Tuan Huang

03: Form Generator

This week our prompt was to study a genre or a form of writing: link to GIST

The form I chose was “form”, as in forms of information or documents. It has little beauty in language and could scarcely be seen as literature. However, it indicates a lot of social contexts and points out the identity of an individual (or even, what symbols an individual and what not?) As an international student, I have been in numerous process of applications to move to America – Visa, bank accounts, Social Security Number, etc. These forms are filled with authoritative words that I could hardly understand, not to mention imagining the consequence of any violations. 

Some exemplars –

a form with input boxes and text a form with input boxes and text a form with input boxes and text a form with input boxes and text

At the beginning, I was trying to recreate a generator for those forms. To me, the random selection of words recreated the detached feelings I have for those forms. Skimming through the whole paper, usually I do not question the reason for the requests of my information, and skip through all the small texts and notes. And sometimes, the questions can be confusing too. For example, employed address, does that mean the address I will be working at, or the address of mine, the employed? 

Department of Immigration Services 
Country enrolled: _________ 
Hours per week estimated: _________ 
Current contact pursuing: _________ 
Preferred type: _________ 
Work country: _________ 
Designated type employed: _________ 
Hours per week of approval: _________ 
Country issued: _________ 
Status employed: _________ 
Current applicant: _________ 

I assure that, under penalty of perjury, that I have understand the statements. 
Signature _____________

Then I started to play around more by using ‘rules within rules’ that Allison mentioned last class, to make the whole thing even more alienating. 

Department of Career Development

	Second alien: _________
	Earliest document country: _________
	First work enrolled: _________
	Preferred position: _________
	Second approval: _________
	Registration that estimated document applicant approval number organization of alien that estimated date birth: _________
	Current organization of hours per week that enrolled hours per week of registration: _________
	Second official of program: _________
	Contact: _________
	First extension: _________

I assure that, under penalty of perjury, that I have understand the documents of void.

Signature _____________