Bedford Book of Genres Reading Response

Rocio Nicot

ENC2135

January 10, 2018

The spectrum that writing sits on is much broader than most know - without even beginning to take into account how times have changed and are continuing to change how an audience is spoken to. The specific talk of modes within genres caught my attention, and how older pieces are changing in the way that they are being presented to an audience - whether that be the many different forms of audio, or visual that exist today. Many older pieces, such as Annie L. Burton's memoir, were written with one mode in mind - and are now being shared in ways that were not taken into consideration during their inception. With how quickly technology changes, there are different perspectives that need to be accounted for before going forward with a published piece. The audience plays one of the largest rolls in writing, and is proven to be a major point of focus in this chapter. The style of a piece can determine what type of audience is being targeted, and how the syntax used will keep the reader interested. The use of rhetorical appeals is predominantly based on the same idea of focusing on the audience, and how they will be persuaded. The use of ethos, logos, and pathos can help give shape to an idea – and how that idea needs to be portrayed. Trying to play on a reader’s empathy in the wrong context can be cause for confusion, and can ultimately result in a loss of interest.