Genre Comparison & Rhetorical Analysis

UW1020 (Fall 2020 – Quave)

- The Genre Comparison worksheet will be graded for completion and completed by
each individual student. It is due by Sun. 10/4 end of day (Slack #assignments as
thread response)
- A group meeting will take place in class time to coordinate with your group on Mon.
10/5
- Full group-written essay is due on Slack #assignments by Wed. 10/14 end of day
The final product will be a 4- to 5-page essay written in small groups. Students will examine
the differences and similarities in rhetorical moves between different genres for different
audiences. Specifically, students will analyze how scientific research is presented as a
lecture to the general public (in the symposium “The African Diaspora: Integrating Culture,
Genomics and History”) versus primary scientific communication in a peer-reviewed
journal.
This essay should be about how the researchers communicate with each audience. You will
need to include some information about what the researchers are communicating in order
to contextualize your discussion of the rhetorical strategies, but the what part should be a
minority of the material covered in the essay.
Audience: You are writing this essay for the rest of our class. Your classmates didn’t read
and watch the same research pairing as you and you want them to learn more about the
rhetorical strategies you observed so they can incorporate those observations into their
own writing practice. In order to explain the references you make to the research, you will
also need to briefly cover what the researcher’s objective was, how they did it, what they
found, and why it matters (think of it as a bit of an abstract on the scholar’s particular
research project before you get into the rhetoric (how they communicated all of the above).
Learning Objectives:
1. To compare writing styles and research organization strategies relative to genres and
audiences.
2. To analyze how genetics research is presented among scientific peers and for
broader, more diverse audiences.
3. To write comparatively about two genres in a concise and clear way that
demonstrates familiarity with academic writing conventions and citation styles.
Step 1: Identify your group (it’s your Slack group DM I set up on 9/1, but I also listed the
groups in the Week 5 memo). Each group will work with a particular researcher through their
video from the symposium and a primary scientific research article on the same general
theme.
1. Alondra Nelson on the social life of DNA: Nelson 2018 (PSC) and Nelson 2013 (lecture)
2. Aravinda Chakravarti on confounding ancestry and health: Chakravarti 2015 (PSC)
and Chakravarti 2013 (lecture)
3. Sandra Soo-Jin Lee on consuming genetic ancestry: Lee 2013b (PSC) and Lee 2013a
(lecture)
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 4. Carlos Bustamante on clinical genomics and race/ancestry: Popejoy et al. 2019 (PSC)
and Bustamante 2013 (lecture)
Step 2: Watch the video lecture and read the corresponding PSC. Look up the researcher and
learn about their background and broader body of research. If your PSC was written by more
than one author, look up the co-authoring researcher we are focusing on, but also mention
the first author from the publication and briefly discuss their background. (note that all
citations in your writing should acknowledge multi-authored work appropriately)

Step 3 (Week 5 Genre Comparison worksheet): Each student will individually answer these
prompts and submit your responses on Slack #assignments (as a thread response) by Sun.
10/4. The responses will help in crafting the first draft of the group-written paper.

What we are looking to do in the hybrid work and in the paper itself is to analyze the
rhetorical situations for each source. Review the OWL resources on “Rhetorical Situations”
and “Author and Audience” assigned for Mon. 10/5 to help you along.

1. Who is the researcher? How does the researcher’s current and past work experience
influence how they present this research? (in other words, to whom do they typically
communicate their research?)
2. For the recorded lecture and the PSC, answer these questions for each:
a. Who is the intended audience?
b. What are the central claims or central arguments?
c. How are those claims / arguments supported by evidence?
d. How is the research organized?
e. What differences and similarities are there in terminology and jargon?
f. What is the level of formality or the tone?
g. What visual elements are included?
h. If there is quantitative information, how is it made accessible for the intended
audience (or not)?
i. How do they discuss the importance of the research or its broader implications
beyond the interests of specialists?
3. How do these rhetorical moves help the researcher achieve their purpose for their
specific audience?
Step 4 (Group-written Rhetorical Analysis paper): With your group, compare notes and agree
on a thesis to drive your paper. You won’t want to cover all your observations on rhetorical
moves and audience, but rather focus on a couple specific ideas together. I leave it to you to
pare down in order to create a cohesive essay narrative. The primary objective here is that
you are meeting the assignment’s goals of evaluating how audience differences or similarities
are reflected in different/similar rhetorical moves. What are the decisions the author is
making about how to present information in different contexts? Remember not to devote too
much space to the what but rather the how.

You must write your paper together in a GWU Google doc that you have shared with me and
to which you have given me editing privileges (kquave@email.gwu.edu). This way, I will
review the document history to see who contributed what to the writing and revising process.
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You will have an in-class meeting with your group on Mon 10/5 to agree on a thesis and
divide up the work responsibilities. Each group member should contribute in some way to all
stages of the process: outlining, drafting, and revising and editing.

Step 5: Edit your group-written essay into a polished final version and then submit the draft
on Slack #assignments as a thread response by Wed. 10/14. If the group wants me to
know something about the breakdown of labor for the drafting and revising, please add a
note to me at the end of the paper after the references cited section. It will not count toward
your page minimum or maximum.

Evaluation criteria for group-written final version (out of 100 points)1

Meets expectations
15 Four to five full double-spaced
pages with proper formatting2
5 Title authentically conveys the
purpose of the body of the essay
15 A clear thesis statement appears 9-14 Thesis statement is
early on that lays out your objective clear, but is buried beyond the correspond to the rest of the
in making comparisons of the genres first paragraphs
20 Comparison of genres includes
discussion of audience and
assumptions about audience for
each
10 Paragraphs are ordered logically
and are of a length that supports the
organization of the essay
5 Writing is free of distracting
errors, with clarity and flow
10 In-text citations and reference
list are formatted in Council of
Science Editors (CSE) Name-Year
style
20 As an individual, the student
contributed to each stage: outlining,
drafting, revising/editing
Approaches expectations
9-14 Four to five full double- 0-8 Shorter than four full
spaced pages, but some
formatting errors
1-4 Title is included but is too 0 No title
generic or does not
encompass the main ideas of
the text
12-19 Some discussion of
audience, but is not made
explicit for each genre in
comparison
5-9 Some paragraphs too
short or too long, but flow is
logical
1-4 Writing has minor errors,
but the writer’s meaning can
be guessed at
1-9 There are citations but
with errors
10 As an individual, the
student contributed to two
writing stages
Does not meet expectations
double-spaced pages or longer
than five full double-spaced
pages
0-8 Thesis statement doesn’t
essay or is not found
0-11 Unclear or no discussion
of implications of audience for
each genre’s rhetorical moves
0-4 Illogical flow and
paragraphs too short or too
long
0 Writing has many errors,
which makes it difficult to
understand meaning and
purpose
0 No citations
1-5 As an individual, the
student contributed to one
writing stage

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If a student does not contribute to the group writing process, they will receive no credit for the
assignment.
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Use 1” margins on all sides of the page. Do not include excessive headings that take up many lines. No
extra spaces between paragraphs. Font should be either Times New Roman 12 pt, Calibri 11 pt, or Cambria
12 pt. You may go over by up to one additional double-spaced page if needed.
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