ENGL 1010 Middle Tennessee State University Genre Analysis Project

ENGL 1010: Literacy for Life – Writing Project 2: Genre Analysis

Project Purpose

The purpose of the genre analysis writing project is to help you understand the expectations and conventions of a specific genre. Additionally, the analysis process will provide you with the skills to identify specific genre patterns, conventions, and functions in order to determine their rhetorical effects. Fuller awareness of genres and genre conventions will increase your success in writing situations in academic, professional, public, and civic contexts. Don’t forget: You have a TEMPLATE for this writing project. ( ATTACHED )

Project Description

A common definition for a genre analysis is “the process of describing the situations of a genre by identifying its relevant patterns and conventions, and analyzing what these patterns tell us about how the genre functions and how it reflects the values of the community of participants who use it” (Downs & Wardle). While this writing project requires you to locate a genre of your choice and analyze, it also provides you with an introduction to the memo genre and an opportunity to practice using it. For this writing project, you should locate a GENRE that is specific to your academic discipline or career choice. It will make your life easier if you use the same genre you chose for Small Writing 2: Genre Map, ( ATTACHED ) but you don’t have to!

Step-by-Step Writing Process

The writing process for our major writing projects occurs in 5 phases: Invention, Drafting, Revision, Editing, and Publication. We talked about these phases in the Week 3 lecture notes. But for the Genre Analysis project, you’ll follow a more specific step-by-step writing process. Each of the steps below will be section in your memo:

1. Collect samples of the genre
2. Describe the rhetorical situation of the genre
3. Identify the patterns and conventions of the genre
4. Analyze the rhetorical use of the patterns and conventions of the genre
5. Reflect on the writing and research process

STEP 1: Collect samples of the genre

Gather 2-3 samples of your chosen genre. Determine where you can collect (legal!) samples of your chosen genre to include in your memo. Remember, you can select a genre from an academic, professional, public, or civic community. Public genres, like newspapers or websites are easy to locate online. Academic and professional genres can usually be found in textbooks, internal documents, through peers and mentors, or through careful internet research. Civic genres, like voting ballots or public policies, can usually be found online. For genres that are very specific to a given situation, like medical forms or internal administrative communication, you may need to visit physical locations to find samples.

Regardless of your genre choice, be sure you have permission to share the genre samples in your memo and in the peer review discussion boards in D2L. If you’re using medical genres or sensitive documents (e.g., police report), you’ll need to use a sample genre that is already freely available or obtain written permission to share the genre with our class. Failure to do so may result in a violation of HIPAA or another privacy law. Important note: Dr. Stone does not take any legal responsibility for the choices students make when location and sharing genre samples for this project.

Helpful Suggestion:

Try to gather samples from more than one place in order to obtain the most diverse and accurate representation of the genre. Make sure there are not significant deviations, but remember that little can be learned from looking at only one publication from one author. Gather 2-3 samples, at least!

STEP 2: Describe the rhetorical situation of the genre

Describe the rhetorical situation of the genre. Rhetorical situation is a term used to describe the components of any communication situation. There are 5 main components: Purpose, Writer, Audience, Message, Context/Culture. In this section of your memo, you will describe the rhetorical situation using the text you wrote for Small Writing 2: Genre Map (just copy and paste, folks). Then, answer these questions:

• Setting: Where does the genre appear? How and when is it used? With what other genres does it commonly interact?
• Subject: What topics, issues, and ideas does this genre address? When people use this genre, what are they usually talking about?
• Users: Who are the typical users (or audiences) for this genre? Remember, there are usually multiple users for a genre and their use varies based on their own rhetorical situation—especially context and culture!
  • Writers: Who writes this genre? Are multiple writers possible? What roles do they perform? Under what circumstances do writers compose the genre (e.g., in teams, on a computer, on a notepad at a crime scene)? Describe their common circumstances, if you can.
  • Readers: Who reads this genre? Is there more than one type of reader for this genre? What roles do they perform? What characteristics must readers of this genre possess? Under what circumstances do readers encounter this genre (e.g., in a courtroom, in an office)?
• Purpose: Why do writers compose this genre, and why do readers read it? What purposes does this genre fulfill for its users?

STEP 3: Identify the patterns and conventions of the genre

Identify the patterns and conventions of the genre. Genre patterns and conventions tell us about how the genre functions in specific rhetorical situations, and they reflect the values of the participants who use the genre. In this section of your memo, identify the recurrent features of your sample genres by answering the following questions:

• What content is typically included? What is excluded (and why)? How is the content treated? What sorts of examples are used? What counts as evidence in the genre (e.g., personal testimony, numbers, facts, research)?
• What rhetorical appeals are used? Does the writer appeal to measurable facts (logos), academic research (ethos), or personal emotion (pathos)?
• How are the genres structured? What are their parts, and how are they organized?
• In what format is the genre presented? What layout of appearance is common? How long is a typical sample of this genre? Does this genre prioritize written text, or is it common to encounter multimodal components like sound, video, or pictures?
• What types of sentences do the texts of this genre typically use? How long are they? Are they simple or complex? Passive or active? Are the sentences varied, or are they all written in the same style?
• What diction (types of words) is most common in this genre? Is it common to encounter specific jargon or slang? What is the typical voice or tone for this type of genre (e.g., formal, informal, conversational)?

STEP 4: Analyze the rhetorical use of the patterns and conventions of the genre

Analyze the rhetorical use of the patterns and convention of the genre. Rhetorical patterns and conventions provide insight into the most common use cases for a particular genre. In this section of your memo, answer the following questions about your chosen genre samples:

• What do the users (readers/writers) of this genre have to know, believe, or understand?
• Who is invited to use this genre? Who has access and who is excluded?
• What values, beliefs, goals, or assumptions are communicated through the genre’s patterns and conventions?
• Does prioritization or organization of the content tell you about what is important for the users of the genre?
• What actions does the genre help make possible? What actions does the genre make difficult?
• What is the genre’s attitude (tone) toward readers? How do you know?

STEP 5: Reflect on the writing and research process

Reflection is an important step in the writing and research process. It provides an opportunity to think about what you learned and how you will alter your process the next time you complete an activity like a genre analysis. In this section of your memo, consider the following questions:

• Describe your research process. How did you locate your genre samples? Was your research process effective? How will you alter your research process in the future?
• Describe your writing process. Did you follow the step-by-step process on this assignment sheet, or did you do something else? Was it effective? How will you alter your writing process in the future?
• Describe the memo genre. What did you learn about the memo genre by composing your genre analysis as a memo? Will you use the memo genre in future writing contexts? If so, which ones?
• Reflect on your learning process. What did you learn from this writing project about genres, genre analysis, or the context/culture of your chosen genre? How should I change this writing project for future sections of ENGL 1010?

Grading Checklist

The Genre Analysis is worth 75 points; it will be graded with the following checklist:

• Is the genre analysis 1000-1500 words? (50 points)

• Does the genre analysis follow the patterns and conventions of the memo genre? (5 points)

• Does the genre analysis contain all five required parts (samples, description, identification, analyzation, reflection)? Note: If you follow the step-by-step writing process, you will have all five of these components. (15 points)
• Was the genre analysis submitted by the deadline? (5 points)