Reference no: EM132167943

Question: Major Assignment: Genre Translation (2 Options)

OPTION 1

Part 1: For this assignment, we will be performing a genre translation inspired by Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. A genre translation involves taking a piece of writing and altering it for a different audience. You will begin by selecting either a newspaper article or advertisement that you find particularly compelling and translating it into a new genre. You have a lot of room to take this project in the direction of your choosing, but here are some helpful tips:

Make sure that the article or advertisement is long and detailed enough to provide you with adequate source material.

Look for articles or advertisements that effectively make use of rhetoric and successfully address their audience.

Pick something that you find interesting! If you're stumped, try Googling "News of the Weird."

Next, perform a genre translation. Take the facts and language from your article/advertisement and use them to construct a fictional story, poem, blog post, video, or even a visual art project*. Advertisements will likely lend themselves more easily to poetry, and newspaper articles to fiction. The only "rule" is that you must incorporate language and/or facts from your original source material.

*NOTE: If you would like to perform a translation with different genres, that is perfectly fine! Just make sure to run your idea by me first.

Part 2: After you write your translation, write a reflective argument essay that makes a case for how your translation effectively reaches your audience. Your essay should be centered around a thesis statement.

In the essay, you should discuss how you addressed the following rhetorical choices in your translation:

Why you chose the new genre; who is your target audience and how they would benefit from your genre translation

Content: what specific content from the original text you translated; if there are any parts that you didn't include in the translation, discuss why.

Rhetorical appeals: how you used logos, pathos, ethos, diction and tone in the translation. How is each piece part of a larger rhetorical ecology? What is the demand for this piece of writing?

Sentence structure and syntax: how they are effective for the new genre and audience

Logistics: Your translation and reflective argument essay altogether should be 5-7 pages in total with at least 5 full pages. The reflective essay should be a minimum of 4 pages. Page counts do not include bibliography.

Use 1-inch margins and 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced

Use MLA style for both in-text citations and works cited page.

OPTION 2: For this assignment, we will be performing a genre translation inspired by Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. A genre translation involves taking a piece of writing and altering it for a different audience. For this option, you will pick an existing genre translation (excluding In Cold Blood) and evaluate the effectiveness of each genre.

Step 1: Research existing examples of genre translation. This could be the translation of a book into a movie, a journal into a novel, a television show into a movie, a political moment into a visual art piece, a novel into an opera- and so many more. When you pick your genre translation, make sure each text is long enough or detailed enough for an in depth analysis.

Step 2: Perform an in-depth rhetorical analysis of each genre. If you are looking at a novel or film, you should begin by analyzing the entire novel/film as a whole. Then, pick approximately five scenes/points and perform a close, annotated reading.

Step 3: Evaluate each genre. How did each genre address the following rhetorical choices:

Why did the translator choose the new genre; who is their target audience and how would that audience benefit from the genre translation (i.e., what are the pros and cons of each genre?)

Content: What specific content from the original text was translated? Were there parts that were not included in the translation? Discuss why.

Rhetorical appeals: how did each genre use logos, pathos, ethos, diction and tone in their translation? How is each piece part of a larger rhetorical ecology? What is the demand for this piece of writing?

Sentence structure and syntax: how they are effective for the new genre and audience?

Step 4: Your essay should be centered around a thesis statement that makes a claim comparing each genre.

Logistics: Your essay should be 5-7 pages in total with at least 5 full pages. Page counts do not include a bibliography.

Use 1-inch margins and 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced

Use MLA style for both in-text citations and works cited page.

Skills Needed: - Perform a close reading on texts from various genres.

- Understand the conventions of different genres and how switch from one genre to another.

- Understanding of metacognition and creating a reflective argument

- Familiarity with various rhetorical devices

- Understanding of how to successfully use rhetoric to strengthen writing

- Having the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of a piece of writing

- Knowledge of how to summarize/quote/paraphrase