PB3A - Genre Transformation

For this genre transformation, I picked a scholarly article by Iina Hellsten, Dolly: Scientific Breakthrough or Frankenstein’s Monster? Journalistic and Scientific Metaphors of Cloning.  This article uses the sheep cloning incident to highlight its different interpretations from the media.  Specifically, the author talks about certain metaphors associated with the cloning (for instance, “CLONES ARE MASS PRODUCTS”) and talks about how they can lead to opposing interpretations of the cloning incident.  The author then talks about each interpretation in detail (represented in different journals) and shows how the differences in these interpretations came to be. 

Since this is an article that highlights both sides of an argument, one possible genre transformation for an older audience would be to make a series of testimonies to be spoken in a court of law.  Looking at the interpretations of each metaphor, there is clear evidence from each journal for their respective interpretation, and clear logic that follows to explain their positions.  This can be modified to have a more persuasive tone, which would be more appropriate when presenting this information to a judge in court.  Since this logical thought process is present for both sides of the argument, they can be made similar to a plaintiff and defendant’s cases to the judge.  Also, since the topic of cloning is controversial (it brings up ideas about ethics in scientific research), it would be the perfect topic for a court case.  The background of this incident is given at the beginning of the article, which can possibly be incorporated somewhat into each side’s testimony.  Perhaps some of this information can be rewritten with a little bias as well, if it means that it would help the testimony seem more persuasive.  Also, some of the logic in the arguments presented in the scholarly article can be modified a bit in order to add extra drama, or to perhaps vilify the opposing case.  There are a lot of possibilities with this genre transformation, as the article itself seems to allow flexibility with ideas.

I feel like this transformation may be a little tougher in terms of genres for younger audiences, given the content of the academic publication.  However, one possible idea for this kind of transformation would be to turn the points and evidence of the article into some kind of short story for children (maybe similar to Aesop’s Fables).  I could give the story a moral or lesson at the end, such as “be careful what you wish for,” in a reference to difference in interpretations of cloning.  The story could be about someone who wants to bring cloning to the general public and use it to enhance society.  He would go about advocating for this using the vague slogan mentioned in the article, “CLONING IS MASS PRODUCTION.” The public would be intrigued by this idea, and give him the necessary support to implement cloning in society.  Once it started, however, he would realize the negative consequences of cloning (the opposing interpretation of the article would essentially oppose his ideals in the story).  After the situation is resolved, he would vow not to use cloning in such a manner again; this would cue the moral and end the story.  This idea is still a bit vague and not entirely filled out, but this could be a possibility, given the ideas from the article.