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Explication Essay

Many people, like myself, live for years with an overwhelming and persistent sense of

worry without the knowledge as to why they feel that way. This worry can manifest itself in

countless ways with varying degrees of severity. After twenty years of life, I have only just come

to understand that the cause of my multifocal anxiety is something known in the medical and

psychological communities as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or G.A.D. Generalized Anxiety

Disorder is clinically characterized by chronic anxiety that is difficult to control and can, at

times, feel paralyzing. It is often accompanied by other physical and psychological symptoms

such as restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, irritability, headaches, or

gastrointestinal distress.1 My genre translation analyzes and interprets the peer-reviewed article

“Generalized Anxiety Disorder” written by Murray B. Stein and Jitender Sareen, published in

The New England Journal of Medicine. This peer-reviewed article falls under the discipline of

psychology and was intended for an audience of psychiatrists, psychologists, and

psychotherapists with the purpose of educating and providing specific information regarding the

assessment, diagnosis, management, and treatment processes of a patient with G.A.D. Carolyn

Miller conceptualizes “genre” as more than just a recurring rhetorical situation. For a genre to be

effective, she insists, it “‘ must be centered… on the action it is used to accomplish,’”2 and the

action that this medical peer-reviewed article is attempting to accomplish varies greatly from that

of my translation. While “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” features crucial information about

G.A.D. for those in the medical and psychological fields in a professional and scientific manner,

1
Sareen, Jitender and Murray B. Stein, “Generalized Anxiety Disorder,” New England Journal of Medicine 373, no.
21 (November 2015): 2059-2060.
2
Kerry Dirk, “Navigating Genres,” in Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 1, ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel
Zemliansky (Parlor Press, 2010), 252.
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I chose to translate this article into a series of journal entries that highlight the complexities of

G.A.D. from a first-person perspective through the words of someone struggling with this

disorder. This genre translation is effective as a private journal because of its use of

stream-of-consciousness writing and its intimate nature inside the mind of someone suffering

from Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Various changes in convention are made including a

modification in the overall purpose, transformation of the tone and diction as the audience shifts

from a formal, scientific community to one person’s private thoughts, and the adjustment of

context and structure to observe the new rhetorical situation.

The purpose of keeping a private journal is to be able to work through one’s own

thoughts and emotions in a completely transparent setting, as these words are meant to be read

by the writer’s eyes only. This is distinctly different from the exigence of a peer-reviewed article

that was written and published in a well-renowned medical journal with the intent to spread

knowledge on the topic of G.A.D. to many people. In “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward

Rhetorical Analysis,” Laura Bolin Carroll breaks down and discusses the components of a

rhetorical situation in which she notes that, “Understanding the exigence is important because it

helps you begin to discover the purpose of the rhetoric. It helps you understand what the

discourse is trying to accomplish.”3 “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” is a clinical practice journal

article that requires a high level of formality and professionalism as it was written to educate and

inform those studying medicine and psychology. It presents the essential steps of diagnosis,

assessment, and treatment of G.A.D., as well as meaningful tables and figures that organize some

of this essential information. In the true fashion of a Journal of Medicine, Sareen and Stein pose

a “Clinical Problem” at the beginning of the article that they examine throughout the entirety of

the piece. By the end, the authors have discussed diagnostic and assessment procedures, as well
3
Carroll, Laura Bolin, “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis,” in Writing Spaces, 49.
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as various methods of treatment and management, concluding with their areas of uncertainty.4

The exigence of this journal article, to advise and educate, is tremendously different from that of

my translation. One keeps a private journal for a multitude of reasons. Some write journal entries

with the purpose of remembrance, while others write daily gratitudes, but most people use

journaling as a method of self-reflection and as a way to process their thoughts, emotions, and

internal and external struggles. This is the occasion for my translation. These journal entries are

the inner workings of a distressed mind that longs for understanding and clarity. The writer is

completely vulnerable and open with their emotions while using this journal as a method of

mental catharsis to work through their confusions and intrusive thoughts, while attempting to

learn what is causing them such mental and emotional turmoil.5 The goals of the peer-reviewed

article and its translation vary greatly, one to educate those in the medical and psychological

fields of study and the other to privately self-reflect, but are both are particularly effective in

fulfilling their purpose within those genres.

While a peer-reviewed article published in an academic journal communicates

educational information to those in the medical and psychological fields of study, my translation,

a series of journal entries, is written solely for the eyes of the author. Significant changes in tone

and diction are made that allow the translation to fit its new rhetorical situation as a private

journal. Laura Bolin Carroll underscores the significance of the audience and how it is a

powerful determinant in the choices that an author makes when writing. She expresses that

“Rhetors make all sorts of choices based on their audience. Audiences can determine the type of

language used, the formality of the discourse, [and] the medium or delivery of the rhetoric [...]

Understanding the audience helps you begin to see and understand the rhetorical moves that the

4
Sareen and Stein, “Generalized Anxiety Disorder,” 2059-2066.
5
Adler, Isabelle, “Journal Entries Jan-Feb 2021,” February 2021.
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rhetor makes.”6 The peer-reviewed article targets a broad audience, appealing to doctors,

psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and anyone studying within these fields as anxiety

is a wide-ranging condition that all those in these medical and psych communities are all

expected to have knowledge about. Given that the peer-reviewed article is about a psychological

topic and was published in a journal of medicine, it maintains formal diction throughout, as well

as being packed with an abundance of medical and psych jargon. Stein and Sareen, authors of

“Generalized Anxiety Disorder,” also uphold their credibility with their audience by keeping

their tone detached, dignified, direct, and informational throughout the article.

The translation’s audience is immensely different from that of the peer-reviewed article

and is unique for a genre of writing as it is a singular person, the author, who is meant to read

this. Because the sole intended audience of one’s private journal is the writer themself, the

overall tone is candid, raw, and earnest with very casual diction. A journal is meant to be an

emotional and open space for someone to pour all their innermost thoughts, fears, and struggles

into. This is demonstrated throughout the translation as the writer discusses their overwhelming

sense of worry that they can’t shake and their genuine desire to feel relief from their very

persistent anxiety.7 Their emotional and mental struggles are highlighted through their frustrated,

impassioned, and almost desperate verbiage that they chose to use throughout their journal

entries.8 This writing is led by emotion rather than logistical thinking, which is a key aspect of

what makes this an effective translation into a journal entry. If a therapist or interviewer

documented this personal account of anxiety, rather than one writing in their own journal, the

descriptions and authenticity of their struggles would differ greatly. For example, the explanation

of what they are going through may be detached from the emotions themselves and focus more

6
Carroll, “Backpacks vs. Briefcases,” 50.
7
Adler, “Journal Entries Jan-Feb 2021,” February 2021.
8
Adler, “Journal Entries Jan-Feb 2021,” February 2021.
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on the physical symptoms instead of the mental ones. Even though the translation utilizes some

traditional psych jargon, the author is aware of the meanings of these terms and if there is

confusion surrounding something, it is stated, allowing the writing to remain informal. While the

tone utilized in the peer-reviewed article is formal and direct with appropriate jargon due to its

professional audience, the tone and diction used within the journal entries remain emotionally

driven, informally written, and candid, revealing the internal conflict of someone who

desperately wants to feel like themself again.

The context of a piece of writing often has a significant influence over the structure of

that text, which is why the structure of the journal entries diverge entirely from that of the

peer-reviewed article to be able to align with its new rhetorical situation. A peer-reviewed article

published in a medical journal traditionally has a very specific and formal structure beginning

with the “Research Question” or “Clinical Problem,”9 as it is this article's purpose to answer that

question or resolve that issue. The article continues with this scientific-style of organization

through its entirety. Next, the article discusses strategies and evidence for the assessment and

management of G.A.D. Included in this section were a multitude of tables and charts

highlighting significant diagnostic steps and the various physical, mental, and emotional

symptoms that accompany this disorder. The article ends with the last two sections being “Areas

of Uncertainty” and “Conclusions and Recommendations” as is also common in most medical

journal articles.10 This highly structured, well-organized peer-reviewed article is quite the

opposite of its genre translation. Given the context of a private journal, there is little to no

structure because journals are usually written in a stream-of-consciousness style, driven by the

author’s emotions at that time. Go Ask Alice is the journal of a real young woman that was turned

9
Sareen and Stein, “Generalized Anxiety Disorder,” 2059.
10
Sareen and Stein, “Generalized Anxiety Disorder,” 2061-2066.
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into an award winning book. In her journal, she discusses her struggles with addiction, mental

health, and homelessness, all of which ultimately led to the early end of her life. As seen in

Alice’s journal entries, there is little structure other than the date at the top of each entry, but

there is even a section of the book that has a number of entries that she wrote that lack a date

entirely,11 yet they are still considered journal entries. Dirk notes that it is “true, genres often

have formulaic features, but these features can change even as the nature of the genre remains.”12

In Go Ask Alice, journal entries are written with the intention that no one, other than the author,

will ever see what has been written, provoking unadulterated, honest self-reflection and a flow of

thoughts that may not always be cohesive, but is truly what was going through the mind of the

writer at that exact moment. Many people even write journal entries with the intent to never read

them again as they are simply trying to make sense of their thoughts and feelings by putting them

down on a page in that moment. Although Alice’s parents happened to find her journal after she

passed away and published it anonymously as a learning opportunity for other young adults

struggling in the world, no one intends for their journals to be read by anyone but themselves.

This intention is distinctly exhibited in Alice’s loose, free-flowing structure.

In translating a sophisticated, peer-reviewed article published in the New England

Journal of Medicine into a series of journal entries that vividly detail the inner workings of a

young person struggling to cope with their anxiety disorder, there were a number of major

modifications that were made to fit this new rhetorical situation. I modified the exigence or

purpose of the writing, shifted the tone and diction from its formal and unemotional state to

candid and highly emotive to properly suit the audience of a private journal, and adjusted the

structure of the writing to shape this new rhetorical situation. Through the use of emotionally

11
Go Ask Alice, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1971.
12
Kerry Dirk, “Navigating Genres,” in Writing Spaces, 253.
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driven, stream-of-consciousness writing, this translation effectively brings to life a realistic

series of journal entries that someone struggling to understand and control their anxiety would

write.
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References

Adler, Isabelle. “Journal Entries Jan-Feb 2021.” Los Angeles, CA, February 2021.

Carroll, Laura Bolin. “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis,” In Writing

Spaces: Reading on Writing, Volume 1. Online: Parlor Press, 2010.

Dirk, Kerry, “Navigating Genres,” in Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1, edited by

Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, 249-262. Parlor Press, 2010.

Go Ask Alice. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1971.

Sareen, Jitender and Murray B. Stein. “Generalized Anxiety Disorder.” New England Journal of

Medicine 373, no. 21 (November 2015): 2059-2068.

https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMcp1502514.