Entry #11

Overall, the genre presentations were helpful for me. The format of Tompkins and how each person created their lesson helped me truly analyze the components of each genre. I am taking away new tidbits of knowledge about each genre we explored. I learned that journal writing can have different purposes. I generally thought journalling was best used for reflection of a reading. But Dr. Jones’ presentation reminded me that simulated journal entries can be of great value for students. In addition, I now understand the difference between an autobiography and a personal narrative more clearly than I did before. I guess I never realized there was a difference in the first place. I just lumped them both together. As for expository writing, I really enjoyed exploring different books through their text structures. I also found the multi-genre piece that Tompkins highlighted to be very exciting. Students would likely gain more knowledge about a topic by completing a multi-genre assignment than simply writing an essay. Similar to expository writing structures, students benefit from understanding story grammar. I was familiar with the persuasive genre because I had previously taken rhetoric courses, but did not have any ideas on how to work with students with it. I think persuasive posters are a fantastic way to introduce students to the art of persuasion. Once students are familiar with the components needed to persuade, then they can move to writing persuasive letters and essays.

The poetry genre and descriptive writing are closely linked in nature. I learned a lot about different poems to use with students. I didn’t realize how easily accessible many of the poems can be for students. Like I mentioned in a previous entry, students would have a blast identifying the different types of poems. Heather’s descriptive writing presentation shed light on the fact that it is not quite a genre in itself. Instead, descriptive writing is a component that many genres incorporate, such as narrative and poetry. I learned that to truly be descriptive, one needs to look at the essence of an object or thing and highlight that in their writing.

One thing I’ve noticed is that many of the genres seem to have overlapping components. Tompkins would agree that understanding the structure of a text greatly increases the chances of comprehension for students. I think understanding the structure and the components can only aid students in their reading and writing in each genre.

Before class, I thought I had a good understanding of many of the genres, for instance narrative, expository, and persuasive. I still think I have a strong understanding of these genres however, my understanding has widened to working with students effectively. Sometimes, I have felt in classes where we learned about these genres that what to do with students was missing from the conversation. Now, I have a good idea of different activities that highlight the intricacies of each of the genres. I think one of my greatest gains in knowledge and confidence about the genre is in poetry. Starting a poetry unit can be vast and overwhelming because there are so many different avenues one can go. Tompkins and Sophia’s presentation gave me a tool-kit of the different types of poems that students can study.

I think I have gained more confidence in my understanding of each genre since the presentations. I already had a basic understanding of each of the genres, due to being an English major in my undergrad. The presentations reminded me of the components in each genre and offered fantastic opportunities to highlight the importances of each genre with students.

Believe it or not, the one genre that still intimidates me is narrative. It’s almost humorous but I have had the least amount of time working with a narrative genre in my own writing. College offers writing opportunities for expository essays and even reflections, but not so much for personal narrative pieces. It could simply be a result of less time to read for myself, since I usually read narrative. I guess its also related to how I haven’t had the opportunity to teach students a narrative text, that alone makes me less comfortable when thinking about working with students. Anyway, I have gained a greater appreciation for each genre and understand much more about each individual component about each genre.