgr115&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=99149684&anchor=AN0099149684-21

PB1B

    Genre generators provide a large range of various writings, from long scientific papers to short comical phrases. 

    The computer science research paper generator offers a much more academically focused genre of writing. Researchers and students are most likely the intended audience. With no color or fancy framing, the paper starts off immediately with the title and author(s), while an abstract helps give background and goals for the following research. The table of contents organizes the sections and an introduction familiarizes the reader with history of the topic. Throughout the rest of the paper, the authors add in charts and graphs, labeled and dotted to provide visual data they have collected. They point out the experiment procedures and carefully explain any results and problems along the way. References to other studies end the research paper, after the conclusion to the experiment. The authors make sure they give credit where it is due, following proper scientific and writing etiquette.

     At first glance, the research paper is unappealing to the eye. With no colors or pictures, this genre is obviously meant to distribute and record information; the casual reader looking for entertainment would not be interested. The objective writing filters out any statements based on opinion, leaving only pure facts and data from observation. All of these conventions factor together to give a sense of credibility for the paper. 

     The meme and comic generators are vastly different in comparison to the research paper genre. Memes have no individual title and are identified by the picture label. The pictures can be of anything, but captions will usually frame it from the top and bottom. The phrases depict a humorous situation or tell an intriguing statement related to the corresponding picture. Anyone can make a meme, as long as they have internet access and a way to publish it. Since they are only one panel and don't continue the story on another slide, they are more geared towards those looking for simple or mindless entertainment. The bored web surfer may enjoy looking through pages of memes.

     The comic generator presented in this assignment offers an unusual aspect. This time, people do not create the content themselves. Simply by clicking 'generate', three panels of comics appear in no specific order. The comic writer created numerous individual panels and used a program that would pick them out with no particular order. Due to the nature of random mixing-and-matching, most results make no sense and are completely absurd. Each panel features the same two characters, interacting either verbally or physically. No context or history of the characters is provided, but the reader can infer the tone or style simply by knowing the artist's other works. Despite the cartoon style of drawing, the artist portrays violent or dark humor, sometimes involving blood and vulgar content. The audience probably consists of older, mature, and bored people, as these comics are inappropriate for children. This comic generator serves no practical purpose and probably acts as a little project for the artist himself. Comic readers that stumble upon the generator may entertain themselves with it for a few minutes. 

     Even though the given genres are only three in a countless list, learning to analyze and identify conventions can be applied to all writings. These generator websites may seen to give out random articles, but they are using a very specific formula. By studying and comparing the different genres, a person finds that specific genres have certain conventions to set them apart from one another. A proper research paper would not consist of just a few phrases and a meme would be better off without an abstract. No one looking for entertainment wants to stare at a wall of text. Intended audience, purpose, and tone can all determine the effectiveness of a piece of writing. 

http://writingexercises.co.uk/index.php

http://www.plot-generator.org.uk/

The links above generate prompts and story plots, either randomly or using keywords. The plot generator offers filters so the writer can tailor the given prompt to specific story genres such as fantasy, crime, or even freestyle. 

PB1A

Few genres of writing have features as visually appealing and attention-grabbing as the comic book. For the past few decades, a rise in the production of comics has captivated both young and old generations. Many people can recall the marvel of entering a book store to see piles upon piles of comics, offering an adventure in each with a smell of fresh paper print. 

      What makes a comic book any different from other kinds of writing? The drawings on each page immediately come to mind. In fact, the pictures take up more space than the wording. Vivid colors and visual detail replace the need for a description, which can turn an otherwise dull read fast-paced and to-the-point. Comics may not be the best source of writing for those who want to be fully immersed and engaged with the plot. Visuals serve as a supplement to the script. Of course, a narration may be occasionally used to clarify the plot, but for the most part, words make up the dialogue or actual plot development. Comics are also  home to the iconic sound effects, such as 'POW' when punch lands or 'BOOM' when an explosion happens. These short little onomatopoeias fill up a large portion of a panel, popping out of the page for extra visual effect.

     

     Besides being in books, comics may also be shown as strips, lined up in rows of panels in a newspaper section. Many can relate to the feeling of excitedly flipping through a newspaper, ignoring all the news and politics to stop at a page fully dedicated to cartoons and laughs. These individual strips provide a short story through just a few boxes, enough to pass off a joke or absurd situation. For the casual reader, comics provide an amusing, sometimes whimsical story and perhaps a quick little escape from reality. In contrast, comics can come in long series, requiring many books to tell a story. Comics have gained such a huge fanbase that there are whole stores that focus on selling and displaying.These are often directed towards a more committed audience where reading comics may even be their hobby. For the committed enthusiast, comics mean more than just pretty pages with a little action packed fiction. They take pride in owning a rare edition. They collect; the stash would be boldly and openly displayed or perhaps kept in a locked room for the owner's eyes only. But these are the extreme cases. 

     Even in comic books themselves, there are varied topics and genres. People typically associate comics with superheroes and villains, cutting out many other well-known titles such as the Peanuts or Calvin and Hobbes. These types of comics generally incorporate a realistic setting with everyday situations that may be more emotionally relatable. They set a lighter mood by adding jokes and taking out intense violence seen in action comics. Children can enjoy these books simply by looking at the bubbly artwork, while an older audience can appreciate the subtle satire or mature joke that the author slipped in. 

About Me

Hey there, reader! My name’s Herman Cai. You can look me up on Google, but all you’ll find will be pictures of a black man with a creepy smile and accusations of naughty behavior. So here’s a little introduction of me. 

Born in China, I moved to San Francisco at the ripe age of 4, resulting in a very whitewashed kid stuck in heavily traditional Chinese culture. Now what’s a Chinese kid doing with a name like Herman? I asked myself that very question. Was I named after the writer Hermann Melville, or perhaps some powerful Nazi general? Nope. I got the name because it sounded like my Chinese name. Thanks, mom. 

Reading and Pokemon were my life during my elementary years. I loved staying at home reading about dragons and how I gotta catch them all^TM. High school timed nicely along with my blunder years, resulting in magnificently failing to talk to girls and taking hilariously whacked out ID photos. These times are over, I hope, but my current access card photo likes to say otherwise.   

In order to feel like I wasn’t just gathering dust sitting at home, I joined cross country, track, and a couple volunteering clubs. I had my good memories with all of this, but I eventually quit each one. Looking back, I never was one to be committed to a cause. Lessons on piano and violin went straight out the brain drain in just a years time, but I'm holding on trying to self-teach guitar. 

As for now, I’m a scrawny undeclared freshman walking among adults who sound like they have their whole life completely planned out ahead of them. Just the other day, I heard some guy in the dining commons say he wanted a mansion with a winery basement and a field of the ‘herbs.’ With no particular job in mind, I hope I’ll end up with something I enjoy doing everyday while still making it rain the cash-money.