It was a tad difficult to swallow Devitt's meditation on genre, partially because years of indoctrination to the five paragraph essay had already been forced down my throat. The most difficult part was that genre, as it is defined in this context, had never been a part of my vocabulary before. As one might expect, my definition of genre was limited to different categories of media within music, film, and literature. However, I am beginning to realize its application to the various forms of rhetorical writing we use.
Devitt frames a large portion of her discussion around a genre that many students are familiar with: the five paragraph essay. Genres can be effective tools for rhetorical writing as they provide guidelines and a formula for how an argument is presented. In the case of the five paragraph essay, it typically begins with an introductory paragraph that introduces the topic and a thesis statement which states the author's position, followed by body paragraphs which provide evidence that supports the author's position, and ends with a conclusion paragraph that ties the evidence and thesis together. The reason this genre is so effective is because the audience, typically professors or fellow students, is also well versed in the genre. Thus, the audience is easily able to derive meaning from the author's rhetorical writing. It is important to note that genre is context heavy. For example, this blog post is not written in the five paragraph essay genre because my intended audience and purpose differ.
It all seems simple that genres provide us with guidelines for how to construct our rhetoric, however I quickly encountered issues in my junior year of high school when my teacher's asked me to deviate from the typical five paragraph structure. Because I was taught over and over again how to write a five paragraph essay, I began to believe that it was the only way to form my rhetoric. I had not considered that there were other genres that I could employ because I had not studied them to a significant degree. My difficulty with genre was that it narrowed my view of rhetoric to a specific writing format, which in turn inhibited my ability to approach my papers with originality. Although, it would be unreasonable for me to learn no genre at all. Then I would have no direction in what rhetorical techniques are effective.
The solution is to consider genre awareness when teaching and learning genre. Instead of allowing one's writing to be dictated by a certain genre, it is important to learn a variety of different genre and understand why a genre is used to suit a particular purpose. An author can then express their originality and free thought by adjusting the elements of the particular genre they are writing or borrowing elements from other genres. This can lead to more effective rhetorical writing by combining elements that better organize the author's argument and presentation of information.
Of course once I graduate and I'm outside of an academic context, it is unlikely that I will encounter the five paragraph essay again. As a management major, I'll be employing the use of business letters more than any other genre in my professional career. Devitt asserts that, "When writers take up a genre, they take up that genre’s ideology. If they do it unaware, then the genre reinforces that ideology" (339). In this case it can still be useful for me to consider the five paragraph essay for the purposes of genre awareness as it and business letters have a different set of ideologies, but first we must ask what is meant by a genre having its own ideology.
A five paragraph essay has a lot of what I like to call "fluff". It can begin with very general observations and discussions that don't get narrowed down until the thesis statement, which is typically the last sentence of the first paragraph. It reflects an ideology within academia that is concerned with abstract concepts and processes. Alternatively, business letters are very concise and to the point. They will immediately state a position on an issue with additional details and context following after. This denotes business values of efficient communication, concrete information, and priority on what is happening above how or why. This is what Devitt means by an author will take up a genre's ideology. Whether intentional or not, if I write a business letter, it is implied that my values are aligned with those of typical business practices simply because of the way I present information. That is why it is important to have a sense of genre awareness, because otherwise an author might employ a genre that brings with it an ideology that is counterproductive to his or her argument.
I hope that I may gain an understanding in a wide range of genres so that I may use their ideologies to increase the effectiveness of my rhetoric and promote the identity kits that I will maintain through my life.
Hi Mitchell,
ReplyDeleteI like how you shared your personal struggle deviating from the five-paragraph theme during your Junior year of high school. Once you get into that mindset of following a specific format or bust, then it becomes a hard habit to break. We have a crippling fear of other genres because its been ingrained in our brains as is the case with most of our teachers.
Teaching and learning critical genre awareness is important because as a science major, I can look at your example of a business letter and be able to comprehend what ideas you want to express. I can easily understand your objectives and retrieve the information you want me to receive. Genre awareness allows for effective communication across all disciplines which is important for productive collaboration.
-Selena Mae