Navigating Genres by Kery Dirk was incredibly informative on how to be rhetorically effective when writing in terms of genre. Genre has evolved into a more complex concept, and the reading helped in the simplification of understanding it. Kirk proposes that ideally we should use rhetoric appropriate to our genre in our writing in order to produce the best desired outcome for ourselves. Additionally, other measures to ensure rhetorical effectiveness are asking what we are trying to accomplish, determining purpose, audience, and location, and looking at similar examples within the same genre. I like the fact that genre, specifically form, provides a type of outline for our writing, and depending on location, we have a basic understanding of how our writing should look. Like Dirk describes, genre is a tool. By being rhetorically aware about genre, we open ourselves up to endless possibilities in writing, which is why genre is constantly being altered and added to. Lastly, I found it helpful to read Dirk's personal experience of rhetoric and genre when writing to her bank. It was a perfect example of considering purpose, audience, and location, and using examples in the same genre to conduct her own writing sample. The fact that she was successful in getting refunded shows the power of rhetoric and the importance of awareness in genre. This reading was very practical in the explanation of genre and how rhetorical awareness produces the desired outcome of our writing, and I will use her tips when constructing my first paper.
Throughout chapter 1 of “The Bedford Book of Genres,” I learned that there are a variety of ways to improve one’s writing. Several writers tend to get carried away while writing that they forget who their audience is and what message they are trying to deliver. This is when one must ask themselves what their purpose of writing is, do they want to present a narrative/ tell a story, inform, or persuade. After figuring out ones purpose they must choose a genre to be able to shorten their idea and be concise. In order for this to occur one must know the basic qualities and agreed-upon rules about the genre they are composing. Once one makes those decisions they move on to the rhetorical situation which mainly explains the idea. This allows the writer to provide support on their purpose such as saying what is great about it or provide statistics, which will automatically make their writing more interesting for the audience to read, as well as, get t...
I agree that when we are writing to a specific audience, we should always know the purpose of our writing in order to achieve our desired goal. I was also impressed how she handled her issues with her bank which she would not be able to do had she not understood the importance of genre awareness.
ReplyDeleteI also like the fact that genre can be used as a tool. This helps us with an outline for the writing; it is also important to realize how powerful and persuasive rhetoric is.
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