This week I needed to choose a Genre and make it my unifying genre. I did not have one piece that brought everything together, and contained links to the other pieces. So, I had already mentioned in the e-mail exchange (genre 4) a few of the other genres and I decided that it would probably be the easiest one to revise and turn into a unifying genre. I used the SCAR revising method, or atleast most of it. The S is for substitute, C for cut, A for add, and R for rearrange. I think I use this method automatically anytime I revise a piece of work, but I have never written about my revisions in this manner.
- I substituted words throughout the piece to make the e-mails more personal in some places and more to the point in others. I had also used some words that I simply didn’t like or happened to think of another word that sounded better. I’ll probably be changing words until the project is due.
- I didn’t cut anything out. I needed everything in the e-mail that I already had, and then some, to create the unifying genre.
- I added many things. I had to add sentences that contained some kind of reference to the poem, pod cast, webliography, and journal entry genres. I had to work them into the message in a meanigful way so that it didn’t take away from what I was trying to say with the piece. I struggled with the piece being too “wordy”. As I added things I felt like the e-mails were becoming too long so I tried to keep most things short and too the point. I also added links to the corresponding pages so that will be easy for viewers to look at those pages. I chose the words such as writing for poem and journaling for the jounral entries and made them the links to the poem and journal entries genres.
- I rearranged a few things. As I added the new sentences about the other genres the piece didn’t flow well. So, I did some rearranging but nothing major. I found myself throwing things in in randon places and it sounded like I had just thrown it together which is not what I want. I took the time to arrange the piece and add things to make it make sense and sound like something that these two people may have actually written to each other.
My original idea for this piece was not changed and the revisions that I made were not so drastic that it looks and sounds like something completely different. What I had the most trouble with was including everything while making sure that it was realistic. It’s hard to have so much information in the piece and still make it sound like a true e-mail exchange. The same goes for all of the genres. I have really tried to put myself in my family’s and SLP’s shoes so that these genres say everything that I need them to, but also reflect something real. As for this piece, I am pleased with the changes and I think that it turned out to be a nice unifying genre.
