Zoe Underwood

Professor Bocchino

WRIT 2

5 March 2024

Part 1: The Reality Of Being LGBTQ+

Open to a courtroom in Michigan, pan past jury to judge:

Judge

Same-sex marriage has been ruled illegal in the state of Michigan.

Cut to tv in a living room watching the news:

News Anchor

How do you feel about the recent ruling in Michigan against the right to LGBTQ+ marriage?..

Interview fades to background, camera switches to family in their living room watching:

Girlfriend One

What are we going to do now? *breathes shakily, tearing up* We were supposed to get married

in the spring…after all this time we can’t even…*begins to sob*

Child

Mommy, please don’t cry!

Girlfriend Two

We will figure this out, it’s going to be okay my love, please… *hugs girlfriend one and child

tightly*

Fade out

Fades back in on Girlfriend One filling out a form online

 Girlfriend Two

What are you doing Lalya?

Layla

*sitting in the chair at the kitchen table* Filling out this survey I read about in the paper. They

are trying to complete a study that may help to nullify the same-sex marriage law. It’s all online

too and the most interesting part is it's nationwide. I feel like we’re all in this together, Jess!

Jess

Wow, I’m glad you are getting to be a part of this and possibly have some kind of in our future!

Let me know if you need anything, Layla, okay? *Grabs shoulders tenderly and kisses the top of

Layla’s head* I love you.

Layla

*Looks up at Jess gingerly* I love you too.

Fades to montage of people’s faces (participants of the survey– not all 1,486 pictured)

Cuts to a conference room, round table with men and women in discussion

Academic One

So, *leans forward in char* the survey results are coming back in. It’s time for us to review the

answers so we can finalize our findings in the article.

Academic Two

*Turns on projector to graphs* From what we can see, several main themes were being,

indignant about discrimination or denial of rights, distressed by the negative rhetoric of the

campaign, fearful or anxious about protecting their families, feeling alienated (political, social),

blaming (targets included institutional religion or religious people, ignorance, homophobia, fear,

hate, conservative politicians, ineffective political strategies, hopeless or resigned, and hopeful,
 optimistic, or determined. But the characteristics with the highest percentages were blaming,

indignant about discrimination and denial of rights, hopeful/optimistic/determined, and feeling

alienated.

Academic One

Now, *looks around the room* after seeing these results, does anyone have a concrete summary

of our overall findings that they’d like to present?

Academic Three

Well, a strong connection between most of our participants that we can see is the emotional

distress that legalized homophobia induces.

Academic Four

*cuts in* As well as anger and confusion on the misrepresentation within media and politicians

endorsing anti-LGBTQ+ laws and restrictions. Often blaming the government and suffering from

alienation.

Academic Two

These most recent rulings have led many LGBTQ+ members to begin to feel hopeless and

resigned. I think within the discussion section of our paper, we should include how members of

the community are beginning to accept this as their future and see no way out of it.

Academic One

*Clears throat* All very good points everyone, lets divide these portions evenly between us and

get to writing! We’ll reconvene tomorrow to workshop putting it all together. You’re dismissed.

All researchers pack up and leave the room, end scene.

Part 2:

I chose to translate "Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals’ Psychological Reactions to

Amendments Denying Access to Civil Marriage” into a script because it seemed like an ideal

way to summarize my article and capture its main points while also bringing some sort of

dramatization of LGBTQ+ rights and kind of take the text into a more relevant platform. When

beginning my translation from the academic article to the script, I wanted to be sure to

incorporate as much information from the original text as possible but make sure to format it in

the way of a dramatic TV show. Yes, this is an important topic, and I want that to be reflected in

my translation, but I also add a layer of drama into the script to keep it with that TV genre. Some

of the integral parts of the academic journal are why the paper was written in the first place,

LGBTQ+ discrimination within laws/the government. And also the study because it displays

their findings, gives credibility to their argument, and is a clear reason why the government

should restructure the system that creates space for LGBTQ+ hate. Within my translation,

capturing the essence of the academic article is my main goal, while also bringing a story to life

to illustrate the interconnectedness of the issue and everyday people’s lives.

The conventions I plan to change in my new genre are the jargon. I will be using more

up-to-date terms/words that the academic article would not. This is a much more relevant genre

being translated into television and I made it feel relatable to this new audience and give it an

overall younger vibe. The tone as well is a big one. I wanted to keep the tone generally the same

because this topic is very important and I do not want to dumb it down or take away from its

magnitude in any way. It will likely be slightly different just because this genre is much less

structured but I want to keep the seriousness of the academic article. The biggest convention that

I bent between texts was definitely format. The concerns I had with writing in this non-academic
genre were mostly about getting the format correct and creating characters with enough depth to

carry out the storyline. In such a short scene, it is difficult to really highlight who a character is

and why they are in this certain scene. Even though I believe I overcame these limitations, it is

still not to the same level as someone from within the craft itself.

Two of the assigned readings I used my knowledge of were Bickmore’s, “General In The

Wild” and Elbow’s “Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking”. These two readings were more towards

the beginning of class but they proved to be strong foundation points for me within the class.

Bickmore’s article on genre was kind of crucial to my translation because it justifies my choice

of my new genre and presents what a genre truly is and what that means for a given text. As

Bickmore states, “When a writer decides or intuits that a particular genre is called for by the

situation, he or she takes up the genre and uses it to frame a written response to the situation”

(Bickmore). This demonstrates why I formatted my translation the way I did and adhered to its

specific conventions. This was our first text but it taught me valuable information on the true

definition of genre and how it can be different for every text. As for the Elbow text, I wanted to

use it because I feel like it showcases the difference in the genre I chose and the original one the

text was written in. The academic article is more of a second-order way of thinking while my

script is leaning more towards first-order. I understand that the two are never absolute and

intersect at points. But, it is the general thought process behind the two genres that is different.

First-order thinking is defined as a more creative way of thinking that does not have much

control (Elbow). Within a script, there is a specific format therefore a form of control, as I

mentioned earlier some intersections, but the flow of the scene comes from the writer's creativity

and free thought. It is purely based on how the writer feels about their story or characters. In

second-order thinking the identifying factors are seen as critical often involving deep analysis
(Elbow). That is when I understood the key differences between imaginative and analytical

writing. Both take a certain level of first and second-order thinking to formulate a strong text.

But, different texts will associate more with one or the other depending on its intended purpose

and audience.

The discourse community that my academic article is participating in uses the specific

conventions I previously mentioned such as jargon, tone, and format, to establish its relationship

with LGBTQ+ members and establish some forms of credibility. Overall these conventions are

not specific to my discourse community but they are utilized in a way that the community will

relate to personally. In the article, “Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals’ psychological

reactions to amendments denying access to civil marriage”, the overall tone is serious and

academic. You can infer this from sentences such as, “Political campaigns to deny same-sex

couples the right to civil marriage have been demonstrated to increase minority stress and

psychological distress in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals..” (Rostosky et al). This is

the opening part of the academic paper, from the start, demonstrating the seriousness of the topic.

That is something I wanted to keep similar within my translation, but in the same respect, it is a

television show script so it needed to have an air of interest and less cut-and-dry language. Some

conventions that are specific to my non-academic genre in my translated text are again format,

plot, mood, and characters. A script must follow a specific format, not only for the actors but

also for the director, stage crew, scene designers, etc., (Miyamoto). This is essential to how they

perceive the scene and every element that needs to be present in it. The plot gives the whole

episode direction and a purpose. To create a show that is relatable and sends the intended

message across, the plot is crucial (Miyamoto). Mood is another convention that can change the

interpretation of a script. Depending on the mood of the scene, actors and directors may express
different emotions, shoot from different angles, or change the pace of a scene. This is why mood

carries the significance of a script and the feelings it aims to convey. The last convention I want

to mention is the characters. Characters help bring a script to life and form a bond between a

viewer and a series (Smith). If every person in a show were just a blank face, consumers of this

media would feel disconnected and it would negate the purpose of its creation. Specifically with

a script like this one, characters that are relatable and present their archetypes best are the most

effective way to incite viewer engagement and bonds with the intended purpose of the show.

With my script, that is a largely essential task because the academic article I translated intends to

form bonds with the LGBTQ+ audience and make them feel less alienated during a period of

political and social uncertainty.

To accomplish my translation, I utilized the main points of the academic article as key

plot points for the script. Then I created a few characters to foster some connection between my

readers and the storyline. I also wanted to add emotional and dramatic depth by introducing,

albeit brief, family struggles. One of the major reformations from the academic to the non-

academic text that I knew was important to the new genre of my translation was originating a

solid plot, I wanted the story to follow a flow. I wanted to bring a face, or in this case, faces, to

the study and also those behind its creation. This was important not only to the plot but to the

mood of the script. I think there were definitely a few places where I bent the rules of a script. I

have never written one before so it is not perfect but for the most part, it is pretty accurate. The

biggest rule I broke would probably be for scene designers because I did not give much scene

description as it likely needs to be much more detailed.

 Works Cited

Rostosky, Sharon Scales; Riggle, Ellen D. B; Horne, Sharon G; Denton, F. Nicholas;

Huellemeier, Julia Darnell. "Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals’ Psychological Reactions to

Amendments Denying Access to Civil Marriage." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 80, no.

3 (2010). https://www.proquest.com/docview/1492509038?pq-

origsite=primo&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals

Miyamoto, Ken. "How to Structure and Format Your Television Scripts." Thescriptlab. March

23, 2018. https://thescriptlab.com/features/screenwriting-101/8930-how-to-structure-and-format-

your-television-scripts/.

Miyamoto, Ken. "HOW TO STRUCTURE A GREAT TV PILOT." ScreenCraft. July 14, 2023.

https://screencraft.org/blog/how-to-structure-a-great-tv-pilot/.

Smith, Anja. "How to Write a Scene: Tips for Structure, Timing, and Revision." TCK

Publishing.Com. https://www.tckpublishing.com/how-to-write-a-scene/.

Bickmore, Lisa. "General in the Wild." PressBooks.

https://pressbooks.pub/openenglishatslcc/chapter/genre-in-the-wild-understanding-genre-within-

rhetorical-ecosystems/.

Elbow, Peter. 1986. Embracing Contraries: Explorations in Learning and Teaching. Oxford

University Press.