For this task, you are asked to create a
genre chart and commentary on Nana’s Autobiographical Recount. (Nana’s Autobiographical is on attached document) You need the
background information below to be able to successfully complete this
assignment.
The information on Autobiographical recounts below was included in the Chronicles:
Focus on Autobiographical quiz you completed. This information is reproduced
below for your convenience.
The main purpose of any recount
is to inform. Autobiographical recounts inform about the events in the life of
a person often through stages in time (early life, adult life etc). In this
type of text, the author chronicles, informs or recounts (hence its name) a
series of events in his/her life, often organized in a logical or chronological
sequence. The stages include an Orientation
and Life Events. Although not very common, it sometimes can include a Reorientation.
The main language features of autobiographical recounts are:
·
first person (I, my, mine).
·
human/alive participants
·
past tense combined with some
timeless present tense. Past tense is used to describe past episodes or
actions. The timeless present is used for universal statements, such as: We
all want to have a better future, or We all need to work hard to get ahead in
life.
Each of these Stages are explained
below.
Background on the Orientation Stage
The Orientation sets the context (who the autobiographical recount is
about). It sometimes can include when or where it all started) but the main
point is to introduce the main character.
Language features
The language features in the Orientation are usually descriptive and marked by
the presence relational processes such as the verb to be (am, is, are and
others verbs such as ‘like,’ ‘love,’ ‘enjoy,’ ‘live,’ that connect a person or
entity with certain characteristic). For example, if the characteristic of a
person is to be ‘intelligent’, then the text may say “my teacher is
intelligent.” In this case, the third person of the verb to be (is) relates
the person with the characteristic (hence the process relational). This places
the emphasis on the characteristic and not on a given action that the person is
performing. The writer could have said ‘my intelligent teacher prepares her
class daily.” In this case, the adjective intelligent still describes the
teacher but the focus of the sentence shifted from the characteristic of the
teacher as intelligent to the action or material process preparing (the teacher
is performing of ‘preparing the class’).
Background on the Life Events
Stage
The Life Events section in an autobiographical recount is usually
the longest, it presents the life events in logical or chronological sequence,
and it is divided into phases (often marked by paragraphs).
Phases in the Life Events Stage
One phase can be about the person’s childhood, another one about studying at
the university, another one about living in a different country. This all
depends on what the protagonist wants to highlight.
Language Features of Phases
The language features in the Life Events involve material processes (actions)
marked by the presence of verbs that describe activities in which the person
and those important in his/her live are involved. To come back to the previous example,
in the sentence ‘my intelligent teacher prepares her class daily” the
material process (action verb) ‘prepares’ describes the activity the
teacher did.
The Reorientation Stage
The Reorientation section in an autobiographical recount is optional and
thus it may be absent. When it is present it is often the shortest part of the
recount and often limited to one or two sentences. The Reorientation
often provides a personal evaluation or opinion of the events that the writer
described in the Life Events stage or a connection back to the
Orientation. The language features are often similar to the ones in the
Orientation.
The purpose of the Genre Analysis is to apply your knowledge of linguistics to analyze
emergent bilingual learners’ written ability in terms of the genre intended in
the writing sample. At all times, seek
to quote from readings and/or lectures. The assignment consists of a Genre
Analysis Chart and Commentary. Success
in the completion of this assignment depends on building your background
knowledge about Functional Linguistics and Genre. Before completing this
assignment, make sure you:
a. Build Your Background Knowledge on Genre and A
Functional Approach to Language
i. WATCH
the Genre
Video lecture
ii. READ Derewianka Ch. 1. Read Derewianka).
iii. READ Ramírez
(2023). Genre Theory and Genre Based Pedagogy in literacy Instruction.
c. Genre Analysis Chart and Commentary
i. Write an introductory paragraph
describing
Nana’s written sample: its topic, its purpose (to inform about what), and its
linguistic purpose (as an autobiographical recount).
ii. Create a Visual Genre Analysis Chart (similar to the one you on the next page) but this
time label the appropriate Genre Stages for autobiographical recounts and their
language features (follow the example in the Genre video lecture, and the
explanation about autobiographical recounts in the first page of this document).
· Insert Nana’s written sample in the center
Nana’s
written sample:
“When I was a little girl the idea to visit United states
Look like a dream. To know Mickey Mouse and the only idea of to take a airplane
and fly was for rich people.
I was born in a humble family in Medellin-Colombia 40 year ago; Now I’m living
in Florida, EEUU one
year ago. I toke from my country, my two babies boys Martin and Maxi and I need
to say that they life is nothig easy for a Single mom and less in a strange
country.
Im Here because my kids, I dream whit a wonderful future for them and I guess I
was prepering this moment time before.
Im social worker and specialist in Human Rights, also I studied english couple
months but here you need to begin from zero, to proof whith effort your
habilities like professional.
All this is a long way but if you want to have reals
oportunities in this country you have to.
I guess to
have dreams is the essence in the live, I mean, the live has sense when we have
dreams, big dreams. But that isn’t enough, to make your dreams come true, you
need to work harder, to be prepered just like this you can see your dreams like
your real life.”
· Identify the Genre Stages (pertaining
to autobiographical recounts) on the left column.
· List the Language Features of the sample on the right column. See
the graphic on the example below.
iii. Write 1-3 concluding paragraphs
summarizing the specific features you identified in the chart. You could
address some of these issues:
a. How does the sample rate as a
representation of the genre of autobiographical recounts? Comment on its
stages, phases and language features.
b. What did you learn from looking at
Nana’s writing from a functional perspective? For example, how did the
knowledge of language provided by a functional model help you us identify what
the text’s strengths are so you can make clear and positive suggestions about
how students might make their texts more effective – instead of vague,
superficial comments or mere corrections of spelling and punctuation? In other
words, did a functional approach to language help you see beyond surface
features or grammatical errors you identified in your initial reading of Nana’s
text?
iv. Include your bibliography from
section 2, item a (lecture and chapters).
