Analyzing My Genre

In this post I will be providing links to example texts from my genre. I have decided to write my argument as a blog post, and below are examples of blog posts from the platform I wish to use, treehugger.com. Because I am not sure which type of public argument I will be writing in, I used my examples to show that the blog genre will support multiple types of arguments.

Hashimoto, Jayni. "Treehugger.com" 11/7/15 via Screenshot. 

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Example 5

Social Context

• Where is your genre typically set?
• My genre is blog posts. As a result the genre is set online. 
• What is the subject of the genre?
• I think because anyone can write a blog, the subjects can be about anything. But I think the people who write blogs do so to share an opinion or educate people so blogs tend to be more informative and biased. 
• Who uses the genre?
• Because this is an online genre, I think the audience tends to be younger people who are more technologically savvy. I also think because there are so many blogs out there the people who read the blogs tend to be more interested in the topic, because they had to find it. 
• When and why is the genre used? What purposes does the genre serve for the people who use it?
• I think this genre is used to share opinions about things, in particular specific events that occur. So this genre is used by writers to share their thoughts and feelings about things like when GM announced that the Chevy Bolt would be sold in all 50 states.  

Rhetorical Patterns of the Genre

• What type of context is usually included and excluded?
• Content that is typically found in blogs posts includes: background information, relevant facts to back up the author's claim, and an opinion on the topic. However, blogs tend to exclude very technical words and vocab. 
• What rhetorical appeals are used most often? Do you notice any patterns in the appeals to logos, pathos, or ethos?
• I think blogs tend to utilize ethos and logos the most. Blogs are usually on the shorter side, so they have to make an impact in a shorter amount of time. I feel like these are the easiest ways to get the reader to interact with the text. 
• How are the texts organized? Do they generally open in similar ways? What common parts do the samples share?
• Blogs are typically opened with a "lead," or a short summary of the rest of the text. They are typically organized with subheadings or shorter chunks of text. 
• Do sentences in the genre share a certain style? Are they mostly active, passive, simple, or complex? Is there an abundance or lack of questions, exclamation points, or semi-colons?
• I think sentences in the blog genre are often written as simple and active sentences. They do not include a lot of questions, as they are usually used to provide information to the audience, not question them. 
• What type of word choice is used? Do many of the words fit in a particular category of jargon or slang? Is the overall effect of the word choice formal, informal, humorous, or academic?
• I think blogs are definitely informal. The word choice may include some slang, depending on the subject of the particular blog, but overall blogs exclude a lot of technical jargon. 

Analyze What those Patterns Reveal about the Social Context of the Genre

• Who does the genre include and who does it exclude?
• I think one of the great things about blogs is they are so accessible, and as a result while they may have specific targets, they don't necessarily exclude readers. I think the biggest deterrent to readers is that blogs are online, so the reader has to be able to access them. 
• What roles for writers and readers does the genre encourage?
• Blogs typically encourage a relationship between the reader and the writer. Because they are typically equipped with the ability to comment, the writer is encouraging the readers to contribute to the discussion. 
• What values and beliefs are assumed about or encouraged from users of the genre?
• I think blogs assume that the reader has some interest in the subject matter being discussed because the reader had to do something to find the blog. Like, above I think the genre encourages the users to get involved in the discussion. 
• What context does the genre treat as most valuable? Least valuable? 
• I think the genre treats its accessibility as one of the most important things. Because it is such an easy way for people to get information about a topic, they make sure to not bog down the information with formalities or technical jargon. 

Reflection:

After reading Dylan and Alyssa's posts I realize that even though we are all writing in slightly different genres, they share a lot of similarities. For example, they all of the genres appeal to a very large group of people, and they aren't very exclusive in who views/reads them. Also, it seems like all of our genres tend to be very informal, which explains why our genres are so easy to read.