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Sarah Freeze
Zack De Piero
Writing 2
March 16, 2015
Translating Genres: The Uncreative Persons Nightmare
When I signed up for this Writing 2 class, I did not guess that I would be spending
a few hours creating a small billboard and comic strip. Before taking this class, if
someone told me that I would be translating genres by making these pieces, my reaction
might have been to sigh and roll my eyes because it would have sounded pointless and
difficult to me. However, now that I am in the class, I realize that doing this helpful
hands-on activity does drive home the concepts of genres and moves. For this project, I
chose a journal article from Romanian Journal of Pediatrics titled Vegetarian Diet in
Children. When translating this writing into a billboard and comic strip, I thought about
the main points of the journal article and decided which genre would fit younger and
older audiences, which conventions I should follow, the moves to make, and the style
of language to use.
The main points of Vegetarian Diet in Children are to provide information about
the daily nutrition that non-meat-eating children need and to remind parents about
carefully monitoring this. The article prompts parents to make sure they are feeding their
children enough nutrition every day in order to prevent deficiencies. I concluded that
these were the main ideas because they were included in the abstract and conclusion.
After deciding on the main points and important information, I determined what
moves, or a uniquely chosen combination of techniques that writers use in their work,
to use for my pieces. Author Scott McCloud summarizes the decisions I considered; he

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states that there are the choices of moment, frame, image, word, and flow, and that
together these five kinds of choices are what communicating through comics requires
(37). I applied this to my comic because I wanted it to mimic a conventional comic strip.
When making the billboard, I also considered these choices and, therefore, I used certain
moves so that my billboard relayed the same information as the journal article and
followed the expected conventions of billboards. This idea follows what Losh and
Alexander say when they remind people to keep in mind the various factors that go into
performance and what effect they have (131). Identity, date evidence, tone, and voice are
a few factors that Losh and Alexander mention.
When I began to create my genre pieces, I needed to find a way to be creatively
inspired. I chose the journal article about vegetarianism in children because it is a topic I
can relate to. Cartoonists Elizabeth Losh and Jonathan Alexander provide a helpful tip to
writers like me by remarking you might offer insights about your own life and
experiences as a way to connect with your readers (122). I took note of this advice and,
although I did not directly include myself in the comic strip, I found inspiration to write
due to personal experience as a vegetarian.
For the comic strip, I had a goal of educating children about vegetarianism and
persuading them to ask their moms if they are receiving enough nutrition every day.
Having dialogue between two little girls creates a relatable and relevant conversation for
a younger audience of children. For example, sometimes kids have strange food that is
unfamiliar to other children and they may be teased for eating different foods at
lunchtime. I also wanted the dialogue and comic strip to appear cool so that it would be
attention grabbing and appealing to all children.

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Young vegetarian children, such as first graders, are my intended audience so I
wrote using vocabulary that children who are beginning to read could easily understand. I
knew I needed to simplify the language so I kept rewriting some of the sentences when I
realized that the language was too complex. For example, I realized that some children
might not know what the term vegetarian means. In the process of planning, I changed
vegetarian instead to people who dont eat meat. I purposely included having one of
the girls eat tofu and having the other clueless about that white stuff was because that is
typical of first grade speech. Because I wanted to communicate the main points to
children in an educational way, I did not feel compelled to use humor, even though most
comics are funny. I thought that adding humor would be inappropriate and unhelpful
because it might take the focus off of the main points, and this is an example of a move
I chose.
At first, I handwrote the comic strip, even though I struggle with drawing stick
figures. However, I wanted to consider professionalizing the piece so I found a
generating website that allowed me to custom make it. Adding colorful characters will
better capture childrens interest and look more like the genre of comic strips.
Besides entertaining characters, children expect pictures and word bubbles in a
comic strip. In order to avoid taking the focus off of the lengthy speech bubbles, I did not
drastically change the background. I chose the setting to be at an elementary school
during recess because children can relate to talking and playing with their friends at their
own school. It would not make sense to choose a place such as a work cubicle. These
characteristics are conventional to comic strips so I made sure to include them.

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Lastly, it was important for me to consider why someone would make a comic
strip about vegetarians. To my knowledge, that is not a common theme in the genre.
Nevertheless, my comic strips purpose is to educate children about nutrition in
vegetarian diets, so a health institution or government-sponsored organization may pay a
comic strip artist to create a series of these to try to keep their nations children healthier.
Comparably, the billboard I created has the same purpose of bringing awareness
to vegetarian kids nutrition. It could have been made due to a government initiative in an
effort to reduce health risks in children or also by a non-profit organization, such as North
American Vegetarian Society. Individuals could have funded this project because of
personal motivations or convictions, such as if they knew a vegetarian child who lacked
proper nutrition and developed an illness or condition. Either way, the purpose of the
billboard is to bring to peoples attention an issue that should be taken seriously.
I wanted my billboard to capture the attention of mothers who are raising
vegetarian children. In order to be impactful, I want the billboards message to have a
relatable and serious tone. According to the article, most people choose to be vegetarian
because of religious, moral, or health reasons. From personal observations, I know that
being vegetarian tends to appeal to certain types of people and has more prevalence in
certain ethnicities. Because of this, I chose a Caucasian mother with three young children
as one of the main images.
As well as with the comic strip, I had the freedom to choose different moves I
could make. McCloud relates his knowledge of comic strips, In short, sometimes just
telling it straight, with clarity as your guide, is the best way for stories to gather steam
(51). This applies to creating a billboard because there is limited room to include

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information so, therefore, short and to-the-point wording proves to be necessary. I also
followed Losh and Alexanders idea that striking a forceful yet measured tone
encourages your audience to take you seriously (129). I realize that, in order to persuade
mothers to heed the warning of deficiencies, it needs to sound realistic and relatable.
Choosing a photo of a mom with healthy and well-off children around her and
also one of an array of vegetables creates a positive image for vegetarianism. Technically,
vegetarians do not necessarily eat more vegetables, but simply avoid eating meat.
However, I including this image because of its conventionality to vegetarians and the
colors of it can grab peoples attention.
As with most billboards, I bolded the main topic phrase and put it at the top in the
center. I paraphrased the main points in the article so that they were blunter and less
wordy. On the bottom right corner, I included a fake website address to take the place of
the billboards sponsor. Colors are also a common move used with billboards because it
helps catch drivers attention.
The location of the billboard must also be considered. When a person drives on
the freeway at seventy-five miles per hour, he or she will have little time to read much.
However, I also included more information in smaller font because the billboard may be
located next to a slow country road where drivers may be able to read for a longer period
of time. Billboards also appear in a crowded city area such as Time Square in New York
where people drive and walk. Putting this billboard in these various locations all serves
the same purpose of drawing viewers attention to the information and message
displayed.

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Surprisingly, I enjoyed translating the academic scholarly journal article. I put a
lot of time and thought into making the different pieces just right. Filling out the Writing
2 WP3 Preparation worksheet helped me significantly because it really allowed me to
think about my intended audiences and purpose behind the writing. This activity and
essay helped me realize how genres are created and their importance.

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Works Cited
Anton-Paduraru, Dana-Teodora, et al. "Vegetarian Diet In Children." Romanian Journal
of Pediatrics 63.4 (2014): 357-361. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb.
2015.
Losh, Elizabeth M., and Jonathan Alexander. "Writing Identities." Understanding
Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print.
McCloud, Scott. "Writing with Pictures." Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics,
Manga and Graphic Novels. New York: Harper, 2006. Print.
Pictures Taken from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-amy-shah/i-play-a-game-withmy-kids-called-meditation_b_5086362.html and
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/138063544802089733/

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