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)
From Tom Romano's Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers (2000)
Multi-genre research writing is an alternative to writing a standard research paper.The assignment still requires the learner to engage in vigorous research. However, the student processes and presents the knowledge gained not through expository writing, but rather through a collection of pieces written in a variety of genres. In doing so, the learner has the opportunity to deeply examine the topic through a variety of lenses: historical, social, emotional, spiritual, personal, and aesthetic. This examination pushes the student to use higher order thinking skills while making decisions about what information is important and which genre would best present both the information and the perspective through which is was examined. The result is a unique, personal, creative project that invites deep and somethimes surprising engagement from its readers.
as defined by Martha Champa, 2017, classroom teacher and workshop presenter
Multi-genre writing allows creativity to soar!
Photo by Emily Cramer, 2017