Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Date of Graduation
Spring 2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
School of Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication
Advisor(s)
James Zimmerman
Abstract
This book discusses in detail four genres of professional writing that are interwoven but also distinct: creative nonfiction, popular writing, speechwriting, and personal narrative. As such, it is organized in four chapters—one for each genre of professional writing. Each chapter is then broken down further into three sections—research, rhetorical analysis, and creative work. The research sections of each chapter are didactic, providing an understanding of what the genre is, what unique characteristics it has, and how a writer might go about writing a piece in that style. The rhetorical analysis sections look critically at a published piece of writing in that chapter’s genre and dissect its effectiveness. And, finally, the creative work sections are pieces that the author has written herself in that chapter’s genre. The book provides a chronology that advances from theory on writing, to the analysis of successful writers’ work, to the creation of pieces. In other words, it presents an information flow that moves from research to analysis and, finally, to creation.
Recommended Citation
Girard, Rosemary, "The professional writer's many personae: Creative nonfiction, popular writing, speechwriting, and personal narrative" (2015). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 109.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/109
