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