Blending Genre, Altering Style : Writing Multigenre Papers

This book is a little unconventional, especially for the typical English literature major who writes dozens of traditional papers every semester. The ideas are fascinating, though. Teachers should consider this book if they wish to allow their students to express their ideas in a format that feels more natural. I have not had the opportunity to teach multi-genre papers yet, but I am currently experimenting with writing one now. If any of this fits your interest, this book is a must-have.

This is an excellent introduction to multigenre papers, and Romano is kind of the multigenre guru, so it's a great source. This book is relatively short, it offers 4-5 excellent and varied examples of multigenre papers, it offers lots of genre ideas and strategies for practicing them, and it offers an overview of the multigenre philosophy. I'd say this is a must for anyone asking students to create multigenre projects, but it's a good book about writing even if you're not using it specifically for multigenre.

As a middle school teacher interested in assigning a multigenre writing project for the first time, I was told that Tom Romano's BLENDING GENRE, ALTERING STYLE was the go-to book for such writings. Overall, I wasn't disappointed. Romano provides explanations of various genres he teaches and examples of actual papers. Although I am pleased with the book, I wish it provided slightly more on two fronts:1.) I hoped for more coverage of the many genres that could be used for such projects. Although Romano dedicated pages to the more-popular choices, he could have devoted a chapter to many other genres, even if he included a dozen or more and devoted only a paragraph to each one.2.) The complete examples, while appreciated, are geared to high school and college-aged audiences. I hoped that the high school example might be suitable for middle school as an exemplar, but it examines race and the young author uses a frank tone on a tough topic. And while there is an example by a 7th grader, it looks and reads a bit "young" as it is handwritten and replete with drawings of dinosaurs (the common thread, in this case).Still, I think Romano's text is worth purchasing as there are not many books on this topic and the whole idea has obvious merit. One highlight is the inclusion of advice from teachers who have already gone down this path. They share thoughts on how many genres, how much time, whether research should be an included component, and so forth. These asides are an excellent addition to the book.

A great book for multi genre research! Very approachable and accessible.

Good life

This is the right book I needed for my class. It was cheaper than if I were to purchase it in the bookstore so I was very happy about saving money.

This was a great help in one of my courses.

I took his advice - it works. Written before the current onslaught of genre-bending technology, Romano's words never get old or out of date. He rocks.