Hernandez 1

Jazmin Hernandez

Writing 2

Matt Wilson

March 07, 2017

WP3: Peer Reviewed Article to Diaries

The vulnerability of a child can easily be altered by the separation of the parents;

divorce can shatter a childs belief of safety and balance in their family. In, The Psychology of

Divorce: A Lawyers Primer, Part 2: The Effects of Divorce on Children, Sandford Portnoy

argues that divorce is a risk factor for psychological problems during childhood and into

adulthood. The articles purpose is to highlight the negative impact divorce has on a childs

behavior, mental, and health stability though a six-year research on a group of kids from

divorced families. Ive chosen to translate my first genre into a new genre, diaries, because I

want to distinguish the difference it makes to get the same point across to the reader using

different convention. An article can always be ignored by someone because of its length or its

wordy structure; however, a diary is much easier to read and not only allows the reader to

recognize the writers argument, but it gives the reader the opportunity to envision and

apprehend the writers thoughts and feelings as if they were present when the writer wrote this in

their diary.

My example of a diary involves a low-income family going through a divorce; the

daughter expresses her thoughts and feelings in writings to help accentuate the difficulty of

coping with divorce. First thing to consider is who is going to read the diary. Diaries are intended
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to be for the writer themselves, but the audience can be extended to a group that is address

indirectly. In my diary example, the daughters audience shifts from it being her mother, to her

father, and then other days her audience is her diary itself. Writing to ones diary as though it is

an entity is a common convention. The audience can also consist of people who the writer wishes

to reach out to but doesnt know how to; therefore, they use their diary to converse with that

person without having to worry about external judgement.

To translate the articles argument and purpose, I had to find a clear and simple manner to

do so; articles are usually long and complicated so I aimed in shrinking down the information so

the reader can easily grasp the main argument. In the article, Portnoy goes on to state that the

lives of children change radically almost overnight; she includes headings that highlight the

main point of the paragraph and emphasis the importance of each. Headings such as

Psychological Problems, Conduct Problems, and Continuing Conflict Between the Parents

underline the main point being made. According to William Zinnessers Simplicity article,

avoiding the use of unnecessary words and clotting ideas together makes it convenient for author

to get their points across to the reader.

Similarly, the diary is divided into sections; diaries are chronologically ordered and each

day contains different thoughts the writer has. I decided to stress each of Portnoys arguments in

different days. Although in the article, the author goes into detail for each of her points such as

Diminished and Incompetent Parenting, Economic Decline, and Loss of Non-Parenting

Supportive Relationships, I decided to link all of them so they can occur simultaneously and it

can be easier for the reader to follow through. For example, in my diary setup, I clearly showed

the different problem the daughter faced either at school or at home; at the same time, I

highlighted how her parents shifting behavior and attitude caused her to show a poor result in
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measures of academic success, conduct, psychological behavior, social competence, and

health.

Diction is an important factor in both genres; the word choice in each has a different

effect on the intended audience. Portnoy uses negative connotation to describe label the parents

whos divorce has a negative impact on the child. Words such as permissive, authoritarian,

disengaged, neglectful, and conflicted co-parenting allow the reader to assume the

authors critical perspective toward the topic of divorce. Similarly, the choice of words in a diary

allows the reader to detect the writers attitude and tone. Most of these words are written down

impulsively because the writer doesnt have time to stop and analyze what they had just wrote;

diary writing is portrayed as cathartic. Although these words are written down without

hesitation, they have a similar or even a stronger effect on the reader than the words used in an

article. For example, in the diary example, I added words such as hate, burden, pathetic,

lonely, and resist; these words are short and simple, yet they create a strong reaction from

the reader when they are connected to the overall thoughts the author expresses. Punctuation and

capitalization play an important role here as well. The writer stresses each of the small words

significance by adding exclamation marks or capitalizing to express her emotional scars.

Articles aim to inform the reader about the effects of divorce on children; however,

converting the argument of the article to another genre such as a diary will be more effective

because the conventions of a diary make it easier to understand the purpose of the article. A dairy

symbolizes a safe space for the writer; its a way to overcome emotional upsets and liberate

themselves from these stresses. Although articles are used to distribute research findings for the

foreseeable future, diaries serve as the evidence for these articles to properly dispense their

argument.
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Works Cited

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=283c3551-2064-

475e-b2c6-6232cf11d2a1%40sessionmgr4008&hid=4206