Prt I: Genre and Document Design

Genre Awareness

Example

• A persuasive essay is one genre of writing, and a rhetorical analysis is a different genre of writing
• Every genre of writing has specific qualities and expectations
• Writers should understand a genre’s qualities in order to compose an effective text

Genre Awareness

• Understanding that there are categories or types of artistic products, such as writing, painting, sculpting, dancing, and singing, that are used to express thought and feeling
• Recognizing these different forms of expression opens doors for analyzing and understanding

The primary focus here is on writing

For example,visual rhetoric

• Although it's not a rhetoric on its own, part of the communication process that involves the sense of sight and includes colors, forms, and page layout

Visuals can subliminally send messages, which can cause the viewer/reader to react.

Such as, how a website is analyzed, reviewed, or discussed.

Several Genres

Rhetorical analysis

• Texts (written, oral, or visual) are examined in terms of what they communicate
• The purposes for which they do so
• Effects they attempt to have on their intended audience
• How those purposes and effects are accomplished

Examine, or analyze, according to a criteria

• Examine, or analyze, according to a certain criteria
• For example, our first essay will be examining a document or webpage against ethos, pathos, and logos

REVIEW ESSAY

• Discovering a firm understanding of a topic or issue and establish a position on it
• Uses certain criteria determined by the writer
• For example, we will learn about five criteria for reviewing a website set by Cornell University

COMMENTARY ESSAY

• Provides a way for readers to understand the topic within a broad and deep perspective
• Includes a stance and not just summary
• Uses outside sources only to support claims the writer makes
• For example, it creates a stance or argument about an existing social issue

Reports Vs. Essays

Essays

• Uses information from outside sources in a very different way
• Writer of an essay has a point or main claim about a topic or issue within the topic
• Writer’s point of view and claim is most important in an essay

Writer is analyzing or interpreting a topic or an issue within the topic

Outside sources are of secondary importance

Reports

• Collections of information from outside sources
• Presented in an objective way

Outside sources are most important in a report

Quick Review

• Genres occur in everyday life and in the classroom and includes similarity in form, content, and style
• Genres differ as do purposes
• Reports do not have thesis statements, which is an expression to a writer's opinion on debatable issue, like essays do

Introduction paragraph

• Discuss the background or perhaps the history of the essay’s subject
• First or second sentence should contain an attention-capturing hook that the reader will find engaging and relevant to the paper
• Hook might also contain the framing device for the essay

Framing use of a word, phrase, or clause, first mentioned in the introduction

An example
-essay addressing the issue of spousal abuse, in which the introduction refers to the cliché, “rule of thumb,” meaning a rule based on approximation.

-body paragraph, the writer reveals that this idiom originated from a rule in Colonial America stating a man legally could beat his wife with a stick as long as it was no bigger than his thumb.

-writer refers to this idiomatic expression in the conclusion, stating that such a guideline never should have been acceptable.

Purpose is to introduce the topic, the issue or focus, and the slant or opinion about the essay’s topic

Achieve a very personal connection with the
reader and provide a statement of opinion with the use of
First- or second-person pronouns

First person
I believe that texting and driving causes accidents.

Second Person
You may believe that texting and driving is okay, but statistics show that it causes accidents.

Convert to the Third person

-Allows the topic to become the subject and main focus of sentences
- The opinion will be expressed just as plainly and come across even more authoritatively
For example, "He may believe that texting and driving is okay, but statistics show that it causes accidents."

Para. in 1st and 2nd
For the first time in my life, I had to move out of my parents’ house and onto the college campus. I
immediately had to decide whether I wanted to live in a dorm setting or an apartment setting. You can see
benefits to both, but I think the dorms are better. In the dorms, we have a better opportunity for social
interaction while we are adjusting to college. We also have easy access to all-you-can-eat food. Also, a
resident assistant acts as your mentor and guide throughout your first year of college. Although the apartments would give me more independence, dorms are a better fit for me because of the social opportunities, unlimited food, and mentorship.

Converted to the Third Person
For many students, the first year of college is their first time living outside of their parents’ house. These
students must decide whether to live in a dorm setting or an apartment setting. Both have benefits, but
dorms are often the better option. In the dorms, students have a better opportunity for social interaction
while they are adjusting to college. They also have easy access to many food choices. Also, resident
assistants on the dorm halls provide guidance and mentorship for students. Although the apartments
provide more independence to students, dorms are a better fit for first-year students because of the social
opportunities, unlimited food, and mentorship.

References

Bakhtin, M. (2001). The problem of speech genres. In P. Bizzell and B. Herzberg (Eds.), The rhetorical
tradition: Readings from classical times to the present (pp. 1227-1245). New York, NY: Bedford St.
Martins.