Report on My Interviews

I had an interview with Dr. Marion Slack on Friday. This is what I learned.

OpenClipartVerctors "Job Interview" 10-22-13 via Pixabay
CC0 Public Domain 

INTERVIEW INFORMATION 

1. What are the most significant or interesting genres that you learned about from your interviewees? Please identify at least THREE specific genres from your discipline/field of study that your interview subjects discussed writing within. 

In the interview Dr. Slack told me that the three most significant or interesting genres that she has personally dealt with have been (1) writing research publications (2) writing a textbook and (3) creating lectures/powerpoints for her class. 

2. How do these genres differ from one another? Think about things like genre convention, content, purpose, audience, message, and context as you describe these differences.

Each genre has specific conventions that are utilized to best convey the information/purpose of the text. Dr. Slack mentioned that each research publication that she has written has had a very specific or structured "formula". The same could be said about a lecture or textbook. The content, purpose, audience, message, and context differ accordingly as well. The audience of a textbook are pharmacy students, while the audience of a journal publication are other researchers. 

3. Based on the information you gathered in your interviews, what is challenging and/or difficult about writing within these genres (from a professional's point of view)?

Dr. Slack said that the most challenging and/or difficult aspect about writing within these genres is the fact that there isn't a method to learn how to do it. It is essentially an on-the-job skill that is only acquired through experience. She also said that collaborating with others can at times be challenging because everyone writes a certain way and it can be difficult to get everything to flow smoothly. 

4. Based on the information you gathered in your interviews, what is exciting and/or rewarding about writing within these genres (from a professional's point of view)?

As tedious as writing a textbook was Dr. Slack said that is was the most exciting genre that she has written in so far. She really enjoyed breaking down information rather than just reporting it. She claimed that is was the most rewarding when it all came together, and she got to see her handwork implemented in a schools setting. However, she hopes that one day she will be able to write in first person.

5. Where in mass media - popular, academic, and/or social - can examples of this genre be found? If genre examples cannot be found within mass media easily, where can genre examples be found/located?

 Within mass media these genres can be mainly found in an academic setting. Textbooks, lectures, and PowerPoints can be easily accessed in a classroom or library setting, while research publications could be found online or in an academic journal. Dr. Slack told me that the best place to find academic journals would be a database such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).