Genre Analysis

Rhetorical Genre Analysis Worksheet [1]

This works best with at least 3 examples of the same genre in order to find patterns in the results of your analysis.

Questions to ask about genres in rhetorical situations
Identify the repeating rhetorical situation in which the genre is used. What is the genre responding to? Setting: Where do you find the genre? How and when is it used and transmitted? With which other genres does it interact (as a set or ecology)? Subject: List the issues, ideas, questions, or topics the genre addresses—think about it from the perspective of the users. What is it they are interacting about when they use this genre? Participants: Who are the users? Think about this from both writers’ and readers’ perspectives. Who (writes/reads) the texts in this situation Are there multiple (writers/readers)? What roles do the (writers/readers) perform? What are the characteristics of a (writer/reader) in this situation? What circumstances do the (writers/readers) work within or under? Purposes: Why do writers and readers use this genre? What do they hope to accomplish? (This is important!)
Identify & Describe Patterns or recurrent features in the genre: o What sorts of content, examples, or evidence usually appear in this genre? o What kind of rhetorical appeals (logos, pathos, ethos) usually occur? o How are texts in this genre structured and formatted (organization, layout, medium, design)? What does the appearance communicate to us? o How is language used in this genre? o What kinds of sentences are typically used (length, passive/active, complex/simple)? o What kind of diction is used (word choices, jargon)?
What do these patterns tell you about the situation? Why are these patterns significant? For example, o What do participants need to know in order to understand the genre? o Who is included in the conversation, and who is excluded? o What content is emphasized? What content is considered less important? o What values, beliefs, or assumptions are revealed through the genre patterns? o What actions does the genre make possible? What actions does it make difficult? o What attitude toward readers is implied in the genre? What attitude toward the world is implied in it?

Developing questions based on your analysis

Now that you’ve thought about what the patterns of the genre and what they mean, use this information to ask some questions about the genre, the conversation, the people involved, the group they belong to, or the effect they are trying to have on their issue. This is just a starting point, so throw down as many questions as you can come up with, and save this list!

Remember to center your questions around the kind of writing—genres or other forms of textual communication—that you’ve started to explore here. If this turns out not to be the final area of your research, you still have to make a connection to research about writing or literacy.

Your initial questions may be general, but tighten them up as soon as possible. Specific questions are easier to do research on, and also easier to write about.
If you’re interested in a broad area, think of several specific questions you could ask about that topic. Once you start looking into existing conversations it will be easy to see which ones have been hammered to death. This way you’ll have some backup options.
Think about the action this genre is supposed to facilitate or the goal it is supposed to accomplish—how successful is it (and how do you know)?
Think about how this genre evolved in the first place—how did it come about? What could we learn from that process? Where could you find early examples of this genre?
Is this genre trying to achieve some kind of social action? What other forms of communication might this group use in concert with this one? What kind of persuasion is the group using, and how successful is it?
Who has the authority (or power) in this group, at least as far as communication is concerned? How can you tell, and what effect does it seem to have?
Is there anything about this issue that you feel a personal connection to, and if so, what is it? Is this something you would be interested in pursuing further? If not, what useful analysis ideas can you take away that might generate something in a different area?

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[1] Source: Devitt, Amy, Mary Jo Reiff, and Anis Bawarshi. Scenes of Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2004. Print.