Chapter One Response

Chapter One this book provided insightful information as to how crossing over techniques intended for certain genres and purposes are crossed into varying areas to strengthen the quality of writing. Each writer “defines” their “use of a genre,” in this meaning each writer varies in how a genre is presented due to that authors purpose and audience. This seems to be the overarching theme for which the coming chapters will expand upon, this first chapter begins to discuss how a genre such as a scholarly article can have the main purpose to inform their audience but use rhetorical techniques of persuasion to strengthen their writing. Learning about rhetorical appeals in high school such as ethos was always in regards to a strictly persuasive pieces. However this book presented how persuasion is used in varying genres, genres in which persuasion is not the end goal, but rather a method to inform. Scholarly articles use ethos to persuade the reader to find the information being presented to be true, thus insuring the reader is informed. This is seen in Henderson’s work which informs readers about a wall arch collapsing, but uses an ethos rhetorical strategy by stating that he is a government employee which gives him a level of authority and credibility. The following portion of the chapter focused on the elements of style. The three elements of genre presented; style, design and sources, were very interesting, because when I think of genres I mostly think the distinguishing factors around genres is the style in which the information is delivered. However seeing how design and more so how sources contribute to the nature of each genre shows how unique each genre truly is in its delivery of information. For me the presence of sources being acknowledged or not has never has an impact on how I view a piece of writing so I am excited to gain knowledge on what sources imply about each genre. 

Comments

  1. I found it interesting how the author's differing 'use of genre', as you said, can give them a great amount of control with their writing, especially how they're delivered to the audience.

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  2. Hi Leah
    I'm glad to see you were able to make connections between the content of the chapter and the examples at the end of it. Also, it's good to hear that the chapter opened your eyes to all the elements that contribute to the determination of a genre. I hope to hear more about the impact of the readings on you as a writer, like you did towards the end of this reading response. Can't wait for your future reflections.

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