Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Please post your two questions and response to your peers' questions about chapter 1 of the Bedford Book of Genres by commenting on this post!

68 comments:

  1. I noticed that the girl in the example created a collage-sculpture thing as one of her genre pieces. Is art a genre and does something have to have words in order for it to be a composition?

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    1. Art is considered a genre. If you recall, on the first day of class, we briefly discussed genres. Genres include a wide variety of compositions including written texts and digital compositions such as films. Genres are meant to accomplish various goals. Furthermore, we discussed how there are various reasons to compose. This particular example in question falls under trying to connect and spread a message as well as try to educate students. The overlap in her composition shows the ease in which compositions overlap. As mentioned in the text, Kristen LaCroix's pill shows her unique style to convey her message of persuade and educate her classmates that there was a problem with direct-to-consumer drug ads.

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    2. I do believe that art is a genre and I do not think that something needs to have words in order for it to be considered a composition. The music to a song is considered composition. Also if an artist wanted to tell a story by putting together multiple photographs or objects, that would be considered the composition of the piece.

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    3. I know that two people have already answered this question, but I, as well, have been pondering the same idea as to whether or not something must have words in order to be considered a composition. Of course, it is clear that most compositions contain words, but is it a rule that it must? Photo essays are included in our textbook as a type of genre, and even though the examples in the book contained some use of language to assist the viewer, was it completely necessary? Personally, I don't think it's necessary but certainly helpful. Videos can be a type of composition, but wouldn't a silent video fall into this category as well? Just because something may not contain words, I do not think we can completely count it out there are other types of language (i.e. body language) that can convey a story just as well as words may.
      Alayna Bradley

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  2. Also, which rhetorical appeal is most effective in persuading the broadest audience?

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    1. Wouldn't the effectiveness of an appeal be determined by the target audience, so the appeal that is most effect would change with every audience?

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    2. I believe pathos would be the most effective since you're trying to persuade the audience. On page 11, it mentions using pathos to persuade an audience "to appeal to their emotions and desires."

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  4. How can writers use various types of compositions targeted at various audiences to achieve the same goal?

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    1. Take for instance, if the shared goal is business promotion. One person could create an print advertisement to put in a fitness magazine for their protein supplement, while another individual could use digital composition on social media in order to promote his new shoe line, by intertwining it with their own thoughts, experiences, and photographs. Both individuals are achieving the goal of promoting their businesses but through very different compositions, a print ad and social media photography, which in turn are each targeted different audiences, the millenials who are internet based and the older magazine readers.

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  5. How can various types of genres be restrictive yet free?

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  6. Is there a trend for the change of genre and style related to changing beliefs as time progresses?

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    1. Definitely, the number of genres has increased with the rise of different forms of media (television, radio, cinema, the internet) and composers have a wider variety of styles to pull on and use as fewer institutions have a say in what composers can and cannot say.

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  7. Are certain modes of a composition more effective with different genres?

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  8. Is it correct to say "art is a genre" or is "art" a broad category which genres fall in?

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    1. Art is an enormous category. Art is the expression of human creativity, so literature, painting, music, sculpting, dancing and so many more fall under "Art". Just in painting alone there are the Genres of Pop Art, Realism, Cubism, Impressionism, Renaissance, Northern Renaissance, and the list continues almost infinitely. There are hundreds of genres on your Netflix queue, so what would make "Art" not a genre in itself?

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    2. I believe that a specific genre would fall within a category of art. Art spans from music to painting to literature, and each of these contain their own various genres. In many cases these genres have aspects that overlap and help define a book or a song as a work of art. Genre is specific and art is a more broad term, they can be used to describe the same piece but genre is certainly more specific. However, without genre there would be no true categories for art to fall into; for example, books are defined as nonfiction and fiction and even those are divided into several smaller categories. In my opinion is correct to say "art" is the broad category in which genre falls.

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    3. In a sense, they sort of interchange and can be looked at both ways. A genre would be a specific type of literary art that the author used when formatting the composition. The text that lies within the genre is all considered art and leads you to believe that the expression in the text defines the genre. the genre being a form of art. On the other hand, art is genre and genre is art. If you think about it hard enough, every style of art is a genre. Art is the expression of emotion not always put into words, but always spoken in some way. Those words become categorized as a genre at some point. Leading us to believe, genre is art and all of art are genres.

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  9. if a piece reaches an audience other than its target audience, and that audience dislikes the piece, does it reflect poorly on the piece or the audience?

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    1. In my opinion, it doesn't reflect poorly on either the audience or the piece. Often the goal of a composition would be to get their message across to the largest audience possible, therefore if more attention is brought to it, the better. For example, like the welcome letter we discussed on Wednesday, a larger audience was reached, and it was largely met with a negative response, however it further brought attention to the school and its ideals. Everyone is going to have different opinions, therefore most compositions will not have 100% positive response, consequently making it unfair to judge a piece sole on the response of such audience.

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  10. Are genres as a categorizing system inherently flawed by their lack of definitive guidelines and generally broad groups?

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    1. Genre does appear to be inherently flawed by its lack of boundaries. However, they are still useful in giving some semblance of order to that which is almost entirely subjective. So the fact that they are flawed doesn't render them useless.

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  11. Is the acceptance of created work on a whole the work of the individual creator and his skill, or on society at large and whether or not the piece captures the mood and collective unconscious of its audience?

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  12. Can a composition use sources of an opposing genre and rhetorical situation, without adopting elements of that work?

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    1. yes, I believe that with proper citation, external sources may be inspected and commented upon without adopting their elements

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  13. How heavily can a work stray from the conventions of a genre and still be considered a member of that category?

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    2. I want to say that as long as a work has the core values, themes, and characteristics of a specific genre it will always, no matter what the work is or how far it strays, be considered part of the original genre it aimed to be a part of. A works genre is its category, and of course some categories are larger than others and are made up of smaller categories within them that then stem off into even smaller classifications that go into even smaller subsets coming from an original and specific genre. Harry Potter for example, English Literature-Novel-Fantasy-Magic-etc.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_writing_genres This is a list of genres so you can see what Im talking about If Im not clear) So if a work does stray away from a genre to the point where it might not even be part of its original intended genre anymore, it can still be considered part of its original intended genre, but also different genres at the same time.As in, the work is classified as very specific genre, but it can overlap with others that are somewhat similar, or be completely different from one another. With this in mind, a genre isn't a binding classification from which a work can never stop being a part of,it's more of classification within a subset, within another group,etc,etc. It doesn't really matter how far a work strays away from its genre, or how unusual it is,compared to other works in a genre, as long as their is some sort of characteristic pertaining to that work that can place it in whichever genre that exists, it will always be a member of one, two or all the categories.

      Then again,a works genre can change from category to category, but only because of how the audience interprets it, and how the author explicitly defines the genre the work belongs in. For example) Religious groups categorise religious writings as one genre , whilst non-religious groups categorise religious texts in another, completely different, genre. These religious texts belong in the genre of religious literature, but at the same are and are not part of the aforementioned genre. Not because of differences in the text or strict classification methods, but because of what the audience and general public believes it to be, and what the authors of the texts say about what genre their works belong in. The interpretation of the work and the ultimate goal of the author of the work plays a part in what genre a work will fit into, so maybe a book like Lord of The Rings that is part of the fantasy genre (as viewed by the general public), can also fit into Religious Metaphorical Literature because of the Christian undertones it has. So in this example, the work is in specific a genre (fantasy) and then classified into another that is completely different. They are essentially polar opposites but as I said before, as long as their is some sort of characteristic pertaining to the work that can place it in whichever genre that exists,and depending on the interpretation of the audience and the intention of the author, a work can stray all it wants from a genres convention, but still be part of its original genre classification, and others at the same time, due to personal interpretation, the core characteristics of the work, and the authors explicit classification of a work.

      Basically, as long as you can justify a works genre,the work can stray all it wants.

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  14. How is a genre created? What are the characteristics of a work for it to create a new genre?

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    1. Does only one work from a new non existance genre, automatically create a standalone genre? Or do there have to be more works for a new genre to be created?

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    2. In my opinion, there has to be more than one piece of work for there to be a new genre. Due to the fact that if someone tried to "start" a new genre, but no one else could follow along to the specific rules and styles of that genre, then it wouldn't be able to exist; that one work would simply fit into another genre, because I think that many genres have overlapping elements in them. It would be hard just in general for a new genre to appear or be made.

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  15. Annie L. Burton wrote a memoir instead of poetry because that's what the popular genre was at the time. So, what do you think is today's most popular genre and why do you think that it's the most popular?

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    1. I think that in our modern day society, the most popular genres involve the internet. The majority of people have some interaction with the internet every single day, whether it be through work, school, or for their own personal social interests. Because of this, a large portion of our communication nowadays is accomplished using the digital world. Most people now read about local and international news through apps on their phones. Newspapers and magazines all have mobile apps that allow people to read instant news updates right from their mobile devices. Blogging has become increasingly popular, including personal blogs, travel blogs, and photograph blogs. For example, this blog being used as a part of our class work for this semester exemplifies the evolution that genres and English composition have gone through even in the last ten years. Instead of writing letters, people send emails or text messages to instantly communicate with people all over the world. Because of our constant use of technology in our daily lives, today's most popular genres, in my opinion, are found and used within the digital world.

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  16. If the genre of a piece of writing has many specific elements, then how is it possible that some writing can fit into multiple genres?

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  17. How can the modes of different genres overlap?

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  18. If multiple writers are all doing a blog post on the same subject, how would the writers attract readers to their blog specifically rather than reading another blog on the same idea?

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    1. The blog writers would have to decide on a style to write their blogs to a specific audience. For example, in the book there was a blogger who kept his travel blogs very personal and casual in order to attract a more casual audience. Another blogger might present things as more matter-of-fact in order to attract more fact-driven readers.

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  19. Does topic determine genre or can an author select any genre regardless of topic?

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  20. Do specific genres require different levels of validity from the sources used to compose the text?

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  21. What role does the rhetorical situation play in composition? Do writers who have different rhetorical situations compose different pieces of work, even if they fall within the same genre?

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    1. Rhetorical situation helps writers determine how to communicate their points most effectively. It helps them to focus on the context of why they are writing and allows them to be more focused on how to communicate with their audience. Works within a same genre can be very different because each genre dresses a wide range of situations and audiences and if all of the works in one genre were too similar no one would want to read them anymore because they would have become too commonplace.

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  22. Are rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) used more effectively individually or in combination within a piece of composition?

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    1. The most effective combination of rhetorical appeals depends, of course, on the rhetorical situation. However, a use of combination of appeals tends to lend more aid to persuasion than a heavy dependency on one. Any work intended to call a group of people to action- such as a presidential speech, an article related to a controversial issue, or even a television advertisement- are composed with the purpose of convincing others to agree with its claims. To reach this end the composer will try to strengthen their claim as much as possible, fortifying it with the three rhetorical appeals in order to sway his or her audience. Think of a television commercial for Pillow Pets. They might feature some kids happily snuggling with their Pillow Pets with a voice in the background claiming "kids love them!," appealing to your emotions. Then the inventor might come on the screen excitedly telling you that Pillow Pets are made with the best material and that they are machine washable, appealing to your sense of ethics. Finally the orator tells you about how convenient they are for road trips because they double as a pillow and a stuffed animal. Of course you would rather have one Pillow Pet in the car than both a stuffed animal and a bulky pillow, right parents? Viola! You are now more effectively convinced to purchase a pillow pet than you would have been if the producer had only relied on one rhetorical appeal.

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  23. Why do you think that we find it so important to categorize literary works into genres?

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    1. Humans in general quite enjoy putting mental "labels" on things. It makes it significantly easier to process them in our minds and to make the neural pathways necessary towards remembering bits of information. Additionally, categorizing literary works makes things of a kind easier to find. For example, some people may only want to read novels, or magazines, or scientific essays. The process of finding what we prefer/need to read is simplified by defining the categories and what goes into them.

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  24. Does the fact that so many works fall under numerous genres kind of defeat the purpose of having literary works defined into genres?

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  25. Can genre be subjective (ex: person 1 thinks a composition belongs to genre A while person 2 thinks it belongs to genre B)?

    Can a type of genre be inherently positive/negative?

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  26. When composing a work that could be categorized as fiction, what kind of sources would a composer use and how does it affect the style of the work?

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  27. In the chapter, it discussed how Burton selected a memoir because it was a popular genre in that time period. Do you think that past popular genres will make a reappearance for popularity?

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  28. What is a common rhetorical appeal used by our presidential candidates and how does it aid their rhetorical purpose? How effective is the appeal in their political campaign?

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    1. In an ideal world, we should be looking at and ranking the candidates based on their ethos appeal. The most important characteristic should be how credible they are that they can lead the country. Overall, their authority should be questioned first before they can be allowed to call the shots for 4 years. In today's society, I'm afraid everyone appeals to the candidates through pathos means, which is not effective at all, because emotions can change within 4 years. Logic or credibility also can change within that 4 year mark, but not as drastically or strongly. The logic of candidates standpoints do help rating them, because the style of logic they are using can help you decide if they will make choices that seem logical to you as well. All in all, the most common rhetorical appeal in this presidential race is pathos because America is relying on how they feel about the candidates actions instead of looking at the logic of the choices and the authority behind it.

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  29. What rhetorical appeal do you think people use when posting on social media?

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    1. Personally, I would say pathos. I think a lot of people use social media as an outlet to find others who connect with their emotions, particularly those emotions produced by their day-to-day experiences.

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  30. 1. What tactics do you use when determining what genre is appropriate to convey a desired message. (Erin Christopher)

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  31. 2. Do you find yourself affected more by certain rhetorical appeals dependent upon genre? Give an example and explain. (i.e. more affected by logos when reading a journal article)

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  32. 1. Does mode of communication change with intended audiences or do authors publish their writing on various mediums to reach the maximum number of people?

    2. Can a piece of writing be seen by someone as using one rhetorical appeal while another sees it as using a different one?

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  33. How does one choose the perfect genre to portray their message especially if their audience is the general public?

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  34. Which rhetorical appeal (ethos, pathos, or logos) does everyone think is most effective, and why?

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    1. This question is very situational and depends on the audience you are speaking to. Different rhetorical appeals can be used affectively when we are speaking to different audiences. If you're writing a research essay that is appealing to an audience of experts in the field, most likely logos will be your most valuable rhetorical appeal. While on the other hand, if you are writing to an audience of normal people, then it is far more likely that you will want to use pathos are your main rhetorical appeal because those people are less likely be experts in the field of your paper. The rhetorical techniques can be very useful when determining how to address your audience and how to best persuade them in arguing your point throughout the essay.

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  35. 1. What tactics do you use in choosing a topic or genre for your essay?
    2. How do you determine what rhetorical appeals to use when considering the audience of your essay?

    Mark Salters

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  36. Can something be logical because it's appealing to credibility? If something has credibility, it would be logical to believe it, right?

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  37. Do essays (or any piece) lose credibility because they are too emotional and gain credibility because there is a lot of logic?

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  38. How do you make sure that the media you use will accurately convey they ideas you have?
    Is the mode in the given composition generally the same as what the author got from it or will it always be different?

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  39. What form of media is generally seen as being the most effective at delivering a message to a younger audience?

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  40. As writers, what do you feel is the greatest challenge to composing a convincing piece while establishing an appeal to pathos, logos, and ethos?

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  41. Have genres changed throughout time and if so how have they changed?

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  43. Why do people compose things? Is there a method of composition that is most effective?

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