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Halle, Malena

Writing 2, Crisler

November 25, 2019

Reflection

Dear Julia,

I found this project the most clear and easiest to write because I felt like I had so much

practice analyzing genre conventions with the other two writing projects. However, the most

difficult step, was showing my own personal understanding of how to change the information of

one genre to another that I had written myself which I hadn’t done before. There is no hiding in

this part of the project because when describing the choices I made, I think it is clear for you to

see how much thought has gone into my, as well as all the other students translations, and if I/we

truly have an understanding of genre conventions. I feel as though you could specifically see

how much detail went into each line I wrote, and the quotes I used from the article itself that

correlated with each line. I found while writing my paper that I could improve the translated

poem I wrote, to make it even more cohesive to its genre and incorporate more of the

information and essence of the original article. I had never had to write my own piece of writing,

that wasn’t a PB or WP so for me writing something more creative and free-lance, that followed

a poetic format was the most difficult, yet refreshing part.

My favorite section of the project is the poem itself. The research article I chose

discussed the implications of dancing to patients with mental health issues. I feel that because of

my prior knowledge and connection to the topic of the academic article, dance, and my

familiarity with the poetry book “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur, I was able to create a poetry
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piece that was very integrated and followed all the genre conventions of Kaur’s style of poetry. I

feel like my poem could truly be part of a chapter of Milk and Honey, with it being very raw,

emotional, rhythmic, and imperfect, all the while still relaying the information of the

psychological article, in appropriate format. This part of the project came very naturally to me, I

was able to complete the original draft of the poem in only 15 minutes, because I was already

comfortable with this subject and genre and have also previously written small poetic pieces for

personal enjoyment. Writing this made even more evident how structured, and rule-filled

academic writing truly is, and how sometimes it’s nice to just not have to write according to a

specific outline or format, but just to let your mind roll and write.

I feel unsure as to whether I discussed too much about what the article itself was about. I felt that

this discussion was necessary to understand the project as a whole, and still tried to keep the

focus on the analysis of the genre conventions of the academic article itself. I have struggled

with this with the previous projects as well, so I have truly tried to focus on improving this area

and making sure I am directly addressing what the prompt is asking. I would also like you to

focus on the fluidity of my paper, because sometimes thoughts correlate more or sound better in

my mind than they do on paper. I am not sure if my sentences or paragraphs are always cohesive

or if I need to work on better transitions or elaboration of thoughts.

Overall, I feel as if with this paper I had a much better grasp on the prompt than the last, and it

was also my favorite paper to write. I hope you enjoy reading it, I would love to hear your honest

feedback!

Sincerely,

Malena
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Dance Heals

According to the US Mental Health and First Aid Organization, in the United States,

almost half of adults (46.4 percent) will experience a mental illness during their lifetime (Kapil,

2019). There has been much psychological research done regarding thise widespread issue of

mental health and depression and ways to cure it. However, the research articles on mental health

are commonly science based and therefore heavy in cognitive terms. The articles are often heavy

in cognitive terms and commonly science based as well.There are different There are different

approaches researchers take to that psychological research that can include hands-on experiments

or observational studies, which measure that may measure quantitative and or qualitative dataa

described in quotes or charts. Oftentimes these papers are intended for an audience with prior

knowledge of the subject terms and the topic of research. This can make it very difficult for the

common reader to understandunderstand and apply to their own lives. . For this reason, I decided

to translate the academic article “Dance as a complex intervention in an acute mental health

setting: a place ‘in-between’” into a poem, inspired by the book “Milk and Honey” by Rupi

Kaur. Although the two articles y convey the same message, the scientific article does it through

a formal diction and organized visual structure while the poem does it through more concise,

figurative language, with a more free-lance structure of writing. Mental health is a major issue

that many people may be uninformed on due to inaccessibility of scientific articles; thus my

translation finds a new way to reach those who should have access to the knowledge but

otherwise may not. In addition, by translating a psychological article into a simplistic,

emotionally captivating piece of writing, the reader may engage in, and retain, more of the

content, and in turn actively connect it to their own lives

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Like previously mentioned, within the scientific field itself there are many different ways

to format the research process and data itself. The article by Lynn Froggett, “Dance as a complex

intervention in an acute mental health setting: a place ‘in-between’” discusses the implications

that dancing, and movement may have on a person. It describes the research process from

introduction to method used, to findings, to conclusions, sectioning off each separate step of the

process. It approaches the topic from the standpoint of an observational study, gathering

qualitative evidence of the patients with mental illnesses, who are partaking inundergoing dance

classes. She presents the research and presenting it in the form of specific quotes from

interviews of the patients, who describe in which ways dancing benefits them. The author then

provides her own detailed analysis backing the answers of the subject with pyschological

reasoning. In this way she connects the response of the subjects to the original research question.

with detailed analysis and connections drawn between what their answers may mean in the

context of the question. I chose this article because I was a dancer for 15 years, and can

understand the correlation between this form of expression and its benefit to mental health and

wanted to translate it in a simpler sense. I wanted to take a creative approach as the topic at hand,

dance, as it is a creative discipline in itself. I also wanted to touch on the emotions of the reader,

as mental health is an issue a broad audience deals with, and can sympathize with, and

discovered the best way to translate this article would be into a poem.

I took inspiration from Rupi Kaur, a renowned poet in the US, known for her dark, raw,

messy poetry. When my spirits are were down, I would often turn to her poetry; it . It often

expresses td the emotions that I may be feeling, but was feeling but didn't have the ability to

articulate. It does this , in a very harmonious beautiful way. Many of Kaur’sher poems are only a
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few lines, while others are a few pages long. Some include rhyme and rrhythmhyme, while

others are simply just words woven together in stanza format. I admired her unorganized,

inconsistent format, because it adds ded to the realness and sincerity rawness of each of her

pieces. It shows that not all emotions must look perfect when expressed on a piece of paper. I

believevery much thought this connectsed withwith the topic of mental health, because

sometimes there is not always are a no clear diagnosis for every person, because not all people

fall into the same box.

The diction and format of psychological research and poetry are very different from each

other. The psychological article is written in paragraph format, with bolded headings and

italicized subheadings. It is written in sequential order, describing the research process from start

to finish, , making it easy to follow the logic of the author. It is written in traditional research

format, posing a question and the providing data and analysis n answer for it. This article, uses

four different data collections methods It claims for examp, “le “As indicated, four different

methods of data collection were used: a quantitative measure of hopefulness, the HHI; semi-

structured interviews with service users; narrative pointed interviews with service users and staff;

and observations of film footage.”(Froggett, Little, 2012, P.95). It is evident obvious here that

there there is an advanced level of diction and is a very formal, structured tone. The information

described throughout the article is very clear and specific, leaving no room for artistic

interpretation. , with a clear meaning to the information being described, there is nothing left to

interpret artistically. Scientific evidence, and citations are provided throughout the article to

establish credibility of the researchers findingsIt also includes the research, with citations of

other qualified officials in the field to add credibility to the argument. As typically found in
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psychological articles, the research is formatted in APA form with a running head and footer on

each pageIt has a header and footer on each page as well.

Poetry on the other hand, is a genre of writing, where the meaning of the text is left open

to the interpretation of left open to the figurative interpretation of the reader. Poetry often

includes There are many hidden messages, metaphors, and double entendres in it. In “Mmilk and

Hhoney” specifically, Kaurshe often speaks about pain and heartbreak in a very earnestdeep,

melancholic way. For example, in one of her poems she writes, she writes a poem “I will not

have you, build me into your life, when, what I want is to, build a life with you ~ the difference”

(Kaur, 2018). Kaur often It is evident that she brings a new perspective to topics people may

develop mental instability over, such as love and heartbreak. She common topics such as

lovedescribes , to find reason from her her pain in a forward, open-hearted sensepain, that makes

the root of the issue seem so clear. , and healing through that interpretation. These honest

emotions are what make her poems so relatable and beloved and relatable by her audience,

which consists of often teenagers and young adults, who are commonly going through similar

kthese kinds of emotions. Kaur’s poems are often written in stanzas, some being made up of only

a single stanza and some a few, some containing rhyme and some containing no fluidity at all.

Although her words are written in lines, they change lengths and sometimes rhythm, I tried to do

this in my poem as well. I made the first four stanzas longer and the last one shorter to leave that

same powerful effect. There is usually one poem written on each page, with no title, but rather a

few words at the end that reflect the main idea of the writing. I used these aspects of her writing

to a high extent in my own.I also ended the poem with the overall concept and title “dance heals”

just as she ends her poems with a short-italicized excerpt.

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Because of the difference in audience and structure, I had to choose which information I

wanted to relay into the poem. The purpose of my poem was to make the reader more aware of

the mental health epidemic and describe an outlet that could possibly benefit those undergoing a

mental health condition. I had to choose specific pieces of the research I wanted to reference and

formulate it into a concise line. I chose to discuss the findings of the research because I felt that

was the most crucial information to discuss. I introduced the background of mental health, and

how one might feel when in a bad mental space. I then decided not to incorporate to skip the

method and process of the research, because I felt like this did not align with the purpose of the

poem.

I found direct inspiration for my poem I then read through the excerpts and analysis of

the interviews and found direct inspiration for my poem in those place, s, because that’s where

they were the personal thoughts of the patients were describes. I being tested. I discussed the

way “The bringing together of the psychological and physical aspects of relaxation suggested an

expansive experience of transgressing the boundaries of the self” when I described the way that

“dancing, spinning and twirling, can leave your world whirling” (Froggett, et al. 2012, P. 97). In

another example, one subject of the study,patient said, ‘I just get lost’, ‘... it takes me away’

(Froggett, et al. 2012, P. 97) , which I restated in a more poetic way when I saidy “with freedom

and joy one can escape, the dark clouds of the mind can be reshaped” (Froggett, et al. 2012, P.

97) . I described e not only how dance can take the mind away from mental distress into a

happier place, but the mind body connection that exists within dance e that allows for this

alleviation of strain. In addition, I incorporated the patients discussion of howsaying about how ,

the dance group ‘lifts her out’” (Froggett, et al. 2012, P. 98) when I discuss “but it's not just the

adrenaline of you, but of all those creating shapes too” (Froggett, et al. 2012, P. 98) . I reword
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the make all the research findings into something more heart touching lines, and open to

interpretation bby using a vulnerable yet empowering diction and tone,tone, to lift the audience

out of a place of negativity. I use all lowercase letters, and short lines and stanzas, to resemble

Rupi Kaur’s writing. By restructuring the information from a very formal, grammatically correct

article, into a creative, intimate poem, I am able to grab the attention of the audience. and keep

the poems more informal compared to the research which is very grammatically correct.

I end the poem with the conclusion of the studyy. I never discuss the limitations of the

study, because I feel they are unnecessary to the purpose of this poem. I use 4 short powerful

lines that are filled with rhythm rhythm and rhyme, “dealing with what your feeling, allowing for

healing” to really bring full circle the idea of the research article full circle. The way I use

rhymes gives the poem a makes it song-like essenceseem almost like a song, that will stay with

you in your minmakes it very memorabled, just as all the messages Rupi Kaur puts out are made

out to beare made too.

Overall, I feel as though I successfully did a good job translateding a formal study into

artistic poetry, whilst following the conventional rules of poetry. By gathering information from

the academic article and adding a creative twist to it, I was able to convey the information on

mental health and dance therapy in a new light. The topic of the study definitely aligned well

with the style of poem I chose, and I feel as though this is what made it cohesive. I am not a poet,

so this was slightly difficult to write, however because I was a dancer there is a natural

appreciation, I have for it that allowed me to write with such a positive, embracive manner

towards it. There is a highly significant contrast between these conventions of academic articles

and poetry, in the diction, structure, and overall discussion of the topic. , Hhowever, they were

both pieces of writing were able to relay the same information toin different ways to different
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audiences. While writing this paper I referred to Maddalena’s “’I need you to say ‘I’”: Why First

Person Is Important in College Writing”, Just as argued in Maddalena’s “‘I need you to say “I”’:

Why First Person Is Important in College Writing”, my central argument was strengthened by

writing in the first person. which allowed me to become more comfortable in writing this paper

in first person, which I had never done before. I also used the “Genre Analysis Guide”, by Linda

Adler-Kassner to distinguish what the first academic article was because I was unsure whether it

was psychological or scientific. Through this genre translation, I was able to craft a poem that

allows people, who may not be aware of the mental health epidemic, to gain insight on the

severity of the crisis facing our country. My ultimate goal of this piece is to inspire readers, and

open their eyes to the healing nature of dance.gained a newfound passion for writing in a poetic

manner, as I thought the range and freedom it gave me was very refreshing compared to many of

the other papers I have written. I enjoyed watching the academic paper unfold into an artistic

one.
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often times we feel trapped inside,

the poisonous demons of our mind,
swerving our vision, numbing our dreams,
reality is contorted so it seems

with aching hearts, it feels hard to move,

when really there's healing in finding a groove
dancing, spinning and twirling,
can leave your world whirling

with freedom and joy one can escape,

the dark clouds of the mind can be reshaped,
all of the sudden life pours into your limbs,
and that external energy flows within

but it's not just the adrenaline of you,

but of those around you creating shapes too
that reminds you, you are a smaller part
of a larger connected piece of art

you are free to express,

the deepest parts of you
dealing with what your feeling,
allowing for your healing

~dance heals
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Bibliography

Adler-Kassner, Linda. “Genre Analysis – Guiding Questions” Academic Writing 2, University of

California Santa Barbara, 2019.

Froggett, Lynn, and Robert Little. “Dance as a Complex Intervention in an Acute Mental Health
Setting: A Place 'In-Between' - Lynn Froggett, Robert Little, 2012.” SAGE Journals,
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.4276/030802212X13286281651153.

Kapil, R. (2019, February 6). 5 Surprising Mental Health Statistics. Retrieved from
https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/2019/02/5-surprising-mental-health-statistics/.

Kaur, Rupi. Milk and Honey. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2018.

Maddalena, Kate. “’I need you to say ‘I’”: Why First Person Is Important in College Writing”.
Academic Writing 2, University of California Santa Barbara, 2019.