Conclusion
So that was it. I had a significant start on my capstone project, but I was still unsure about my decision to present it in multigenre rather than a traditional paper.
The genres I picked seemed appropriate, even if a little boring. I would’ve loved to do something like a song or poem. They would’ve been fun, and somewhat easier than the genres I did choose. But the thing is, those were not remotely appropriate for the topic. Many of the genres that really drew my attention would not have been effective for making my argument— they would’ve felt gimmicky and forced. The genres I chose were conscious decisions to suit my audience and purpose.
Furthermore, I felt a little underwhelmed with my genre selection because it didn’t include any multimedia texts. I was supporting multimedia within multigenre, but all of my components for this project were just shaping into various forms of writing. Not that that’s necessarily bad, but it could imply to readers that I found traditional print writing the most effective way of conveying my research. Whether or not that’s true, it is a fair resolution to argue.
However, despite these problems nagging at me, I did feel comfortable with one sticking point: I was asking all of these questions. I was changing my genres when things didn’t work. I shifted away from what I wanted to do, and away from what I was expected to do. Instead, I did what I thought would be best as an author to get my points across to the readers.
That practical experience is perhaps some of the most valuable research I’ve found; it only makes me believe in multigenre research writing that much more.
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As I type this, I have finished almost everything in my final draft. The practical research of writing my own multigenre project yielded results beyond what I expected. Putting together such a long, extended, and thoroughly researched document challenged my organizational skills past any point they previously had been, and working between multiple genres made me consider the presentation of my argument in ways I normally would have taken for granted. Beyond that, I decided to design this document into a web format for a wider audience to view and to further envelope this project into the multimedia sphere. The entire duration of this project, I’ve had to make authorial decisions to produce the best work I possibly could.
Despite the positive learning outcomes, I did run into some issues. First of all, the project itself has been incredibly difficult. Though I had a great mentor in Dr. Lisa Arnold, much of the design of the multigenre project has been self-directed. I frequently had doubts about where I was going, what I was doing, and the decisions I was making; I could feel the absence of a knowledgeable teacher who meets and scaffolds you 50 minutes a day, 5 days a week over the course of the research unit. In addition, the more I worked on the project, the more I realized there is a lot of pedagogical strategy that would go into teaching it. In order to effectively teach a unit on multigenre research projects, one would need to be well-researched and have several years to shape assessment and assignment criteria.
With that being said, if I had to make an honest self-judgement of this project as a whole, I would say that it is easily one of, if not the best display of my writing and research skills that I have ever put together. That brings us back around to the questions I had originally asked in the prelude: Can I really display my learning without a real “research paper?” Could I blend multiple genres to create something more expressive, something more appropriate for my purpose and audience?
As an author, my answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes. I encourage you to reflect on the document you’ve read and answer these questions for yourself. Hopefully with that reflection you’ll be fully convinced of your own pedagogical beliefs, whether you support multigenre writing, traditional research writing, or some combination of both.