Kirsyn Brewer 14/11/2013 Mia Eaker English 1101 Genre Rational It seems as if in this modern day, things are

becoming more progressive. Here in America, people seem to be more open with a wide range of events. From the popularity of the novel Fifty Shades of Grey to the election of the first president that isnt an elderly white male, everything seems to have taken a leap in the right direction. And while this is true for some instances, it seems there are still stipulations on several aspects of life that should not be a political issue. Things such as abortion, birth control, and same sex marriage are still under fire. There is no need for a political debate on such issues, but they still are considered problems. In my search for an ad for this genre assignment, I stumbled across an advertisement for marriage equality that stuck with me. It effectively displayed the ridiculous notion of having to ask a plethora of people if an individual is allowed to marry. In the ad, a man is going around the country, knocking on doors, asking if he can marry a woman named Shianna. He roams the country side, stopping every person, knocking on every door, and going into every building asking if he can marry this woman. This continues for a majority of the ad before cutting to black with the words How would you feel if you have to ask six-million people if you could get married. In this ad, the ridiculousness of having to ask anyone that isnt your partner for their hand in marriage is expressed. It makes a comment on this,

and how traditional couples-those between a man and a woman-are not subjected to a countrys vote. The ad targets those that are on the fence or indifferent about same sex marriage, hoping to sway them with logic and emotion. In order to change the genre, I took hold of the idea of requiring a vote to marry and took it and marriage equality to the extreme. By constructing a fictional universe in which all marriage is put to vote, I was able to warp the genre any nearly any way while still retaining the original idea of showing off the complete absurdity of voting on such a basic human right as marriage. In this universe laws have been put in place to ensure that only those capable of preserving the sanctity of marriage are allowed to wed, and all unions much be first reviewed by a committee through memory extraction and then key memories are presented by the public (within predetermined districts) and put to a vote. I explore this and the message of the original ad through a newspaper article about the law, an invitation to come and vote for a marriage, and a short story about the review process and memories on a man how has proposed. When changing the genre of this video ad, I first employed the informative genre of a newspaper article. In this article, I target the average adult human, with an interest in life changing laws. I constructed an article depicting the reactions of both sides, as well as the struggle of the laws passage. This ties in well as an introduction to my fictional universe as well as the idea of marriage equality. By outlining the struggle that has taking place as well as an organization dedicated to marriage equality I bring to life the need for marriage redefinition of marriage, and by outlining the fact that all marriage is put to a vote I take the message of the ad to the extreme.

Generally newspapers are done in a column format, stating the general message in both the first sentence and the headline of the article. A newspaper is supposed to be only fact, with little to know personal opinion, but often times that comes out in the writing of the article anyway. I included this as well, with the writer, Angelia Reader, obviously being a support of the law. I kept the formatting to a simple two column article with only the most basic facts. There is no extravagant language because the audience will likely be the average person searching for information on the issue at hand. I kept the article as close to something that would be in the near future as I could, taking into account the fact that it would likely be online. Though it cant be seen in the print version, the article is in color to accommodate this. My second genre transformation is an invitation sent out to the community, both online and through the mail, requesting that they come and review and vote on the proposal made by Michel Greyson and Zoticus Wilmer. For this genre change, I expressed the idea of marriage equality by making both of my protagonist men. Keeping to the rules of invitations, I added a date, time, and location where the review and voting will be held. In order to hold to the initial message of the ad, I added in a way for the citizens of their district a way to review their memories in full. This, in my opinion, only adds to the absurdity of the idea of voting on marriage in that not only is that right not private, neither is ones own mind. It is begging the question of if we can restrict marriage in the sake of protecting its sanctity, what else may be done to ensure that marriage is a pure thing. This invitation is set up like a standard wedding invitation, in gold and white when it is in color, keeping to the initial topic at hand. I set it up so that all information that could be needed is presented, with a link to search out anything additional. I wanted the invitation to express love and excitement, and I feel that it does with the color scheme and design that was selected. It is an

invitation to come vote on a marriage, keeping to the social issue at hand. With the information provided, it adds an air of desperation, because without the vote of the public, the couple cannot get married. The language used has a slight formal feel, keeping to the theme of a wedding invitation in particular. It expresses the love of the couple, while appealing to the potential voter by requesting that they be a voter rather than just come and vote, and saying it would be an honor for them to come. Both of these makes the individuals this is sent to feel important, making them want to come and make a decision. My final genre and the meat of my project is a short story depicting the process in which the proof is gathered. While a majority of the story is written in first person in the memories of my protagonist, there are bits of third person views showing the present day as the chosen counsel reviews the memories of Michel Grayson. I designed this story in that way in order to give a clear distinction between the past and present while also giving a look into the way the process goes in order to get a marriage approved. While this is not as long as I would have liked, I still hit on the main points, showing how the bill is passed, and the reason why having someone vote on marriage is flawed. This not only allows me plenty of freedom to do as I wish with the story, but also keeps to the central idea of the original ad. The story is of the future in which all marriage is voted on, commenting on the extent that this could go, and the way in which the sanctity of marriage does not exist. It expresses that this is not a political issue, and that no one should be involved in the decision making process when it comes to the union of a couple except for said couple. This is the genre I am most familiar with, and I had to figure out a way to shorten it into only a few pages while still retaining the message.