Navigating Genres
I enjoyed reading this essay and learning the importance of genres and how country music was shown to be an example. The joke at the beginning of the essay had me laugh out loud. I found it interesting that you would need to understand how to make something, like country music, to then take that knowledge to allow to create something of your own such as a country song. I liked how she broke down country music into 5 characteristics that would allow something to gain an idea on what country music is all about. She raised a very intriguing question on that if one were to not follow these said characteristics would the product created still be considered country music? This is a great question asked that would allow someone to learn more on genres and what exactly makes something fit into a genre and not fit into a genre.
She discussed the personal choices that writers make to create their own characteristics of a genre. That some admit to not know everything or to admit ignorance. She told that their way of doing it is what is called "genre knowledge". Genre knowledge is the past experiences with reading and writing similar texts in similar situations used to tell a person the expectations of the genre. She brought up genre awareness and that you must be aware of your struggles with writing in a new genre. She discusses many peoples' interpretations and definitions of genre so that it would allow a better understanding of it. I liked this because it really allowed me to think and broaden my understanding of this subject. Knowing what genres are will help you along the way to your goals in life. The importance of genre in life is that its shapes people everyday in its own way to each person. A big shocker in this essay to me was a statement that stated that two things are able to fit in one genre but, at the same time, be very different from one another. This is caused by the environment around us and the expectations given to us that shape our understanding of a genre. An important tip is that you don't have to try to learn a new genre but instead try to use a genre and have it fit for your specific situation.
Overall, this essay allowed me have a better understanding of what a genre is and what makes up a genre. As well as, gave me a better appreciation for the subject and allow my thinking to open up to new ideas and thoughts of others. This essay was an impressive and insightful read that will allow to excel more in this class and has been the best read that I have been assigned so far in this class.
I would disagree on the idea that this was the best read, as I loved shitty first drafts. However I agree with pretty much everything else. It is the breaking down of the idea of country music to be able to apply it to writing that makes it so easy to understand. By then defining the expectations of genre, they really hit the nail on the head as far as proving that we abide pretty closely to such conventions. And that is a great tip, essentially think about what you want to say, then tackle the best way to go about writing that.
ReplyDeleteHi Austin
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that you've enjoyed this reading and that it made you more aware to genres and how they're all around us. It's interesting to see that you picked up on how new genres come from previously determined genres. It's really important to be aware of them as opposed to try to learn all about one specific genre.