Genre Analysis

  This post talks about the purpose of genres and how they appeal to my research topic at this point in the process. A genre in this academic setting is a flexible response to a reoccurring rhetorical situation and it develops and changes over time.

Where do we start when we analyze a genre instead of summarizing the genre?

—Collect samples of the genre

—Identify appeals (logic, creditability, emotions)

—Text structure and organization

—Document format and presentation

—Author’s word choice and sentence style

Why are these features appropriate for the assignment?

            These features are appropriate for the assignment because they help you stay within the genre you are researching.  Since a genre is a response to a reoccurring rhetorical situation, analyzing the genre properly is important to your overall research findings.  For example, when you identify your sources, you want to make sure they are credible for your genre.  In my research area, the affects that technology has on college students’ literacy development, I want to find realistic and logical sources that talk about my topic from an academic point of view.  Furthermore, relaying my research through the correct document format and presentation, only adds to my genre’s credibility.  Finally, you want to find samples of your genre that have proper word choice and sentence style.  If the sentence structure and word choice is not clear and does not give the reader a thorough understanding of the subject, than no new material can be found about the genre.

Why does this genre work for the course, the assignment, and the specific phase of the research process?

            My genre, the technology’s affect of college students’ literacy, works for this course as the entire course is based on strengthening our literacy skills through writing, reading, and research. Perhaps so of the students in the class learn better through technology, while others like myself, find it too distracting.  The genre is a reoccurring theme in many academic articles such as, Danielle DeVoss’ The Future of Literacy, and in many academic journals that I have researched so far.  The genre is appropriate for this phase of the research process as it is something that is constantly changing over time. Technology is improving and being altered each and everyday.  As the more recent articles published discuss the new effects of technology and in the classroom, I can compare them to articles that may have a little different take on technology from a few years back.  Since my genre is changing along with technology, it is suitable for this phase of the research process.