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