Braun

Ryan Braun
December 7,2015
Simpson Writ 2
WP 3 Revision for Portfolio
Genre Translation:
December 1st, 2015
Wendy Darling
34 Stockholm Lane
Nighthawk, London, ENG, 123456
Miss Emm Simpson
South Hall 5432
Goleta, CA, USA, 93117
Dear Emm,

I am a bit sorry about missing class the other day. It was inevitable for me to partake in this
journey as I was practically kidnapped. In hindsight, the adventure taught me a lot about who I
am becoming as a young lady and transformed me into a more civil and mature student. In the
classroom you should expect an increased level of professionalism, leadership and dedication to
learning.
Although my absence from your class came at an inopportune time, I feel as if the reasons
regarding my departure justified my mistake. The day before my thirteenth birthday, Peter Pan
was searching my house for his shadow my dog had stolen. Wearing olive green trousers, the
young lad flew into the room, going much too fast for his abilities, creating a commotion and
waking my brothers and I. In a blur of events, Peter Pan used faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie
dust
I solemnly swear that I was taken against my will and I was helpless in joining Peter. I was
scared of the dangers Peter posed, being the adventurous young lad. I learned that to die would
be an awfully big adventure. I do not necessarily understand what happens when you die, but

Braun 2

someone in Neverland suggested it was quite an adventure.The entire altercation was a blur,
leaving me emotionally torn and physically forced to leave for Neverland.
Instantly chaos struck when we arrived, because Tinker Bell got jealous of Peter and I and tried
turning the Lost Boys against me. According to Tinker Bells false orders, Peter ordered the boys
to shoot [Wendy] down. By golly it was exhilarating, but I thought the boys had gone bonkers.
Peter, the studly young chap he was, swept me up and set me down, introducing me to the
apologetic Lost Boys. You would have loved the Lost Boys as they dressed like rabbits, foxes,
squirrels and skunks.
Peter heroically saved Tiger Lily from Hook and his crew and returned her her thankful Indian
family. The Indians had previously captured my brothers and the Lost Boys, but instantly
released them in return for Tiger Lily. We learned the legend of the Red Indian andhis chronic
blushing dilemma. However, the happiness of the group did not last long as Peter became cranky
and unfair when I asked to return to London. Peters immature swing of emotions caused me to
storm from his cave, searching for my own way home.
Hook captured my brothers and I on our way trek, but a distraught Peter felt bad for the earlier
incident and rescued us. In the process, he embarrassed Captain Hook in a sword fight, calling
him a catfish and feeding him to the hungry alligator.

I was already in a hurry, but there was no time for celebration, as Peter quickly returned me to
London. I woke up early in the morning to type you this letter.

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I had an extremely fun time in Never Land and would be heartbroken if I lost credit for class
yesterday. It was the experience of a lifetime and I will never get the opportunity again. The day
forced me to mature, completely redefining my moral compass and commitment in the
classroom.
Please, I am begging you not only for me, but for my dog Nana, my thirteenth birthday and all
the little Lost Boys dressed as animal, please excuse my absence. After all, a little olive dressed
lad once told me, dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. I really wish you could
have experienced the eye opening revelations I witnessed. Learning from a spiritual sense
becomes accessible when you forgo on an adventure like that and think of all the joy youll find
when you leave the world behind. I am extremely sorry again. I truly am Emm.

Sincerely,
Wendy Darling

Braun 4

Revised WP 3

The persuasive letter above is littered with endless evidence tying it back to the childrens
animated fairytale movie Peter Pan1 written and produced in 1953 by Disney. Many different
rhetoric devices are analyzed in order to perfect a genre translation from its structure, tone,
pathos, logos and discourse community. The first idea to understand is the dialect used by the
writer of the letter, Wendy Darling. In the beginning of the movie, Wendy is a twelve year old
adolescent with a vivid imagination and an adventurous wild side.3 However, the progression of
events causes a seismic shift in Mollys character arc as she begins to venture into adulthood. As
a result, Mollys vocabulary in the letter is more elevated than that of a twelve-year-old her age,
as she uses the words, revelation, and vengeance, displaying her transfer into adulthood.
Darling speaks in the past tense to reflect her profound knowledge regarding the events of her
situation. She speaks in an assured, matter-of-fact tone in order to persuade the reader and avoid
confusion.
Essentially every effective piece of persuasion uses logos to convince the reader with
logic and facts. Logos is defined as an appeal to logic and is a way of persuading an audience
by reason.4 In Mollys case, the events transpired were in fact real, but from the teachers
perspective, the information is surreal. In order to convince the teacher of her sanity and further
solidify her argument, Wendy needed an effective means of persuasion like logos.
Wendy required an extra ingredient of persuasion to strengthen her case, using pathos to
appeal Emms emotion. The rhetoric device pathos is defined as, a way of convincing an

1
Peter Pan. Directed by Clyde Geronimi. USA: Walt Disney, 1953. Film.
3
"Wendy Darling." Disney Wiki. Accessed December 2, 2015.
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Wendy_Darling.
4
"Examples of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos." YourDictionary. Accessed December 2, 2015.
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-ethos-logos-and-pathos.html.

Braun 5

audience of an argument by creating an emotional response.5 By supporting her case with

multiple elements of persuasion, Wendy is able to cleverly dissect her teachers doubts,
exploiting them and efficiently proving her case.
Perhaps the most effective writing strategy behind a persuasive letter is the writers
ability to simplistically structure their piece with a beginning, middle and end. This concise
structure enables the teacher to carefully follow the chronology of the story, increasing her
knowledge of the story and adding credibility. This ties back to McLouds article from our class
reader titled Writing with Pictures in which there is a fine line between presenting an idea in a
clear fashion with the necessary details (187).6 In this instance, Wendy includes nearly all the
details of her trip to back up her case. Furthermore, Wendys piece has a lot of transitions in
paragraphs, once again contributing to how clearly the information is conveyed. Wendy leads
with a simple explanation of her unexpected departure, as Peter used a little bit of good thought
and pixie dust to fly us to Never Land, catalyzing the events of the story. The middle of the
letter is abundant with writing strategies like logos to compel the teacher and clearly convey the
argument. The letter concludes with Wendys pathos, essentially her final plea in a desperate
attempt for her absence. The letter also includes the essential formatting requested by multiple
sources so that the sender is listed with information, followed by the receiver and then the letter
itself.
The audience pinpointed throughout the course of the persuasive essay is Emm, my
Writing 2 instructor. Since the audience is not general, but extremely specific, Wendy is required
to delve into the interests of Miss Emm. According to the Department of East Asian Languages

5
i.e.
6
McCloud. Writing with Pictures. Emm's WRIT 2 Reader, 2015. 187.

Braun 6

and Cultural Studies at UCSB, Emm has a profound interest in Japanese mythology and Asian
folklore7 as well as spending time with dogs and cats. Knowingly, the clever Wendy Darling
implemented dog and cat costumes for the boys in her letter to emotionally appeal to Emm. In
the opening scene of the movie, Wendys dog Nana clumsily stutters across the room carrying a
tray of tonic water. The amount of dogs and cats throughout the story makes this a perfect genre
fit for Emm. Although folktale is a very broad genre, I purposely selected Peter Pan to increase
Emms interest. Wendy and I gathered information surrounding our very specific discourse
community of Emm so that the information gathered could be carried over into the persuasive
letter addressed to Emm.
The movie was released in 1953 as a Disney animated film, clearly classifying it in the
fairy tale genre. From folkloric characters that teach the protagonist a message to the clumsy but
lovable animals, Barries film has every convention of a fairy tale. Magic enchantments are
present throughout with the development of the antagonist and protagonist. The intended
audience for Peter Pan was primarily children, essentially geared to evoke a sense of childhood
innocence and plentiful joy in the adolescent stage. Another fairy tale genre convention present
is the presence of the clearly defined protagonists and antagonists and unsophisticated diction.
Like stated in the revision matrix, a paragraph needed to be dedicated to genre
conventions and the analysis of the persuasive yet apologetic letter. Now typically most girls
Wendys age would get their parents to write the letter in its entirety. However, part of Wendy
getting older involves her writing her own letters. As covered earlier, the key elements to every
persuasive piece incorporates logos, pathos and a simple structure to persuade the audience.

7
"Emm Simpson." East Asian Languages Cultural Studies UC Santa Barbara. Accessed
December 2, 2015. http://www.eastasian.ucsb.edu/home/current-grads/emm-simpson/.

Braun 7

However, when another genre was applied and the letter became apologetic, the tone shifted.
Often times the apologizer is the victim looking for another chance. Never would they do
anything provocative to instigate a retaliation, but they stay rather polite in order to receive what
they want. In an apology, it is best if some details are left out or, glossed over as you would
say, so the audience is focused more on the apology than the story. Glossy details reaffirm the
adventure and cut right to the idea of persuasion. The language is a looser type of formal because
the primary objective is forgiveness rather grammatical perfection.
The translation from the fairy tale into the persuasive letter was incredibly easy. I was
able to keep both the hero in Peter Pan and the villain in Hook. Wendys elevated diction
obviously revealed her acceptance into adulthood. Although some events were lost, the magic
and stories in the movie were mentioned within the letter. The only element lost as a result of the
translation, was the intended audience of children. However, I manipulated my audience in order
to switch genres, permitting a smooth but intriguing translation of genre discourse communities.

Bibliography:
"Sample Persuasive Letter to Professor." - WikiHow. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
Peter Pan. Directed by Clyde Geronimi. USA: Walt Disney, 1953. Film.
"Wendy Darling." Disney Wiki. Accessed December 2, 2015.
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Wendy_Darling.
"Examples of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos." YourDictionary. Accessed December 2, 2015.
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-ethos-logos-and-pathos.html.
"Emm Simpson." East Asian Languages Cultural Studies UC Santa Barbara. Accessed
December 2, 2015. http://www.eastasian.ucsb.edu/home/current-grads/emm-simpson/.