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\n249
\nNavigating Genres
\nKerry Dirk
\nThere?s a joke that?s been floating around some time now that you?ve
\nlikely already heard.*
\n It goes something like the following:
\nQ: What do you get when you rewind a country song?
\nA: You get your wife back, your job back, your dog back . . .
\nMaybe this joke makes you laugh. Or groan. Or tilt your head
\nto the side in confusion. Because it just so happens that in order to
\nget this joke, you must know a little something about country music
\nin general and in particular country music lyrics. You must, in other
\nwords, be familiar with the country music genre.
\nLet?s look into country music lyrics a bit more. Bear with me on
\nthis is if you?re not a fan. Assuming I want to write lyrics to a country
\nsong, how would I figure out what lyrics are acceptable in terms
\nof country songs? Listening to any country station for a short period
\nof time might leave one with the following conclusions about country
\nsongs:
\n? Country songs tend to tell stories. They often have characters
\nwho are developed throughout the song.
\n? Country songs often have choruses that are broad enough to
\napply to a variety of verses.
\n* This work is licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNoncommercial-Share
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\n250 Kerry Dirk
\n? Country songs are often depressing; people lose jobs, lovers,
\nand friends.
\n? Country songs express pride for the country style and way of
\nlife.
\n? Country songs are often political, responding to wars and economic
\ncrises, for example.
\nGiven these characteristics, I would feel prepared to write some new
\ncountry lyrics. But what would happen if I wanted to write a country
\nsong that didn?t do any of the above things? Would it still be a country
\nsong?
\nYou are probably already familiar with many genres, although you
\nmay not know them as such; perhaps your knowledge of genres is limited
\nto types of books, whether mystery, horror, action, etc. Now I?m
\ngoing to ask you to stick with me while I show you how knowledge of
\ngenres goes far beyond a simple discussion of types. My purposes are
\nto expand your definition of genre (or to introduce you to a definition
\nfor the first time) and to help you start thinking about how genres
\nmight apply to your own writing endeavors. But above all, I hope to
\ngive you an awareness of how genres function by taking what is often
\nquite theoretical in the field of rhetoric and composition and making it
\na bit more tangible. So why was I talking about country songs? I think
\nthat using such references can help you to see, in a quite concrete way,
\nhow genres function.
\nWhen I started writing this essay, I had some ideas of what I wanted
\nto say. But first, I had to determine what this essay might look like. I?ve
\nwritten a lot?letters, nonfiction pieces, scholarly articles, rants?but
\nthis was my first time writing an essay to you, a composition student.
\nWhat features, I asked myself, should go into this essay? How personal
\ncould I get? What rhetorical moves might I use, effectively or ineffectively?
\nI hoped that a similar type of essay already existed so that I
\nwould have something to guide my own writing. I knew I was looking
\nfor other essays written directly to students, and after finding many
\nexamples, I looked for common features. In particular, I noted the
\nwarm, personal style that was prevalent through every essay; the tone
\nwas primarily conversational. And more importantly, I noticed that
\nthe writer did not talk as an authoritative figure but as a coach. Some
\nwriters admitted that they did not know everything (we don?t), and
\nothers even went so far as to admit ignorance. I found myself doing
\nNavigating Genres 251
\nwhat Mary Jo Reiff, a professor who studies rhetoric and composition,
\ndid when she was asked to write about her experience of writing an
\nessay about teaching for those new to the field of composition. She
\nwrites, ?I immediately called on my genre knowledge?my past experience
\nwith reading and writing similar texts in similar situations?to
\norient me to the expectations of this genre? (157).
\nI further acknowledged that it is quite rare that teachers of writing
\nget to write so directly to students in such an informal manner. Although
\ntextbooks are directed at students, they are often more formal
\naffairs meant to serve a different purpose than this essay. And because
\nthe genre of this essay is still developing, there are no formal expectations
\nfor what this paper might look like. In my excitement, I realized
\nthat perhaps I had been granted more freedom in writing this essay
\nthan is typical of an already established, although never static, genre.
\nAs a result, I decided to make this essay a mix of personal anecdotes,
\nexamples, and voices from teachers of writing. Such an essay seems to
\nbe the most fitting response to this situation, as I hope to come across
\nas someone both informative and friendly. Why am I telling you this?
\nBecause it seems only appropriate that given the fact that I am talking
\nabout genre awareness, I should make you aware of my own struggles
\nwith writing in a new genre.
\nI will admit that the word genre used to have a bad reputation
\nand may still make some people cringe. Genre used to refer primarily
\nto form, which meant that writing in a particular genre was seen as
\nsimply a matter of filling in the blanks. Anne Freadman, a specialist
\nin genre theory, points out that ?it is this kind of genre theory with
\nits failures that has caused the discredit of the very notion of genre,
\nbringing about in turn its disuse and the disrepair many of us found
\nit in? (46). But genre theory has come a long way since then. Perhaps
\nthe shift started when the rhetorician Lloyd Bitzer wrote the following:
\nDue to either the nature of things or convention, or
\nboth, some situations recur. The courtroom is the
\nlocus for several kinds of situations generating the
\nspeech of accusation, the speech of defense, the charge
\nto the jury. From day to day, year to year, comparable
\nsituations occur, prompting comparable responses;
\nhence rhetorical forms are born and a special vocabulary,
\ngrammar, and style are established. (13)
\n252 Kerry Dirk
\nIn other words, Bitzer is saying that when something new happens
\nthat requires a response, someone must create that first response.
\nThen when that situation happens again, another person uses the first
\nresponse as a basis for the second, and eventually everyone who encounters
\nthis situation is basing his\/her response on the previous ones,
\nresulting in the creation of a new genre. Think about George Washington
\ngiving the first State of the Union Address. Because this genre
\nwas completely new, he had complete freedom to pick its form and
\ncontent. All presidents following him now have these former addresses
\nto help guide their response because the situation is now a reoccurring
\none. Amy Devitt, a professor who specializes in the study of genre
\ntheory, points out that ?genres develop, then, because they respond
\nappropriately to situations that writers encounter repeatedly? (?Generalizing?
\n576) and because ?if each writing problem were to require
\na completely new assessment of how to respond, writing would be
\nslowed considerably. But once we recognize a recurring situation, a situation
\nthat we or others have responded to in the past, our response to
\nthat situation can be guided by past responses? (?Generalizing? 576).
\nAs such, we can see how a genre like the State of the Union Address
\nhelps for more effective communication between the president and
\ncitizens because the president already has a genre with which to work;
\nhe\/she doesn?t have to create a new one, and citizens know what to expect
\nfrom such an address.
\nThe definition of genre has changed even more since Bitzer?s article
\nwas written; genres are now viewed as even more than repeating
\nrhetorical situations. Carolyn Miller, a leading professor in the field of
\ntechnical communication, argues that ?a rhetorically sound definition
\nof genre must be centered . . . on the action it is used to accomplish?
\n(151). How might this look? These actions don?t have to be complex;
\nmany genres are a part of our daily lives. Think about genres as tools
\nto help people to get things done. Devitt writes that:
\ngenres have the power to help or hurt human interaction,
\nto ease communication or to deceive, to enable
\nsomeone to speak or to discourage someone from saying
\nsomething different. People learn how to do small
\ntalk to ease the social discomfort of large group gatherings
\nand meeting new people, but advertisers learn
\nNavigating Genres 253
\nhow to disguise sales letters as winning sweepstakes entries.
\n(Writing 1)
\nIn other words, knowing what a genre is used for can help people to
\naccomplish goals, whether that goal be getting a job by knowing how
\nto write a stellar resume, winning a person?s heart by writing a romantic
\nlove letter, or getting into college by writing an effective personal
\nstatement.
\nBy this point you might realize that you have been participating
\nin many different genres?whether you are telling a joke, writing an
\nemail, or uploading a witty status on Facebook. Because you know
\nhow these genres function as social actions, you can quite accurately
\npredict how they function rhetorically; your joke should generate a
\nlaugh, your email should elicit a response, and your updated Facebook
\nstatus should generate comments from your online friends. But
\nyou have done more than simply filled in the blanks. Possibly without
\neven thinking about it, you were recognizing the rhetorical situation
\nof your action and choosing to act in a manner that would result in
\nthe outcome you desired. I imagine that you would probably not share
\na risqu? joke with your mom, send a ?Hey Buddy? email to your professor,
\nor update your Facebook status as ?X has a huge wart on his
\nfoot.? We can see that more than form matters here, as knowing what
\nis appropriate in these situations obviously requires more rhetorical
\nknowledge than does filling out a credit card form. Devitt argues that
\n?people do not label a particular story as a joke solely because of formal
\nfeatures but rather because of their perception of the rhetorical action
\nthat is occurring? (Writing 11). True, genres often have formulaic features,
\nbut these features can change even as the nature of the genre
\nremains (Devitt, Writing, 48). What is important to consider here is
\nthat if mastering a form were simply a matter of plugging in content,
\nwe would all be capable of successfully writing anything when we are
\ngiven a formula. By now you likely know that writing is not that easy.
\nFortunately, even if you have been taught to write in a formulaic
\nway, you probably don?t treat texts in such a manner. When approaching
\na genre for a the first time, you likely view it as more than a simple
\nform: ?Picking up a text, readers not only classify it and expect a certain
\nform, but also make assumptions about the text?s purposes, its
\nsubject matter, its writer, and its expected reader? (Devitt, Writing 12).
\nWe treat texts that we encounter as rhetorical objects; we choose be-
\n254 Kerry Dirk
\ntween horror movies and chick flicks not only because we are familiar
\nwith their forms but because we know what response they will elicit
\nfrom us (nail-biting fear and dreamy sighs, respectively). Why am I
\npicking popular genres to discuss? I think I agree with Miller when
\nshe argues the following:
\nTo consider as potential genres such homely discourse
\nas the letter of recommendation, the user manual, the
\nprogress report, the ransom note, the lecture, and the
\nwhite paper, as well as the eulogy, the apologia, the
\ninaugural, the public proceeding, and the sermon, is
\nnot to trivialize the study of genres; it is to take seriously
\nthe rhetoric in which we are immersed and the
\nsituations in which we find ourselves. (155)
\nIn other words, Miller is saying that all genres matter because they
\nshape our everyday lives. And by studying the genres that we find familiar,
\nwe can start to see how specific choices that writers make result
\nin specific actions on the part of readers; it only follows that our own
\nwriting must too be purposefully written.
\nI like examples, so here is one more. Many of you may be familiar
\nwith The Onion, a fictitious newspaper that uses real world examples
\nto create humorous situations. Perhaps the most notable genre of The
\nOnion is its headlines. The purpose of these headlines is simple: to
\nmake the reader respond by laughing. While many of the articles are
\nalso entertaining, the majority of the humor is produced through the
\nheadlines. In fact, the headlines are so important to the success of the
\nnewspaper that they are tested on volunteers to see the readers? immediate
\nresponses. There are no formal features of these headlines besides
\nthe fact that they are all quite brief; they share no specific style. But
\nthey are a rhetorical action meant to bring about a specific response,
\nwhich is why I see them as being their own genre. A few examples for
\nthose of you unfamiliar with this newspaper would help to explain
\nwhat I?m saying. Here are a few of my personal favorites (politically
\ncharged or other possibly offensive headlines purposefully avoided):
\n? ?Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race of Skeleton
\nPeople?
\n? ?Don?t Run Away, I?m Not the Flesh-Eating Kind of Zombie?
\n? ?Time Traveler: Everyone In The Future Eats Dippin? Dots?
\nNavigating Genres 255
\n? ??I Am Under 18? Button Clicked For First Time In History
\nOf Internet?
\n? ?Commas, Turning Up, Everywhere?
\n? ?Myspace Outage Leaves Millions Friendless.?
\n? ?Amazon.com Recommendations Understand Area Woman
\nBetter Than Husband?
\n? ?Study: Dolphins Not So Intelligent On Land?
\n? ?Beaver Overthinking Dam?
\n? ?Study: Alligators Dangerous No Matter How Drunk You
\nAre?
\n? ?Child In Corner To Exact Revenge As Soon As He Gets Out?
\n(The Onion)
\nI would surmise with near certainty that at least one of these headlines
\nmade you laugh. Why? I think the success lies in the fact that the
\nwriters of these headlines are rhetorically aware of whom these headlines
\nare directed toward?college students like you, and more specifically,
\neducated college students who know enough about politics,
\nculture, and U.S. and world events to ?get? these headlines.
\nAnd now for some bad news: figuring out a genre is tricky already,
\nbut this process is further complicated by the fact that two texts that
\nmight fit into the same genre might also look extremely different. But
\nlet?s think about why this might be the case. Devitt points out, ?different
\ngrocery stores make for different grocery lists. Different law courts
\nmake for different legal briefs. And different college classes make for
\ndifferent research papers. Location may not be the first, second, and
\nthird most important qualities of writing, as it is for real estate, but
\nlocation is surely among the situational elements that lead to expected
\ngenres and to adaptations of those genres in particular situations?
\n(?Transferability? 218). Think about a time when you were asked to
\nwrite a research paper. You probably had an idea of what that paper
\nshould look like, but you also needed to consider the location of the
\nassignment. In other words, you needed to consider how your particular
\nteacher?s expectations would help to shape your assignment. This
\nmakes knowing a genre about much more than simply knowing its
\nform. You also need to consider the context in which it is being used.
\nAs such, it?s important to be aware that the research paper you might
\nbe required to write in freshman composition might be completely
\ndifferent than the research paper you might be asked to write for an
\n256 Kerry Dirk
\nintroductory psychology class. Your goal is to recognize these shifts in
\nlocation and to be aware of how such shifts might affect your writing.
\nLet?s consider a genre with which you are surely familiar: the thesis
\nstatement. Stop for a moment and consider what this term means
\nto you. Ask your classmates. It?s likely that you each have your own
\ndefinition of what a thesis statement should and should not look like.
\nYou may have heard never to start a thesis statement with a phrase like
\n?In this essay.? Or you might have been taught that a thesis statement
\nshould have three parts, each of which will be discussed in one paragraph
\nof the essay. I learned that many good thesis statements follow
\nthe formula ?X because Y,? where ?X? refers to a specific stance, and
\n?Y? refers to a specific reason for taking that stance. For example, I
\ncould argue ?School uniforms should be required because they will
\nhelp students to focus more on academics and less on fashion.? Now,
\nwhether or not this is a good thesis statement is irrelevant, but you
\ncan see how following the ?X because Y? formula would produce a
\nnicely structured statement. Take this a step further and research ?thesis
\nstatements? on the Internet, and you?ll find that there are endless
\nsuggestions. And despite their vast differences, they all fit under the
\ngenre of thesis statement. How is this possible? Because it comes back
\nto the particular situation in which that thesis statement is being used.
\nAgain, location is everything.
\nI think it?s time to try our hand at approaching a genre with which
\nI hope all of you are only vaguely familiar and completely unpracticed:
\nthe ransom note.
\nA Scenario
\nI?ve decided to kidnap Bob?s daughter Susie for ransom. I?m behind
\non the mortgage payments, my yacht payments are also overdue,
\nand I desperately need money. It is well known that Bob is one of
\nthe wealthiest people in Cash City, so I?ve targeted him as my future
\nsource of money. I?ve never met Bob, although one time his Mercedes
\ncut me off in traffic, causing me to hit the brakes and spill my drink;
\nthe stain still glares at me from the floor of the car. The kidnapping
\npart has been completed; now I need to leave Bob a ransom note. Let?s
\nlook at a few drafts I?ve completed to decide which one would be most
\nappropriate.
\nNavigating Genres 257
\nRansom Letter 1:
\nIf you ever want to see your daughter alive again,
\nleave 1 million dollars by the blue garbage can at 123
\nRansom Rd. at Midnight. Come alone and do not
\ncall the police.
\nRansom Letter 2:
\nHav daughter. Million $. Blu grbg can 123 Ransom
\nRd. 12AM. No poliz.
\nRansom Letter 3:
\nDear Bob,
\nThank you for taking the time to read this letter.
\nYou have a lovely house, and I very much enjoyed
\nmy recent visit while you were out of town. Unfortunately,
\nI have kidnapped your daughter. As I am
\ncurrently unable to meet several financial demands, I
\nam graciously turning to you for help in this matter.
\nI am sure that we will be able to come to some mutually
\nbeneficial agreement that results in the return of
\nyour daughter and the padding of my wallet. Please
\nmeet with me at the Grounds Coffee House on First
\nStreet so that we may discuss what price is most fitting.
\nYour daughter, meanwhile, remains in safe and
\ncompetent hands. She is presently playing pool with
\nmy son Matt (a possible love connection?), and she
\nsays to tell you ?Hi.?
\nYours truly,
\nJim
\nP.S. Please order me a skim vanilla latte, should you
\narrive before I do.
\nImmediately, you can probably determine that ransom letter one
\nis the best choice. But have you considered why? What does the first
\n258 Kerry Dirk
\nletter have that the other two are lacking? Let?s first eliminate the most
\nobvious dud?letter number three. Not only does it mimic the friendly,
\nfamiliar manner of two friends rather than the threatening note of
\na deranged kidnapper, but it also suggests both that there is no rush
\nin the matter and that the price is negotiable. Letters one and two are
\ncloser; they both contain the same information, but letter two fails
\nto be as rhetorically strong as number one. The spelling errors and
\nchoppy feel might suggest that the writer of the note is not intelligent
\nenough to get away with the kidnapping. The first letter is the most
\nrhetorically strong because it is well written and direct. All of these
\nletters would qualify as fitting the genre of ransom letter, but the first
\none most obviously fits the rhetorical situation.
\nIt may be worthwhile to note some particular challenges you might
\nhave to approaching your writing genres as rhetorical situations. Perhaps
\nyou have come from a writing background where you learned
\nthat certain rules apply to all writing. Just nod if these sound familiar:
\n? You must have a thesis statement at the end of the introduction.<\/p>\n
? Every thesis statement should introduce three points of discussion.<\/p>\n
? You cannot use ?I? in writing. This essay is a chapter in Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1, a peer-reviewed open textbook series for the writing classroom, and is published through Parlor Press. The full volume and individual chapter downloads are available for free from Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3865\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n? You cannot begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction.
\n? Every paragraph should start with a topic sentence.
\nYou get the point. These rules are appealing; they tell us exactly what
\nto do and not to do with regard to writing. I remember happily creating
\nintroductions that moved from broad to specific (often starting
\nwith ?In our world?), constructing three point thesis statements, and
\nbeginning paragraphs with ?first,? ?second,? and ?third.? I didn?t have
\nto think about audience, or purpose, or even much about content for
\nthat matter. All that really mattered was that essay followed a certain
\nformula that was called good writing. But looking back, what resulted
\nfrom such formulas was not very good; actually, it was quite bad.
\nThat is, of course, not to say that there aren?t rules that come with
\ngenres; the difference is that the rules change as the genre changes,
\nthat no rules apply to all genres, and that genres require more effort
\nthan simply following the rules. Because genres usually come with
\nestablished conventions, it is risky to choose not to follow such con-
\nNavigating Genres 259
\nventions. These similarities within genres help us to communicate successfully;
\nimagine the chaos that would ensue if news broadcasts were
\ndone in raps, if all legal briefs were written in couplets, or if your teacher
\nhanded you a syllabus and told you that it must first be decoded.
\nIn sum, ?too much choice is as debilitating of meaning as is too little
\nchoice. In language, too much variation results eventually in lack of
\nmeaning: mutual unintelligibility? (Devitt, ?Genre? 53).
\nBut on a brighter note, genres also help us to make more efficient
\ndecisions when writing, as we can see how people have approached
\nsimilar situations. Creating a new genre each time that writing was
\nrequired would make the writing process much longer, as we would
\nnot have past responses to help us with present ones (Devitt, ?Generalizing?
\n576). As a result, the more you are able to master particular
\ngenres, the better equipped you may be to master genres that you later
\nencounter:
\nWhen people write, they draw on the genres they
\nknow, their own context of genres, to help construct
\ntheir rhetorical action. If they encounter a situation
\nnew to them, it is the genres they have acquired in
\nthe past that they can use to shape their new action.
\nEvery genre they acquire, then, expands their genre
\nrepertoire and simultaneously shapes how they might
\nview new situations. (Devitt, Writing 203)
\nTaking what Devitt says into account, think back to the previous discussion
\nof the research paper. If you already have some idea of what
\na research paper looks like, you do not have to learn an entirely new
\ngenre. Instead, you just have to figure out how to change that particular
\ngenre to fit with the situation, even if that change just comes from
\nhaving a different teacher.
\nLearning about genres and how they function is more important
\nthan mastering one particular genre; it is this knowledge that helps
\nus to recognize and to determine appropriate responses to different
\nsituations?that is, knowing what particular genre is called for in a
\nparticular situation. And learning every genre would be impossible
\nanyway, as Devitt notes that ?no writing class could possibly teach
\nstudents all the genres they will need to succeed even in school, much
\nless in the workplace or in their civic lives. Hence the value of teaching
\ngenre awareness rather than acquisition of particular genres? (Writing
\n260 Kerry Dirk
\n205). This approach helps to make you a more effective writer as well,
\nas knowing about genres will make you more prepared to use genres
\nthat you won?t learn in college. For example, I recently needed to write
\na letter about removing a late fee on a credit card. I had never written
\nthis particular type of letter before, but I knew what action I was trying
\nto accomplish. As a result, I did some research on writing letters
\nand determined that I should make it as formal and polite as possible.
\nThe body of the letter ended up as follows:
\nI have very much enjoyed being a card carrier with
\nthis bank for many years. However, I recently had
\na late fee charged to my account. As you will note
\nfrom my previous statements, this is the first late fee I
\nhave ever acquired. I do remember making this payment
\non time, as I have all of my previous payments.
\nI hope to remain a loyal customer of this bank for
\nmany years to come, so I would very much appreciate
\nit if you would remove this charge from my account.
\nYou can see that this letter does several things. First, I build credibility
\nfor myself by reminding them that I have used their card for many
\nyears. Second, I ask them to check my records to show further that I
\nam typically a responsible card carrier. And third, I hint that if they do
\nnot remove the late fee, I might decide to change to a different bank.
\nThis letter is effective because it considers how the situation affects the
\ngenre. And yes, the late fee was removed.
\nChances are that I have left you more confused than you were before
\nyou began this essay. Actually, I hope that I have left you frustrated;
\nthis means that the next time you write, you will have to consider
\nnot only form but also audience, purpose, and genre; you will, in other
\nwords, have to consider the rhetorical effectiveness of your writing.
\nLuckily, I can leave you with a few suggestions:
\n? First, determine what action you are trying to accomplish. Are
\nyou trying to receive an A on a paper? Convince a credit card
\ncompany to remove a late fee? Get into graduate school? If you
\ndon?t know what your goal is for a particular writing situation,
\nyou?ll have a difficult time figuring out what genre to use.
\n? Second, learn as much as you can about the situation for which
\nyou are writing. What is the purpose? Who is the audience?
\nNavigating Genres 261
\nHow much freedom do you have? How does the location affect
\nthe genre?
\n? Third, research how others have responded to similar situations.
\nTalk to people who have written what you are trying to
\nwrite. If you are asked to write a biology research paper, ask
\nyour instructor for examples. If you need to write a cover letter
\nfor a summer internship, take the time to find out about the
\nlocation of that internship.
\n? And finally, ask questions.
\nDiscussion
\n1. What are some genres that you feel you know well? How did
\nyou learn them? What are their common rhetorical features?
\n2. What rules have you been told to follow in the past? How did
\nthey shape what you were writing?
\n3. How much freedom do you enjoy when writing? Does it help
\nto have a form to follow, or do you find it to be limiting?
\nWorks Cited
\nBitzer, Lloyd F. ?The Rhetorical Situation.? Philosophy and Rhetoric 1.1
\n(1968): 1?14. Print.
\nDevitt, Amy J. ?Generalizing About Genre: New Conceptions of an Old
\nConcept.? College Composition and Communication 44.4 (1993): 573?86.
\nPrint.
\n?. ?Genre as Language Standard.? Genre and Writing: Issues, Arguments,
\nAlternatives. Ed. Wendy Bishop and Hans Ostrom. Portsmouth, NH:
\nBoynton\/Cook, 1997. 45?55. Print.
\n?. ?Transferability and Genres.? The Locations of Composition. Ed. Christopher
\nJ. Keller and Christian R. Weisser. Albany, NY: SUNY P, 2007.
\n215?27. Print.
\n?. Writing Genres. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2004. Print.
\nFreadman, Anne. ?Anyone for Tennis.? Genre and the New Rhetoric. Ed. Aviva
\nFreedman and Peter Medway. Bristol: Taylor & Francis, 1994. 43?66.
\nPrint.
\nMiller, Carolyn R. ?Genre as Social Action.? Quarterly Journal of Speech 70.2
\n(1984): 151?67. Print.
\nThe Onion: America?s Finest News Source. 20 July 2009. Web. 20 July 2009.
\n
\n262 Kerry Dirk
\nReiff, Mary Jo. ?Moving Writers, Shaping Motives, Motivating Critique and
\nChange: A Genre Approach to Teaching Writing.? Relations, Locations,
\nPositions: Composition Theory for Writing Teachers. Ed. Peter Vandenberg,
\nSue Hum, and Jennifer Clary-Lemon. Urbana, IL: National Council of
\nTeachers of English, 2006. 157?64. Print<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"