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Explorers newspaper: A Translation of Drug Addiction from Science to the Elementary

Matthew Hurtado

Writing 2

Valentina Fahler

September 2, 2020
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Analytical Reflection

I decided to translate the scientific genre of, Abnormal Brain Structure Implicated in

Stimulant Drug Addiction, into a non scientific genre, an elementary school newspaper. This

translation is shifting the audience of the article from a strict discourse community of

neuroscientists to impressionable elementary school children. The purpose is to overcome the

restraints of the scientific genre and allow for the research to be highly accessible.The article’s

purpose of identifying drug addiction as a mental illness is now being furthered as another

warning for young children as some individuals are increasingly vulnerable to becoming

addicted. This newspaper is necessary in order to discourage drug use and provide valuable

information for kids transitioning to middle school where there is more exposure to drugs and

peer pressure. I chose to translate the complex scientific article into an easy to read children's

newspaper because I feel kids going through challenging transitions in life are the most

susceptible to becoming addicted to drugs, especially with their lack of scientific knowledge. I

believed the newspaper would effectively communicate with the audience because as a school

newspaper it would be distributed to every kid as an extension of the Red Ribbon Program. The

school newspaper will have a greater impact on a larger target audience than the scientific article

will have on its extremely niche community. Genre translations exemplified by changing the

scientific genre into an elementary school newspaper allows for the content to transcend its

original purpose for more research by employing conventions for an impressionable audience.

In translating this article, I employed the inverted pyramid style to highlight the scientific

genres claims most effectively for the new audience, elementary school children. I decided to
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include the drastic and impressionable claims as headlines while refraining from using a large

portion of the experimental data. The data that I could not simplify and clearly state without

neuroscience jargon would serve no purpose within the newspaper. As a newspaper, the most

important and relevant information must be put first while answering important questions such as

the ‘who, what, and why.’ Otherwise, the audience would lose interest and not comprehend the

information. It is imperative that the reader can understand the information displayed in order to

realize its significance and avoid drugs. Ample data is not necessary within the translation

because children often will accept the information displayed and will less likely question the

claims unlike within the academic genre. In accordance with this, I refrained from using complex

sentence structure and vocabulary to prevent the children from being discouraged from

continuing to read the articles.

The translation better impacted a greater audience than the original article as it organizes

its major claims immediately with the first articles. Information from the primary academic

source that I retained within the translation included only statements that could resonate with the

children and leave a lasting impression. I repeatedly state that drug addiction is a mental illness

and it is not a choice whether to become addicted or not. Addiction should not be viewed as the

individuals fault as some individuals are predisposed genetically. I centralized the newspaper

around the idea stated within the article that the, “extent brain abnormalities are caused by the

toxic effects of drug exposure, or the possibility that these may have predated drug-taking and

even predisposed individuals for the development of drug dependence” (Ersche). The fact that

some people are highly susceptible to becoming addicted will discourage the readers from

experimenting with drugs. It is emphasized that because their genetic predisposition to drugs are
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unknown, it is an extreme risk to try a drug. Peer pressure to abuse drugs may harm the other

person to a greater extent than expected due to genetics unknown to the individuals as, “drug

dependence is increasingly recognized as a ‘relapsing’ brain disorder” (Ersche). Bringing

awareness that there is a genetic factor to drug addiction will hopefully diminish a person's

willingness to peer pressure another because their predisposition is unknown. In the translation I

had to remove a majority of the statistics and experimental evidence because of its complexity.

Although a lot of data had to be removed in order to be understandable for children, powerful

and insightful information was added as an effective replacement. This included images and

haiku poems to provide a multimodal method of communicating ideas. The most effective

literacy practices are those that, “use written language in an integrated way as part of a range of

semiotic systems; these semiotic systems include mathematical systems, musical notation, maps

and other non-text based images'' (Hamilton). In order to effectively communicate an idea or

argument multiple literacies must be employed in order to reach various discourse communities.

The translation employing multiple modes of communication made up for the lack of modes

used within the scientific genre. Although discourse communities are not always recognizable,

the best way to reach my intended audience I found was to employ a wide range of literacy

practices and not limit the information audience. Images and poems were made prevalent

throughout the newspaper as many children retain information better when multiple means of

communication are employed such as the linguistic and visual modes.

Translating the complex scientific article into a simplistic newspaper had to overcome

drastic stylistic differences between the two genres. One major challenge was trying to simplify

the complex terms and arguments presented in the neuroscience article to be easily understood. I
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struggled at first with understanding the entirety of the article as it is filled with subject specific

jargon which then needed to summarize the main arguments and evidence into concise and clear

chunks. By making the claims from the article precise, the newspaper article caters to the short

attention spans of the elementary school children. Another major challenge in translating the

article was to make impactful so as to actually affect how a student would perceive drugs. I

believe I was able to overcome this challenge as I fragmented the information into strong

declarative statements that the students could absorb and carry with them into adulthood. I

furthered the impact of the newspaper by pushing the most important information near the top of

the article and then by making each section limited to a singular idea in accordance with the

newspaper genre. I organized the argument from the scientific article simply as, “it draws upon

sources and builds arguments from research done by experts and reported in journal articles and

books...provides data for a more accessible argument...which addresses a broader readership”

(Lunsford). It was vital for this translation that the academic arguments could be transformed

into a straightforward and basic argument that could be easily followed by younger readers. The

entire purpose of this translation was to make this valuable information inclusive to all readers

and overcome the restrictions of the scientific genre. Lastly, I faced the challenge of keeping

children, often with increasingly short attention spans, interested and passionate about the

information being presented throughout the newspaper. To solve this issue I catered to their short

attention spans by only having short articles, having haiku’s for poems and littering the page

with images to entice the readers to pick up the paper. The haiku facilitated the students'

understanding of the dangers of drug addiction by employing minimalist strategies and making

every word count to paint a stark, impactful picture.

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The genre employed within the newspaper is much different than the original scientific

journal article throughout its implied and assumed features. The genre originally was very

exclusive and only a niche community was able to appreciate and understand the knowledge

being provided. Due to the translation, the research originally complex, can be understood at its

core arguments by nearly all levels of education. As the exclusivity is dropped, the importance of

the research increases as now impressionable children can employ critical thinking and have

genuine facts to resist peer pressure when it comes to drugs. Drug prevention has become the

content most important within the translation of the article and assumes the reader has begun to

critically think about their choices and path in life. The overall attitude employed through the

newspaper is one of hope. The translation spreads scientific information to bring widespread

awareness to drug addiction and to prevent further affliction from this devastating mental illness,

a goal not met through the limitations of the scientific biology genre.
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Work Cited

Barton, D., Hamilton, M., & Ivanič, R. (2000). Situated literacies.​ London: Routledge.

Ersche, K. D., Jones, P. S., Williams, G. B., Turton, A. J., Robbins, T. W., & Bullmore, E.

T. (2012). Abnormal Brain Structure Implicated in Stimulant Drug Addiction. ​Science,

335​(6068), 601-604. doi:10.1126/science.1214463

Lunsford, A. A., & Ruskiewicz, J. J. (2019). 17. In ​Everything's an argument​ (6th ed., pp.

379-411). Boston, MA: Bedford/St Martin's.