CatharineKim

ZackDePiero
Writing2
5June2015
TranslatingGenres
ThescholarlyarticleTheBraininLove:HasNeuroscienceStolentheSecretofLove?
bySultanTarlacexplainswhathappenstothebrainandyourbodyphysicallywhenoneisin
love.Itsaudienceisotherstudentsandresearchersinthebiologyorchemistryfield.Totranslate
itintoatextappealingtoayoungeraudience,Imadeitintoapageofacomicspecifically
directedto1stgradersonlove.Totailorittoanolderaudience,Imadeitintoamagazinearticle
for2030yearoldsthatwouldexplainthebiologyofwhathappensinyourbodywhenyougo
throughabreakupsothatonecouldcopethroughit(suchasCosmopolitan).Iusedthescholarly
articleasanevidencesourcetowritethemagazinearticlewhereasIonlystatedthereallife
effectsforthecomicbook.
Althoughitmayseemasurfacelevelconvention,structureandformattingofthegenre
arefactorsthatgreatlyaffecthowthetextwouldbeisconveyed.Forchildren,thecomicpage
wouldbeaverylighthearted,happyvibedcomic.Childrenwouldreadanythingthatisshort
andlooksinteresting.Toachievethis,Ihadtoincorporatevisualliteracy.Childrenatthisagedo
notfindheavytextveryappealing.Tokeeptheminterested,theformatofthisgenreincluded
pictureswithmanycolorsthatsupplementedwithshortwrittentext.Fortheolderaudience,the
articlewouldexplainthebiologyofwhathappensinyourbodywhenyougothroughabreakup
sothatonecouldcopethroughit.Contrarytothechildrenscomic,themagazinearticlewould

bemostlywrittentext.Theformatwouldbeaneasytoread3pagearticlewithboldedtitlesand
paragraphsdetailingit.Italsoincludespictures.However,thesepictureswouldberealistic
photographsratherthancartoonlikeanimationsinthecomic.Eventhefontswouldmakea
differenceingenres.Forthemagazinearticle,itwouldbeamorestandardizedfontsuchas
TimesorGaramond,whilethefontforthecomicwouldbemorefunandbubbly.IfIhaduseda
funkyfontforthemagazinearticle,adultsmaynottakeitseriouslyandoverlookit.Ontheother
hand,ifIhadusedaverystandardseriouslookingfontforthecomic,thechildrenmayfinditto
benotaestheticallypleasing,anddecidenottotakeinterestinit.
AnotherconventionIhadtotakeintoconsiderationwasthefactthatthegenreforthe
olderaudiencewasamagazinearticle.Tomakeitlookrealistic,Iincludedpagenumbersandan
ad.Theadonthepageofthisarticleismostlygearedtopeoplethatwouldbereadingthat
articleheartbrokenindividuals.Asanauthor,ImentionedRule#3togobeyourownperson
andGo get that wild haircut youve always wanted! By using the readers
emotions I was able to build up that idea in their head and pop up with a
beauty salon ad so that the readers would take that ad into consideration.
Since the childrens textual genre is a comic, such aspects were not needed.
InbothtextualgenresImadesuretotakenoteofchoiceofmomentandchoiceofflow.
Choiceofmoment,asdefinedbyMcCloud,isdecidingwhattoincludeandwhattoleaveout.In
thecomic,Imadethechoicetoleaveoutthenotsogreatrealitiesofbeinginarelationship,such
asthejealousyandarguments.Sincethistextisforayoungeraudience,thecomichadtobekept
lightheartedandhappy.Inthemagazinearticle,Imadesurenottobringupthegreatmemories
ofthebrokenrelationship.Sincetheaudienceisaheartbrokenadult,andthearticlespurposeis
tohelphim/hercope,Ihadtomakesurenothoughtsofgettingbackwastogothroughthe

readersmind.Ichosetoleavetheseoutandinsteadonlygiveadviceonhowtheycouldimprove
individually.Choiceofflowisguidingthereadersthroughandbetweenthepanelsonapageor
screen.(McCloud)Inthecomic,Ishapedaministory:1.Theyhaveagoodtime,2.Thereisa
bullywheretheboystandsupforthegirl,3.Theboygetshurtfromthisandthegirltakescare
ofhim,4.Theygivegifts,andthen5.Theyarehappy.Theorderinwhichtheseeventshappen
givesaflowtotheread.Forexample,ifframe2(theonewiththebullies)happenedattheendof
thecomic,itmightleavethechildrenconfused.Similarly,tokeeptheflowinthemagazine
articlefortheolderaudience,Idevelopedthestepsinacertainorder.Forexample,ifIhadput
rule5(Dontgiveuponlove)first,thereadermaybeinclinedtogobacktoherexsignificant
otherinsteadoflettinggoandmovingon,andtherebydefeatingthewholepurposeofthearticle
itself.ThesespecificchoicesofmomentandframearespecificmovesthatIusedtomakemy
textualgenreseffectiveinachievingtheirpurpose.
AnothermoveIhadtomaketokeeptheaudiencesinterestedwastomakethetext
relevant.Thiswaseasytodofortheyoungeraudience.AllIhadtodowasmakethecharacters
inthecomicrelatable:theywereyoungandcutesy.Also,theactivitiesdonebythesecharacters
wereactivitiesthatwouldbedonebychildrenatthisage(example,ridingtheswings).Thiswas
amuchlongerprocesstoachievewiththeadultaudience.FirstIhadtoestablishthatI,asthe
authorandadvicegiver,knewhowtheywerefeelingandpersuadethemthatIcouldhelp.Todo
this,Ihadanintroductoryparagraphstatinghowthey,thereaders,probablyfeelsandthroughout
thetextImadesuretobringthetextbacktothem.Forexample,Andastheseattemptsturnup
unsuccessful,weoftenfeelsad,hopeless,andangry.YouprobablyhavefeltthiswaybutBy
constantlybringingthearticlebacktothem,Iwasabletoascertainthattheyfeltthisarticle

appliedtothem.IalsotookonacasualtonesothatIcouldsoundmorelikeafriendthana
professor,whichthereaderwouldprobablybemorereluctanttotakeadvicefrom.Byusinga
casualtoneandshowingIknewhowtheywerefeeling,Iwasabletogaintheaudiencesinterest.
However,inordertokeeptheirinterestIhadtobuildcredibility.Todothis,Iincorporated
scientificevidence.Childrenwouldreadandjustaccepteverythingasis,butadultsaremore
skepticalandneedtobepersuadedthatthisinformationisreliable.Iusedthescientificjargon
andinformationfromthescholarlyarticlewithreallifeapplicationsothatthereaderwouldnt
thinktoquestionit.Itwasimportantthatthetexthasabalanceofscientificevidenceandcasual
language.Ifthearticlehadtoomuchscientificlanguage,thereadersmightgiveupreadingit
becauseitistoodifficulttounderstand.
Aconventionspecifictothechildrensgenreisthatthereshouldbeamoraltothestory.
Inthiscase,itwouldbethepointthatloveisgood.Alltheframesinthiscomiccametoshow
thatpoint.Thischildrenscomicshouldbesomethingthereaderswouldnotneedtohavetoputa
lotofthoughtinto.Itwouldbeverysimpleandstraightforward.ToachievethisIdidnot
mentionallthescientificevidencefromthescholarlyarticle,insteadIstraightforwardlystated
thereallifeeffectofit.Forexample,insteadofsayingthemu3receptorsreactpositivelyto
anotherscientifichormonewhichcausesustobebraveIjustwroteLovemakesusbrave,
Loveisgood.Thescientificjargonmayconfusetheyoungaudience,soItranslateditinto
simpleeverydaywords.
Thereweredefinitedifferencesbetweenachildrenscomicpageandanadultsmagazine
articleandunderstandingtheconventionsandaudienceforeachspecificgenrehelpeddraw

thoselines.Translatinggenresispossibleafterwetakethetimetounderstandnotonlywhat
makesitthatgenre,butwhatmakesitdifferentfromothergenresaswell.

WorksCitedPage

Tarlac,Sultan.TheBraininLove:HasNeuroscienceStolentheSecretof
Love?,NeuroQuantology,2013.Volume10Issue4Page744753.

McCloud.ChapterOneWritingwithPictures:Clarity,PersuasionandIntensity,Writing2De
PieroUCSBreader,Spring2015.Page204.

LuisandCindy.SpacesforWriting,Writing2DePieroUCSBreader,Spring2014.Page17.