What Multigenre Writing looks like

Multigenre writing is all about breaking the rules of writing (while keeping a few intact so that the changes in writing are noticeable). It allows the writer a freedom not often seen in the classroom.

I took my multigenre assignment from Tom Romano’s book,
Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers, wherein he writes about this style of writing:

A multigenre paper arises from research, experience, and imagination. It is not an uninterrupted, expository monolog nor a seamless narrative nor a collection of poems. A multigenre paper is composed of many genres and subgenres, each piece self-contained, making a point of its own, yet connected by theme or topic and sometimes by language, images and content. In addition to many genres, a multigenre paper may also contain many voices, not just the author’s. The trick is to make such a paper hang together. (x-xi)

Therefore, this is not your average, boring, run-of-the-mill, five paragraph essay, but a series of interconnected pieces of writing of varying types sewn together to make a complete tapestry. It’s writing, but it’s more a work of art.

Consider the poem Romano wrote to discuss this type of writing:

DEFINITION OF MULTIGENRE IN THE SPIRIT OF MULTIGENRE

Multigenre pushes convention,
challenges “This is the way writing is done,”
and “Hey, wait a minute, you can’t do that
in a piece of writing.”

Multigenre speaks, “How come I read imaginative
literature but I have to write about it in an essay
that is thesis driven, argumentative, and exactly
five you-know-whats (each you-know-what, of course,
of the 3.8 variety), an essay in which the writer
overpowers readers, beats them
into submission, and concludes
with a summative you-know-what that restates the thesis?”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But writing that way is not what multigenre is about.
Multigenre removes the lid of Pandora’s Rhetorical Box.
Multigenre twirls you and spins you and you hope the steps
the writer asks you to follow lead to fulfillment.
Multigenre knows that feeling is first.
Multigenre grooves on pulse, has flushed cheeks,
hair on the back of the neck that stands on end.
Multigenre makes readers sit up in their chairs.
Multigenre is not roast beef; it is ciappino.
It is less like mashed potatoes,
and more like red beans and rice.

Tom Romano

I like the fact that Romano makes a point to discuss, if just for a moment, the fact that there’s nothing wrong with rules in writing, but that the true impact of our meaning gets lost if we’re focused only on rules.

Check out the Miami University of Ohio’s page on Multigenre writing, and make sure to click through to the section devoted to examples of multigenre research papers. It’s where I found this absolute gem I showed to my classes today, entitled: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Trip Down the Yellow Brick Road.

Download that document and read through it to find a thorough paper discussing the true story behind the making of The Wizard of Oz by utilizing a multitude of genres. You’ll see expository writing, photography, journals, poems, a hospital report, a scan of a playbill, and so on.

The trick of this type of writing is that not only does it give the author freedom, but it requires the reader to make connections across the text. It’s fun to explore this writing. Try out that Wizard of Oz paper to learn a few new things about the making of the movie.

While you’re at it, make sure you visit the Miami University of Ohio page for other examples of multigenre writing.

And keep in mind, these multigenre papers were used at the college level — so there’s no need to feel bad about using it in your own classroom

If I have any complaints, it’s that exactly half my classes loved the “Oz” paper. Half loved it, and half fell asleep, or complained the entire hour. Some found it useless to look at this paper as an example, and some found it necessary (because they asked at every page: “You mean I can use poetry in my paper?!?” “You mean I can write, like, fiction?!?”). Some took notes.

I think this assignment will lead to a success, but I’m a little worried that today’s lecture/expose/lesson was lost on a good deal of my students, and I can’t explain why that happened. (I really can’t.) It’s certainly not the “Oz” paper, because it’s a wonderful example.

I guess Monday we’ll see what the students can make from a series of notes and this strong example paper.