PB 1B

An excellent way to understand genre is by using a “plug’ ‘n ‘chug” genre generator. These generators are great way to identify the conventions of a genre. By using a genre generator I was able to pick out the conventions of comic strips, memes, computer science research essays, and political rhetoric. By using a genre generator I was able to see many different versions of each of these genres and establish certain recurring conventions within each genre.

An interesting and entertaining genre is the comic strip which in itself is incredibly unique from other genre’s. Some of the more obvious conventions are comic bubbles, easy-to-read font, and their hand-drawn appearance. The purpose of the comic bubbles is to display what the characters are thinking or saying, a thought will often be in italics and in a differently shaped bubble than that of the non-italicized speech. Without comic bubbles the reader would have no way of knowing what was going on in the comic besides what the pictures depicted. An easy-to-read font makes a comic seem more approachable because the most common comic reader is either reading them out of boredom or during breakfast. The appearance that comic strips are hand-drawn adds to the leisurely look of them. A few of the less obvious comic strip conventions are; the use of exaggerated facial expressions to show emotion or the simplistic three segment plot-line. Comic strips often use exaggerated facial expressions to show emotion since the speech bubbles often carry little dialogue, so the facial expressions are used to show the reader what emotion(s) the character is feeling. Comic strips tend to follow an uncomplicated three-segment plot line; this plot-line is made up of an opening, a punch line, and a conclusion. In this comic strip each panel represents one of these three segments. While the comic strip may seem like a simpler genre than others it’s roots and conventions are complex and require understanding to write a good comic strip.

Memes are a modern day genre that most everyone sees every day, but have you ever thought about what goes into making a meme? Just like any other genre it has conventions that apply to most of its pieces. Some of these conventions are the requirement of pop-culture knowledge, the inclusion of irony, and many have depictions of animals. Most memes are poking fun at something in modern popular culture such as this meme of Chuck Norris which plays on the overused joke that Chuck Norris is the greatest human being that ever lived. Pop culture memes can range anywhere from Chuck Norris jokes to making fun of Steve Harvey for announcing the wrong Ms. Universe winner. Many memes also include irony which is a common theme in comedy, most people enjoy a good dose of irony in their memes. Another recurring theme in memes is animals, many memes use animals as their main subject to gerner attention. The depiction of animals can range from an upset looking cat like Grumpy Cat to a koala eating eucalyptus with it’s jaw dropped.

A genre that we all probably have a lot of experience with is research essays. Research essays are different than the previous two genres because they have a much stricter set of conventions that they must conform to since they are academic. A few of the conventions of a research essay are the inclusion of an abstract, a reference list, statistical evidence that supports the claims of the essay, and a conclusion of the ideas and facts presented in the essay. The purpose of the abstract is to orient the reader on what they are about to read and to state the intent of the research presented in the essay. The reference list, which always appears at the end of the essay, is a mere formality so that whomever is reading may research the legitimacy of what has been written in the essay. Statistical support is arguably the most important factor of any research essay, because without that evidence there is no way to confirm the declarations that the essay makes. Without statistical evidence a research essay is simply an unproven theory. All of these factors are parts of a research essay, but research essays are unique in that all of these are actually required to write a research paper. For example if one turned in a research essay with no reference list the professor would more than likely consider it cheating and plagiarism since one would be using other’s work as the basis for their argument.

A genre that we should all be familiar with going into election season is political rhetoric. Politicians use rhetoric to sway voters opinions and state their own views. Some recurring conventions in political speeches are claims of what they will do after taking office, attacks on political opponents, and vows to protect the American Dream. One thing many political candidates will do to earn votes is to make claims of what they will do after taking office to make this country a better or safer place. For example Donald Trump plans to build a wall between the United States and Mexico to keep out immigrants after he is elected (which hopefully will never happen). Politicians will often attack their opponents and challenge their views that they differ on, this is to isolate the two candidates and force the voter to make a decision between the two. Often times the candidate performing the attack will place the other in a negative light. Something that every major political candidate will do at some point in their career is to profess that they are protecting the American Dream. They do this by promising to create more jobs, lower taxes, raise minimum wage, or anything else that they think will impress voters. Political rhetoric is a very interesting form of speech to break down and look at why candidates are saying what they do. Every word a candidate says has been carefully thought out and has specific meaning behind it.

Genre generators are a great way of understanding how to write well. With a genre generator one can look at many different works within a genre and by doing that discern exactly what it is that makes up that specific genre. By understanding what conventions make up a genre it makes writing within that genre much easier. Before writing anything one should research the genre they are attempting to write in, break it down into its conventions, and then begin writing.