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Genre Analysis and Business Communication. August 22, 2012. Genre: Definition. a class of communicative events that share common purposes that are recognized by the members of the discourse community that owns it (Luzon 285).
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Genre Analysis and Business Communication August 22, 2012
Genre: Definition • a class of communicative events that share common purposes that are recognized by the members of the discourse community that owns it (Luzon 285). • Put simply, a genre is a class or category of communication. It typically is understood in the same way by members of the same discipline, organization, etc. • They are not fixed and can change over time
Then…what is genre analysis? • Analyzing a text for its structural and linguisticfeatures as well as its social context (2 types) • Use genre analysis to figure out WHY certain textual approaches are taken • Must take into consideration the rhetorical situation
Rhetorical situation • To analyze a genre, you must be able to understand its rhetorical situation: AUDIENCE, CONTEXT, and PURPOSE (the genre is dependent on these notions) • Describe the audience, context, and purpose of the following genre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBvBqfB977w
Rhetorical Strategies • Once you have analyzed the audience, context, and purpose of a genre, you can discover its rhetorical strategies. • Rhetorical strategies are any textual or visual approach that persuades the audience. • Some rhetorical strategies you may be familiar with are logos, ethos, and pathos. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9d2PpP7tQ
Genre, Activity Theory, and Social Context • Looking at genres from a social perspective, we can see them as tools that carry out meaning within a community • Thus, Always consider the community that creates the genre. • Genres can also influence the social environment • Audience awareness is also key to understanding genres. This goes beyond just delineating who the audience is. It means conforming your language to the audience.
Activity • Genres can be almost anything—brochures, advertisements, movies, books, etc. In this activity, we’re going to consider the genre of a PSA. Let’s look at a few examples:
Your turn: • On the course website, under the “Announcements” page, look for the entry titled “PSA Activity.” Please open this file. • Please work in groups of three • Save the file to your desktop • Using what’s there, create a persuasive PSA. You can delete items, change colors and fonts, etc. You cannot add any new images. • Once you have redesigned the PSA, please email it to me. • Then, please conduct a brief genre analysis of your completed PSA on a separate sheet of paper. Indicate the audience, context, and purpose. Then, explain the rhetorical strategies you used and why these are effective for the genre of a PSA and for the audience of this PSA.