Medina 1

Ashley Medina

Kaaronica Evans

Writing 2

January 29, 2024

Writing Project 1: Genre Translation

Proposal

The article that I will be translating is A framework for localizing global climate solutions

and their carbon reduction potential. The article discusses the possibility of considering systems

of climate solutions taken from the Paris Agreement that can benefit climate effects, public

health, employment and equity issues. The study that is being reported is a hypothetical study

using a systematic methodology of possible solutions to reduce the carbon emissions emitted

based in Georgia. It proposes an estimate of how much it would help reduce the carbon footprint

by applying these 20 solutions. They provide a table with the category that they want to target

and the respective solutions they could follow in order to minimize the carbon footprint. The

audience for this piece of research are the individuals concerned with climate change and the

increasing negative effects resulting from the increase in average temperature, as well as the

government. It was published on July 26 2021 so it is relatively recent, which was meant to

address the dire need for action, it was meant to educate the public on the benefits we could gain

from using the solutions listed. Although these are not long-term solutions they serve a purpose

at providing people with an idea and opportunity to slow down the process of climate change.

The genre that I will be translating into is a personal letter. Personal letters allow the

writer to write in an informal tone that permits for a more personal and casual conversation with

the recipient. The audience for this letter will be a colleague/friend of mine interested in the topic
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about climate change solutions. Discussing the results and methods used in the research article. I

have chosen this specific translation because this topic interests me as I am currently taking a

class about the climate crisis and have hoped to have a discussion about it with people that take

interest in it as well. Considering that a personal letter can serve as a conversation between

people in a casual form. This genre would help me learn how to enter into an academic

discussion with people in a casual manner, it can help me improve my communication skills

through my writing.

Genre Translation

January 29, 2024

Dear Friend,
I am glad to hear that you are on track with your classes this quarter and that you will
have a chance to visit Santa Barbara during President's weekend. I have been thinking about the
discussion that we had regarding global warming. I decided to take a course on the climate crisis
this quarter and am enjoying it so far. The course is divided into two parts, one where we talk
about the negative impact that humans have contributed to the climate and the other where we
will be learning about solutions and techniques to lower the carbon emissions. We have been
discussing the negative impact of global temperature rising which has begun to make me worry
about the future, which is why I decided to do some research on solutions to delay carbon
emissions. I know that you are an environmental science and management major so I wanted to
discuss with you the content of this article I found. I know that it will definitely pique your
interest and I hope it encourages you to do some of your own research regarding climate change
solutions. I know that being educated is helpful for this topic because it allows us to take
initiative with this issue and it can help us educate others.
The study A Framework for Localizing Global Climate Solutions and their Carbon
Reduction Potential proposes a system of climate solutions that can benefit the climate effects
caused by humans actions through a case study that reduces the carbon emissions in Georgia. I
like that they provide you with an explanation as to why we should care about this and
implement it. As well as providing the audience with an introduction about the Paris Agreement
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and what it entails. The fact that the US government lacks action with climate goals is very
frustrating. In class we discussed the lack of responsibility taken by companies that are part of
the fossil fuel industry. It is enraging to learn about companies like Exxon who studied the
effects of fossil fuel years ago and decided to cover them up by spreading uncertainty in the
public.We should be making policies in order to reduce the carbon emissions and establish a
comprehension for the problem at hand The outline and estimate provided by this study have
taken into account the social, ecological and technological issues regarding climate change.
It estimates that the solutions can reduce carbon emissions by 37% in 2030 in
comparison to the 2017 levels. They give you a table containing a category of sources of carbon
emissions and solutions to minimize carbon footprint. If I am not mistaken I believe they took 20
of the solutions listed in the Paris Agreement. I learned about the Paris Agreement very broadly
but would like to know more about it. I remember you brought it up once after we talked about
how the government was failing to assume responsibility for their actions. After the table we are
presented with two charts one of them showing us the achievable potential if we follow these 20
solutions and the next is our technical potential. Not only do they consider the impact they have
on the climate but also the benefits that we can obtain through politics and the economy. There
are two more charts listed which I have a hard time understanding, so I was hoping that you
could in some way describe them to me. However reading the description of them definitely
helped a bit.
The study picked seven of the 20 listed solutions and described them more in detail.
I thought it was a great idea when they started mentioning maximizing synergies to minimize
competing effects. The way that they stated that a solution could help another solution reduce
carbon emissions. As well as the solutions competing amongst themselves. The example
provided was that in the case of reducing food waste then it would minimize the need for organic
waste stream which could limit the production of landfill methane. The way in which they
provided solutions and allowed them to interact in a way that resulted in such beneficial synergy
is amazing. Although there is more to discuss about this article I wish for you to read it first and
form your own opinion about it.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this study, I found it quite interesting myself.
Although there are limitations to it, it does seem like a beneficial course of action to take in order
to achieve a net zero carbon emission. The solutions proposed in this research paper appeared
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reasonable. I can’t wait to see you in person, I will definitely show you around Isla Vista and
take you to the beach.
Take Care, Ashley Medina
Reflection:

The audience I am addressing is different to the audience addressed by the primary

source document because I have narrowed it down to one person whereas for the source it is a

group of people. My audience had been limited down to one person because of the type of genre

that I have picked. My primary source is a type of study which is meant to be read by a bigger

audience, it serves to educate the reader about the issue. I chose translating it into a personal

letter because I wanted to challenge myself into making it more of a casual conversation between

a friend and myself and explore its conventions. By translating it into a personal letter I could

have a deeper connection with the correspondent, it shows how important the topic is to me. I

also had an interest in the current issues regarding climate change so I thought that I could

inform myself on the topic more as well. I was interested in how people were coming up with

solutions that could be implemented by a large population. Many of the solutions proposed are

usually targeted towards rich people and the government because they need funds to put some of

them into action. Looking at this research paper I was really surprised to see solutions that were

helpful and that were specific to the state of Georgia.

Integrating the information I gained from the research paper into the translation was not

difficult. The reading “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott helped me with organizing my

thoughts. I took notes about the article in a separate document. As a read along I would write key

points mentioned in the text and then things that I should include in the translation. Then I tried

to piece them together by rambling on with ideas of how I could elaborate. Lamott says “the first

draft is the child’s draft,.. let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that
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no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later”. This helped so much because it provides

me with a sense of reassurance that it is acceptable to have really bad drafts that helps you be

creative through writing what you are thinking about. This allowed me to write the information

from the research paper in sections and then work towards making it coherent without having to

worry much about it. Making sure I covered the reason why I chose the topic, what it would

discuss, a bit of data and facts, and how I viewed it.

As it is a scholarly paper, I wanted to make it easier to understand as the text itself was

hard to comprehend at times from the vocabulary used. It was only possible to understand based

on Karen Rosenberg’s “Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources” advice. The

author suggested we look at the structure of the writing, dissect the article by reading the title,

abstract, introduction, section headings, and conclusion. This was helpful advice because reading

over them made it better to understand. Not only that but understanding the main argument of the

article helps in finding the evidence/reasons they make to try and back up the claim. This helped

me integrate ideas about the change in environment described in the abstract and then list the

study by its steps, as well as incorporate statistics. Choosing a personal letter as the new genre

allowed me to communicate the issue regarding the climate crisis by making it more personal in

a way that allowed for a discussion to occur. I say personal because then the intended audience

gets my undivided attention and we are able to have a scholarly conversation about a serious

topic. As the climate crisis is an important issue I wanted to showcase that by writing a letter to

someone it can point out how this topic should be taken seriously. Rather than telling a large

group of people in which case you may not overhear someone's comment. Writing a personal

letter serves as a form of intimate communication. At times when you talk about important topics

it is very helpful to have a discussion to grasp a better understanding of it, this was something
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that Rosenberg also stated. The way in which I integrated information from the primary source

onto my new genre was by describing the steps that it took in order to come to the conclusion

that the solutions listed would be effective for carbon emissions reduction. I incorporated some

of the key findings and interests of mine from the article in order to provide an understanding of

the article before my intended audience was given the opportunity to read about it.

The article was hard to follow at times so there were some aspects of it that I left out, but

I tried to explain the method used as much as possible and also included the interpretation of

some of the graphs provided. In Lisa Bickmore’s, “The Information Effect” she says “A writer

who wants to achieve the information effect, … will do research to obtain that information and

will organize the information in such a way that a reader can understand it”. Which in a way is a

reason as to why I incorporated some information and left out other parts of it. I left out the

scientific and mathematical problems from the letter because that was data that could be read by

the audience. There was a lot of background information that was educational but it was not the

main point of the case study so I highlighted some of the key elements that were discussed and

not all of them. This allowed me to make it clear about the points of interest in the article that

stood out to me. Not only using it to inform my audience but persuade them to consider what I

discussed and elaborate on it later on.

One of the challenges I faced when translating it into a different genre was creating a

stable balance between having enough factual data but keeping it at a casual tone with. Not only

that but the vocabulary/terminology that was used in the article was hard for me to understand.

There were some times where I had to look up certain words to understand the reading. One of

the ways in which I was able to follow along with the text was to use a website that allowed me

to copy and paste parts of the article to use vocabulary that was more simple and easier to
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understand, sometimes describing it in parenthesis. This was helpful because I was able to split

screen and dissect the article better by having the original text on one side and the simplified on

the other. The challenge regarding balancing tone and information was achieved by having

someone else read over it and then have them describe if the letter was easy to understand and if

they could find points to discuss if they were the intended audience and had to write a letter

back. By translating the document from a research document into a personal letter I had to learn

how to change the tone, approach the writing in a more casual way and make it engaging for my

targeted audience which in this case is a friend of mine.

Writing a reflection on my translation has definitely helped me be more critical of my

work and try to find ways to improve it. Even now there are changes that I wish I had made, this

is all part of the reason why writing is in a way never ending and never perfect. There are always

changes that you can add to it to improve it. Sandra L. Giles “Reflective Writing and the

Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?” talks about how important it is to revise your

work and provides many examples as to how to do it effectively. However, one of the things she

mentioned that really stuck with me was “One of the most important functions of reflective

writing in the long run is to establish in you, the writer, a habitat of self-reflective thinking”.

During the process of writing this assignment I have thought about my writing more than I

normally would. Translating this into a personal letter meant that I had to think about creating

key topics that we could go back to and discuss in “future replies''. It was not a one sided

informational approach, it was more of a conversation so I had to bring up points that I found

interesting that can result in a casual yet stimulating discussion between us. It allowed me to use

my creativity more, by allowing myself to write in a more casual way and also helped me get a

better understanding of research articles.

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Work Cited

Bickermore, Lisa. The Information Effect: The Facts, The Figures, The So What?.

Contingency: How we Situate Writing to Create Meaning. PB Pressbooks. 2016

https://ucsb.instructure.com/courses/17759/pages/week-1-%7C-readings-and-resources?module_

item_id=1041618

Brown, M. A., Dwivedi, P., Mani, S., Matisoff, D. C., Mohan, J. E., Mullen, J. D.,

Oxman, M., Rodgers, M. O., Simmons, R., Beasley, B., & Polepeddi, L. (2021). A framework

for localizing global climate solutions and their carbon reduction potential. Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(31).

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100008118

Giles L. Sandra, Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?.

Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing, Volume 1, 2010.

https://ucsb.instructure.com/courses/17759/pages/week-1-%7C-readings-and-resources?

module_item_id=1041618

Lamott, Anne. “Shitty First Drafts'' Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life,

1994.

https://ucsb.instructure.com/courses/17759/pages/week-1-%7C-readings-and-resources?module_

item_id=1041618

Rosenberg, Karen. Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources”. Writing

Spaces: Reading on Writing, Volume 2, 2011.

https://ucsb.instructure.com/courses/17759/pages/week-1-%7C-readings-and-resources?module_

item_id=1041618