1. Dirk's Navigating Genres had a fun, casual tone that I found easy to read. Would this be something you would consider assigning to your composition students? Why or why not? What more would they gain to learn about genre from this piece?
2. Devitt states that "Based on our identification of genre, we make assumptions not only about the form but also about the text's purposes, its subject matter, its writer, and its expected reader." She goes on to give the example of differing responses when sorting mail based on her understanding of genre: sales junk into the trash but reading a letter from a friend. What are other ways you navigate the world based on your understanding of genre?
Keri, to respond to your first question, I think keeping the casual tone is effective even in academic writing. Even though I learned not to use "I' and to keep a formal tone to write an academic paper, I've read many well-written papers keeping a friendly tone. As long as the paper has a strong argument and evidences, the casual tone helps readers engaged and convinced much more than a distant academic tone. I don't think it's necessary to encourage to students to write in a friendly voice, but I certainly do not emphasize a formal voice.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think students can learn how to locate their writing within a context by learning about genres.
Hi, Keri,
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about using Dirk's piece as an assigned reading to my composition students for the same reason. I really appreciated that casual tone and the meta-commentary that Dirk exercises in the first third of the essay. Through this technique, Dirk is showing the process of determining genre conventions and adapting writing to fit those conventions, while also being accessible to people new to the conversation. Finally, I like the complications that Dirk adds to writing and the questions at the end. I think Dirk turns the consideration of genre into a reflective practice with these questions, which is always valuable.