What is this project? Analyzing or “reading” a genre is an effective, efficient means for writing persuasively across multiple contexts. Because our standards for what constitutes “good writing” change depending on the genre, audience, and context in which one is working, then we need to be able to determine which conventions and traits readers rely on to make their evaluations. This assignment challenges you to analyze a micro- genre-breaking down its rhetorical elements to understand better how they come together as a whole to get things done in the world.
What am I being asked to do here? First, select any micro-genre you’re curious about, then use analysis to identify the patterns, conventions, and traits that help distinguish it as a genre. Then, analyze those patterns (and any anomalies) to render the implicit values, beliefs, and assumptions of the genre explicit. In 1000–1500 words, depict the genre’s conventions and share the findings of your analysis. Your goal is to compose a piece with cohesive, compelling linkages between claims, evidence, and reasoning—the hallmarks of analytical writing.
You might be asking yourself, “wait, what is a micro-genre?” If you’re familiar with the concept of genre, just think smaller. For example, take it from “horror movies” to “found-footage horror movies,” from “hip-hop” to “trap,” or from “young adult fiction” to “YA paranormal romance.” You could consider how microgenres work on social media, too. Since we only have 1000–1,500 words to work with, having a more specific genre allows for more targeted analysis, which in turn will allow for more nuanced, meaningful claims. Your analysis should reference specific examples of at least two texts that exemplify the genre under consideration. For example, if you were analyzing horror films, you might cite tropes used in at least two films.
This should be a close reading that draws evidence directly from the texts you’re examining. This means looking at specific quotations, moments, images, lyrics, scenes, or other elements that connect your interpretations as closely as possible to the text you’ve selected. You might consider incorporating images or screenshots where applicable.
You should not need to reference any other texts beyond the two primary examples you’ve selected.
What exactly should I be analyzing? Consider some of these core questions as you look for the patterns that help constitute your selected genre:
What are the conventions, traits, and “moves” that help constitute the genre? What values, beliefs, goals, and assumptions are revealed through the genre’s patterns? What do these patterns reveal about the genre? What do they tell us about the rhetorical situations the genre responds to and/or those it helps bring about? What attitude toward readers is implied in the genre? What attitude toward the world is implied in the genre?
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