Avalos 1

Translation Piece

My genre translation piece is a brochure that warns parents about PTSD symptoms in

children. However, the primary source is a journal article on the effects of trauma in adulthood

and adolescence. Both the brochure and journal article aim to inform, but each with a different

context and approach. The journal article targets a certain group of people who work in

specialized fields of study, such as researchers, scholars, and professionals. Scholarly journals

are read by people who are involved in professional or academic research and who would like to

keep up with recent advancements made to their disciplines. In contrast, the brochure’s purpose

is to educate parents about PTSD by explaining what it is, how PTSD can develop, symptoms,

and how to prevent it.

In the brochure, I aim to teach parents about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

because it is important to create a safe and knowledgeable atmosphere for their child. This can

help parents recognize, understand, and handle any potential trauma symptoms in their children.

It will ultimately improve the family’s general well-being. I incorporated various factors that

contribute to PTSD, while also showing images to make the piece more memorable and

comfortable to grasp. Brochures tend to present information in a concise and organized format.

This allows the reader to easily process the key points without overwhelming the reader. The

format of brochures break down complex concepts into easily understandable components,

helping with easily understanding the material.

Comparing the primary source to the translation piece, I left out a ton of information from

the primary source. My translation piece mainly consisted of information about PTSD in

children, while the primary source was based on a research study conducted on animals to

determine the age that one may develop PTSD. The information that I need to discuss in my
 Avalos 2

brochure is based on the first few pages of the primary source, but I did acknowledge the

statistics of children who develop PTSD in the image provided. The study did not need to be a

huge part of the infographic because it only proves the point that children have a chance of

developing PTSD. The main idea of the brochure is a summary of the study finding that children

can have PTSD. However, I did add many components to the brochure such as images to help

convey information more effectively, but I also incorporated forms of preventing PTSD in a

child. Providing a description of PTSD is one way of informing parents, but helping them

become aware of how to help is crucial to parenting. The brochure aims to reduce stigma and

encourage open communication within families.

Along the way of creating the translation piece, I had trouble deciding how much of the

original source material to include in my piece. The journal article has over 18 pages of

information, while the brochure can only provide concise information and graphics. While

creating the translation piece, I focused on the purpose of the new piece instead of trying to

summarize the primary source. The primary source provided background information on PTSD,

but the research was the key point to the article. Since the brochure aims to inform, I prioritized

keeping the key information about PTSD. This assignment helps me understand how to convert

genres. I learned the expectations associated within each genre which helps with my

understanding of communication strategies. I also believe that it helps me show information in a

way that resonates with specific expectations of my audience. Overall, learning to convert genres

is a valuable skill that contributes to effective communication, adaptability, and success.

To assist me in writing the translation piece, I used many tools discussed in readings to

help me understand what to incorporate into my piece. One strategy that I used is the idea of

keeping my captions short and having a heading on the brochure (Donegan 114, 117). By using
 Avalos 3

these two strategies, it helps the text resonate with the audience. The concise captions most likely

benefit people who have difficulty understanding long pieces. I figured that parents would

appreciate short texts because most are too busy to sit down and read an entire book on PTSD.

Another tool that I used is understanding which discourse community would be impacted for the

brochure. Ann M. Johns explains that discourse communities are groups of people who share

common goals and communication styles (Johns 500). Discourse communities assisted me in

providing the context necessary for effective communication toward a specific audience.

Communities may possibly have a certain tone and style, but with my intended audience, parents

vary with how much word comprehension they know. My style of writing needed to be simple to

help parents of all levels of english to understand. The third tool that I used is linking my beliefs

to my writing. According to Kevin Roozen’s article, people get more at ease speaking in ways

that are generically favored by the communities that we participate in because our identities

become more in line with their interests and values (Roozen 1). I strongly align with this tool

because I enjoy writing about subjects that interest me the most. It is easier for me to write on an

issue that I have seen others deal with, which is being raised by a parent who does not

acknowledge their child’s mental health. There tends to be a stigma that older generation parents

hold about mental health that involve false beliefs. With my piece, I wanted to alert parents to

take mental health more seriously and to hopefully change any stigmas on mental health that

they may have. The last tool that I used is to give light to belief systems that parents hold about

mental illness in children. In Tony Scott’s article, he explains that when having a conversation,

we tend to adopt the beliefs that others hold when discussing (Scott 1). I tried to persuade my

audience into believing that mental health stigma should stop. I hope to have parents think about

better ways to parent their child and to influence them.

 Avalos 4

Work Cited

Donegan, Rachel. “The Rhetorical Possibilities of Accessibility.”

Johns, Ann M. "Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict,

and Diversity." Text, Role, and Context: Developing Academic Literacies. Cambridge, New

York, Cambridge UP, 1997. 51-70. Print.

Roozen, Kevin. “Writing is linked to identity.”

Scott, Tony. “Writing enacts and creates identities and ideologies.”