Project 3
In this post I will be looking at genre and its purpose in the discourse community of our english 107 class. When writing it is important to establish who your audience is and to figure out what exactly you are trying to accomplish with your writing, “First, determine what action you are trying to accomplish.” (Dirk 261). Once the audience is established, it is necessary to have establish credibility for your writing, most notably by having a deep knowledge in the subject matter you’re writing about. In Swales’ analysis, he describes a ‘discourse community’ as a group who shares knowledge in a particular area of interest. Having knowledge on a subject and being able to transfer those thoughts into writing is what allows someone to be a part of that discourse community. In our english 107 class, writing communication and feedback are critical components we share with one another to develop successful projects. Without communication, our class would not operate as smoothly as it currently does. We communicate through google documents which allows each member of our discourse community to engage and react to one another’s writing.
Who you are writing to and the subject matter will help you determine the genre you should try to conform to. For example, if you are attempting to get someone to accomplish certain tasks in order, a bulleted list of tasks is preferred over a long paragraph. This allows the reader to take in the list easily and check off tasks as they complete them. “Because it seems only appropriate that given the fact that I am talking about genre awareness, I should make you aware of my own struggles with writing in a new genre.” (Dirk 251). Genre and audience are important to what you are writing so that you know who you are writing to, why you are writing and how it should be composed as well as the type of content it should include. Of course, this is not always so easy. It takes time and practice to become familiar with a new genre or a new subject. For example, when we peer review each others writing in this english 107 class, we generally bullet point specific strategies that we suggest will improve the works we are reading. This makes it easy for the author of that work to incorporate the suggestions into their writing. Some common feedback I often receive is good use of colorful language and to use sources more fluidly. This is how our community shapes the writing of others in our class.
There are four basic genres used in the discourse community of this 107 english class; Ci keys to see what assignments are and how they should be executed, write reading logs in google docs, provide feedback to one another projects in our reading logs, and the verbal communication between each other in our groups.
Above is screenshot of some of the feedback I received on my project two reading log. I learned that my visual presentation was not very vivid nor impressive. I applied all the revisions that were suggested by my classmates, which definitely improved my slideshow substantially. This type of genre is helpful because it makes it easy for me to simply read broad suggestions and intelligently apply them to my overall product. Simple bullet points are easy to refer back to while making revisions which helps keep me on tract and on point.
Some of the subjects discussed in this genre are color schemes, referring back to Swales to develop the ideologies associated with discourse community characteristics, and improvements in my closing slide.
The content of our reading logs tend to have a very similarly structured look. The top portion includes quotes of assigned readings, with a short analysis right below it. This part follows a specific lexis style. Quote then emphasize. This makes us students comprehend what the author is teaching. The middle portion generally includes notes of how the student will continue onward to accomplish the next assignment, and the last part is revision notes that both students write for other students to read, and personal notes for their own revisions.
When writing suggestions for revisions for fellow classmates, it is natural to have a sort of simplistic language. We as a community have similar goals, which is why it is in everyones best interest to provide the most quality feedback. As far as the classroom setting is concerned, we all sit at tables close together. We are separated only by laptops which we use to provide feedback. The person providing the feedback often asks the corresponding author questions which makes the author reconsider certain aspects of their writing. This peer feedback strategy proves useful because many times we as authors do not see imperfections which are otherwise obvious to many others. Much of the feedback I have received from classmates often times makes me wonder why I don’t always peer review everything I write down. There is no absolute correct way to provide peer review feedback, however just analyzing over someone else’s work also has an impact on your own writing. Many times, I will notice something I don’t like on one of my fellow classmates projects that I notice I’ve also been doing. I provide feedback mentioning what I don’t like, then quietly change my own writing as well because I notice I have the same flaw.
Genre has always been the elephant in the room. It is unspoken, yet oh so critical. Genre is used to connect readers and writers in a much more interment manner. It is amazing how much ones genre can effect his or her influences on a reader. A strong genre can seriously sway the outcomes of the author. The more accurate the authors genre speaks to his or her audience, the more likely that his or her audience will connect with their writing.
The feedback genre exclusively exists for the benefit of each writer. It is not designed to hurt feelings or make people feel stupid. It isn’t even constructive criticism. It is there to strengthen your classmates paper. They are there to review you to in tern strengthen your writings. The classroom genre is one of the most important aspects that aid to the success of our feedback. Short and simple responses bullet points, while simple, provide the boost necessary for fellow classmates to
Work Cited:
Dirk, Kerry, “Navigating Genres.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Eds. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Parlor Press, 2010. 249-262. Web. http://writingspaces.org/essays.
Swales, John. “The Concept of Discourse Community.” Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990. Swales Discourse Community.pdf
