Navigating Genres Reading Response- Taylor Wilhelmy

The Bedford Book of Genres proposes the following thought: “Why bother thinking about genres? Because they represent possibilities” (5).  This insight and perspective lingered in my mind as I continued my reading.  However, the mention of music as an example of one of the various genres we, as both people and students, are exposed to, coincidently struck close to home.

The chapter discusses the various forms genres can come in. Outlining how there is no clear layout or purpose and identifying the key components to take note of when reading or analyzing a piece of work, which can include situation, rhetoric, style, and audience. The same applies to music, which in itself is a composition that is then divided into genres. When artists are composing a song, the same key components must be taken into account. Audience, situation, rhetoric, and style all play a key roll in dividing music into beautifully allocated genres, which sometimes contain one or more sub-genres.

The quote referenced to above provides a very intuitive response that reads, “Because they represent possibilities” (5).  Within my career as a student I have written various papers and essays, each pertaining to a question, situation, and/or person; however, what differed in these papers was whom I was writing to, why I was writing, and how I was writing. These variations allowed for a different end result every time, all of which fell under a different genre.

Perhaps it was the courses I took in high school, but close attention has always been paid to the audience, style, and rhetoric of the piece. This chapter allowed for a good refresher on the significant roles each component play in composing a piece of work that is unlike any others.