Navigating Genres Response

     Kerry Dirk's Navigating Genres is an interesting and enjoyable easy read, even though it discusses a rather multifaceted (not sure thats the exact word to describe it) topic. Dirk's conversational tone and modern-day examples kept me engaged, this really goes to show that when you know your targeted audience, in this case easily distracted college students, you can write in a way that fits the genre conventions but also keep us entertained. 

     It's kind of confusing to know that the definition of genre now is not what it was understood to be before, but i think its modern-day meaning is a whole lot better and sort of shows how humans mentality has evolved and brought greater meaning and understanding to concepts that seemed so simple. I like the fact that genres are "alive" since they form and evolve with the times, I feel like that keeps them relevant.
     I love the examples used, it really puts things into perspective and helped me further understand the concept. Even though I'm not a huge country fan I immediately understood what Dirk was saying and it was definitely a good grabber because i was immediately interested. My favorite example was the one with the ransom note, it was super funny yet appropriate. It was also very relatable when Dirk wrote about the writing rules we have been taught by our teachers because thats what i was told all throughout high school and if our writing did not satisfy that we would be graded lower. 
     I agree that learning genre awareness is better than trying to be taught to master a genre because there are so many genres and so many circumstances that its probably impossible but if we understand how genres work we will be prepared to tackle any genre.