Navigating Genres
This article was very in line with what we've been reading and talking about the last few classes, genres are important. How important? Well enough so that we seem to constantly be at least subconsciously aware of them. This article really opened my eyes to that idea, the fact that whether it be a text to my best friend, an email to a professor, a facebook post, or this blog post, I approach and write each of these differently. And that really is an amazing thing that we learn through experience, as creatures of habit, people will repeat a form that they know to work. When i text my mom, i wouldn't use acronyms and such that I know she wouldn't understand, rather I've learned this "mom text" genre, and communicate with her so that I know she understands.
I find the authors opening example of country music to be easy to grasp and very fitting. For me, whenever i would think of genres, I typically thought of musical ones. Country music will be about drinking beer or love, hip hop will be braggadocios and explicit, heavy metal will be emotional or uplifting, and so on. And while these are really nothing but stereotypes, they do hold true again and again, and it is why you get people who say they can't stand country music, because they have an idea of what to expect. And while there are many examples of such pieces that break their barriers, certain characteristics tend to shine through. So using this thinking as I approach writing styles is very eye opening. However I personally don't like this rigid compartmentalization of genres. I like to be surprised and see something that is more ground breaking and unique, rather than fitting a mold that was presupposed. And as the author points out, our expectations might deter such experimentation. Of course there are some lines that shouldn't be crossed, such as being informal in a research paper, but when it comes to a comedic play, I would like to see maybe some moments of tragedy.
So while I may not like all that the writer has to say, it is definitely an interesting study, to examine the little way in which are genres differ.
I find the authors opening example of country music to be easy to grasp and very fitting. For me, whenever i would think of genres, I typically thought of musical ones. Country music will be about drinking beer or love, hip hop will be braggadocios and explicit, heavy metal will be emotional or uplifting, and so on. And while these are really nothing but stereotypes, they do hold true again and again, and it is why you get people who say they can't stand country music, because they have an idea of what to expect. And while there are many examples of such pieces that break their barriers, certain characteristics tend to shine through. So using this thinking as I approach writing styles is very eye opening. However I personally don't like this rigid compartmentalization of genres. I like to be surprised and see something that is more ground breaking and unique, rather than fitting a mold that was presupposed. And as the author points out, our expectations might deter such experimentation. Of course there are some lines that shouldn't be crossed, such as being informal in a research paper, but when it comes to a comedic play, I would like to see maybe some moments of tragedy.
So while I may not like all that the writer has to say, it is definitely an interesting study, to examine the little way in which are genres differ.
Hi Tyler
ReplyDeleteAs readers and critical thinkers, we don't have to agree with everything someone else says in their work, but it's great to see that you were still open to it and that allowed you to learn a lot about genre from this piece. It's great to see students developing critical thinking.