Multigenre+Research+Project




 * Directions:** //As a team, you will be responsible for compiling the information below about your inquiry strategy. Next week, your group will provide a 5-7 minute overview of your strategy for the class.//

Name and Description of your strategy (mention any variations of your strategy as well):

The Multigenre Research Project is a strategy that calls for students to "[select] their topics for research on the basis of interest alone" (Moulton, p. 531). By allowing students to choose their own topic, they create an invested interest in their project and really bring meaning into what they are researching. Once students have selected a topic, they are to answer some type of question they created or define an emotion or theme that they are researching. In order to complete this research, the student has to answer his or her question using different genres, or types of works. As in one of the examples given to our group, a student completed a multigenre project on Dracula. In her project, Ashley Srofer wrote a letter, created a concrete poem, wrote a newspaper, used a map, wrote a poem, an employment application, and more just to retell Dracula's story. The different genre pieces do not have to relate directly to each other, but they should all connect to the topic being researched. The great thing about a multigenre project is that it almost any type of genre can be used. Tom Romano required his students to write a brief informational essay, a fiction piece, a poem, and a visual element. Moulton introduces more types of genre in his article, such as eulogys, wedding invitations, receipts, and even trivia facts. This tool allows the student to be creative and to do something that he or she really loves. Students would benefit from being able to do this project either as a semester-long project or as a final project. (Jesse G.)

Inquiry Process associated with your strategy: For the Multigenre Research Project, the basic inquiry process is as follows: 1) The student picks a topic that is of significant interest to them, and narrows the topic down into guiding research questions. 2) They then begin researching the topic and investigating points that are of interest to them, and can help the student "say" what he or she wants to speak about the topic itself. 3) Finally, the student separates the research into different genres, and begins putting together a coherent project that highlights the overall topic and clearly shows where the student's interests lie within that topic.

A well-finished MG research project is an intricate and varied product that comes after a thorough process of topic research and appropriate student representation in the chosen topic. When looking over a MG research paper, the reader should be able to get a deeper understanding of the chosen topic **and** see the topic in the context that the student chose to do it in. Voice is very important in the MG project, as the foundation of it calls for students to complete it on a topic interesting to **them** and viewed through **their** eyes. The process, as a whole, is very individualized. Although the MG research project is technically a formal "paper", the fact is that it is so much more than words on a page. Instead, the MG project is culture, technology, human experience, and everything and anything else that can be thought of in the world today. The MG research project is physical, visual, emotional, mental, aesthetic, bold, sublime, and so much more. By its very nature, the MG research process is innately human, and it wonderfully allows for almost every genre of life to be incorporated into it. This is the real beauty of a Multigenre research project; its process involves choice, and its product is meaningfully human-oriented. (Ron O.)

Description of the Product or Products resulting from the inquiry process associated with your strategy: The basic feedback on the multigenre paper is interest, engagement, and meaningful learning among students. The 'products' will be varied due to the nature of the project; which in essence, is the beauty of the multigenre paper. Because choice is the deciding factor determining the outcome of the project, each student will have a different product, uniquely and creatively crafted to best represent the student's interest/research. Because "real life writing seems to be made up more of letters, memos, invoices, maps, recipes, directions"..etc, students are allowed to practice applicable genres of writing as such. Because "memos" or "directions" could be easily created without research, students are to create descriptive endnotes and bibliographies to show the teacher depth of knowledge for their particular subject of interest. By using the multigenre research paper, students "are also allowed to be creative by using forms other than academic writing, such as art, poetry, music, short stories and other creative styles of expression, (538)" which generate pride and ownership of the project as a whole. (Jessie J)

Descriptions of Examples and Links to examples when possible (when you include a link to an example, provide a brief annotation / description of the example -- not just a link): The Multigenre Reserch approach is just as it says it is; it explores several different types of genres to study a given topics. A few avenues that can be explored in a multigenre research project are: Friendship is seesaw Helping each other I'll give you titles In exchange for your loyalty All for our profit
 * Poetry: in this type of research the students can create their own poems based on the research that they have found or if the topic is permitting, find poems that others have produced that are relevant. Several different types of poems can be used such as the extended metaphor poem, the double voice poem, shape poems, acrostic and many others.
 * ex. One student researched Eleanor of Aquitaine and submitted the following extended metaphor poem:
 * Information on location: In this genre students can research the location, type of house, and even geography surrounding where their character lived. For example, when researching Dracula, Ashley Scofer submitted a map of proposed locations that Dracula had visited. The map was of Europe and included a key that showed the city Dracula visited, where his castle was, and Transylvania that was made famous by //Dracula//.
 * Journal entries: A classic way to get creative within a research project. The journal entries can be from major or minor characters and are a way to include relevant, historical facts, in the form of creative writing.The also are a great way for the researcher to insert the person they are researching point of view and voice in the entry. For example, when one student was researching the story of Miriam from the bible, she included journal entries that detailed her journey from slavery and oppression to freedom and joy.
 * ex. Excerpt from Miriam's Diary: //The God of our people has shown his hand. He has killed the first born of all the Egyptians. They died last night, quietly, while they were asleep. All their mothers went in this morning to wake them and...Pharaoh will now let us go. Go? Into the desert. Into starvation and uncertainty. It almost seems better to stay. t least we have food in our mouths and a roof over our heads, even if we are slaves. We leaving the morning.//
 * Recipe: One of my favorite genres that can be used in a multigenre research project is providing a pseudo-recipe. They are usually on intangible objects, and are not actual baking recipes. They are another way to add in facts that have been researched but in a creative manner. For example, one student researched the artist Rida Khalo. Rida's recipe was for happiness. Her recipe was as follows

1. One husband to large mixing bowl 2. Two cups of love 3. Three tablespoons of fidelity Compress with fork into a 9-inch pan. Set aside For filling add (in a seperate bowl): 1. Three cups of motherhood 2. A healthy body 3. Two tablespoons of warm paints 4. A sprinkle of joyful inspiration Blend with mixer on high speed for 2-4 minutes then pour over crust. Bake in overn for 18-20 minutes or until brown on top. Let cool for 20-30 minutes. Serves 5-6 people
 * Preparation:** Prehead overn to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
 * Directions:** For crust add:

Chef's Recommendation: For best taste, eat in the company of friends and family in Coyoacan, Mexico.
 * Photograph: The photographs in the research project also need to be accompanied by an annotation and a caption. The pictures can be real or fiction as well as the caption. For example, the student researching Frida Kahlo including real self-portraits painted by Kahlo and authentic captions explaining the different paintings. However, in the project on Eleanor of Aquitaine, there was a real picture of Eleanor's house but the annotation along with the photograph was fictional.
 * Factual/Real Document: When relevant and available, students can include a real artifact into their project. A lot of the examples provided were fictional but providing factual evidence gives the topic more clarity and legitimizes it as a research project. The factual documents can include, photographs, maps, other genres related to the topic. For example, the student research Dracula included a list of film adaptations of the novel __Dracula__ along with annotations of the various films. The student researching Miriam included quoted bible verses that provided rules that Miriam lived by. Another genre could be including a family tree of the person being researched like one included for Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Multigenre research can include a wide variety of articles to present the information discussed. The examples listed above are just a few ways in which the genres can be included. There is lots of room for open-ended creativity. Some other creative examples that can be used are: a job application of main character, transcript of interview with character, an obituary, and transcripts of vital or historic conversations.

Resources consulted related to your strategy:


 * Moulton, M. R. (1999). The multigenre paper: Increasing interest, motivation, and functionality in research. //Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy //, //42 //(7), 528-539.
 * Romano, T. (1995). // Writing with passion: Life stories, multiple genres. // Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.

1-2 additional inquiry-based learning strategies we like (name and describe briefly):