Approaches+to+Genre

Approaches to Genre

**Introductory Genre Activity**

Activity: After watching film clips, write down which genre and / or sub-genre you think the film belongs to. If you think the film belongs to more than one genre, state which ones.

Then write down three or more aspects of the clip which make you think it belongs to this genre (for example: objects, costumes, historical / physical settings, themes, dialogue, similarities to other films you have seen, visual style, narrative incidents etc).

**//Stagecoach// movie [|trailer]**

//**1**0 Things I Hate About// **//You// movie** [|trailer]


** A. Closely read your example texts of the genre. ** ** B. Identify the Scene and Describe the Situation in which the Genre is Used ** : Try to identify the larger scene in which the genre is used. Seek answers to questions about the genre’s situation such as the following: ** C. Identify and Describe the Patterns in the Genre’s Features. ** What recurrent features do the samples share? For example: What //content// is typically included? What is excluded? How is the content treated? What sorts of examples are used? What counts as evidence (personal testimony, facts, etc.)? What //rhetorical appeals// are used? What appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos appear?* How are texts in the genres //structured//? What are their parts, and how are they organized? In what //format// are texts of this genre presented? What layout or appearance is common? How long is a typical text in this genre? What types of //sentences// do texts in the genre typically use? How long are they? Are they simple or complex, passive or active? Are the sentences varied? Do they share a certain style? What //Diction// (types of words) is most common? Is a type of jargon used? Is slang used? How would you describe the writer’s voice? ** D. Analyze What these Patterns Reveal About the Situation and Scene. ** What do these rhetorical patterns reveal about the genre, its situation, and the scene in which it is used? Why are these patterns significant? What can you learn about the actions performed through the genre by observing its language patterns? What arguments can you make about these patterns? As you consider these questions, focus on the following: * Logos (Greek for 'word') refers to the internal consistency of the message--the clarity of the claim, the logic of its reasons, and the effectiveness of its supporting evidence. The impact of logos on an audience is sometimes called the argument's logical appeal.
 *  Analyzing Your YA Literature Sub-Genre **
 * 1) ** Setting ** : Where does the genre appear? How and when is it transmitted and used? With what other genres does this genre interact?
 * 2) ** Subject ** : What topics, issues, ideas, questions, etc. does the genre address? When people use this genre, what is it that they are interacting about?
 * 3) ** Participants: ** Who uses the genre? //Writers:// Who writes the texts in this genre? Are multiple writers possible? What roles do they perform? What characteristics must writers of this genre possess? Under what circumstances do writers write the genre (e.g. in teams, on a computer, in a rush)? //Readers:// Who reads the texts in 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 read the genre (e.g. at their leisure, on the run, in waiting rooms)?
 * 4) ** Purposes: ** Why do writers write this genre and why do readers read it? What purposes does the genre fulfill for the people who use it?
 * 1) What do participants have to know or believe to understand or appreciate the genre?
 * 2) Who is invited into the genre, and who is excluded?
 * 3) What roles for writers and readers does it encourage or discourage?
 * 4) What values, beliefs, goals and assumptions are revealed through the genre’s patterns?
 * 5) How is the subject of the genre treated?
 * 6) What content is considered most important?
 * 7) What content (topics or details) is ignored?
 * 8) What actions does the genre help make possible?
 * 9) What actions does the genre make difficult?
 * 10) What attitude toward readers is implied in the genre?
 * 11) What attitude toward the world is implied in it?

Ethos (Greek for 'character') refers to the trustworthiness or credibility of the writer or speaker. Ethos is often conveyed through tone and style of the message and through the way the writer or speaker refers to differing views. It can also be affected by the writer's reputation as it exists independently from the message--his or her expertise in the field, his or her previous record or integrity, and so forth. The impact of ethos is often called the argument's 'ethical appeal' or the 'appeal from credibility.'

[P]athos (Greek for 'suffering' or 'experience') is often associated with emotional appeal. But a better equivalent might be 'appeal to the audience's sympathies and imagination.' An appeal to pathos causes an audience not just to respond emotionally but to identify with the writer's point of view--to feel what the writer feels. In this sense, pathos evokes a meaning implicit in the verb 'to suffer'--to feel pain imaginatively.... Perhaps the most common way of conveying a pathetic appeal is through narrative or story, which can turn the abstractions of logic into something palpable and present. The values, beliefs, and understandings of the writer are implicit in the story and conveyed imaginatively to the reader. Pathos thus refers to both the emotional and the imaginative impact of the message on an audience, the power with which the writer's message moves the audience to decision or action.

Genre Resources



Bawarshi/Reiff chapter on genre theory and literature: [|literature and genre]

Overview of genre approaches: [|literary genre]