April 27

For today’s assignment we read a few articles where each author gave their take on genres and rhetoric. The first of the articles was Ecology of Genre by Anis Bawarshi. He sees genre as very similar to that of an ecosystem. The idea that things keep regenerating and growing and evolving. Bawarshi writes, “...rhetorically maintains the social conditions within which we enact our roles and activities, and our roles and activities in turn reproduce the very conditions that make such roles and activities possible and meaningful.” Therefore, genre creates writing and writing creates genre. I think this is an important idea because by comparing genre to that of an ecosystem we can visualize a wheel where everything works together and influences each other. We can compare writing to an ecosystem and see the ways in which things evolve and constantly change as everything else around it does the same. Writing is slowly changing to serve new purposes just like things in nature. And as writing changes, so do the genres they fall into. He also compares gives an example of a doctor’s office, functioning as its own ecosystem. We recognize the genre, expectations are set and we act out our part accordingly. He states that we “...recognize a sociorhetorical environment as requiring a certain response and the way in which we actually rhetorically respond to, and act within, it.” We are shaped by the rhetorical situations surrounding us.

We then read, The Rhetorical Situation Of The Scientific Paper And The “Appearance” Of Objectivity by Matthew C. Allen. The author explores the idea of rhetoric being the center of scientific writing. The writing must make the writing seem objective while actually creating a rhetorically sound argument. From firsthand experience of writing scientifically, I have discovered that you can find ways to support nearly anything you want to prove. There are ways of cutting out things and only use what supports your findings when in actuality it is far from it. Scientific papers use preexisting proof to persuade. Allen states that there is a part of the report that is “designed to emphasize the relevance and necessity of the particular findings to preexisting scientific evidence.” He also goes on to say that there are certain ways in which scientific papers are layed out so that they are at maximum rhetorical capacity, such as with the IMRAD method of organization. I found that point very interesting because I have written in that style and never really thought about why. The fact that it is very rhetorical while still seeming objective is very important.

The final article we read was College Admissions Essays: A Genre Of Masculinity by Sarah-Kate Magee. This article explores gender differences in writing. The main point that jumped out at me was that there are differences in writing depending on genre and gender and different combinations of both. There are many qualifying factors for characteristics of certain writing. You have to consider genre, purpose, and gender. I think the most important aspect of this essay is the idea that gender differences may exist but they exist only in certain genres. College admissions essay is competitive writing where you want to showcase yourself and not necessarily others, therefore taking on a more masculine style of writing. As much as a enjoyed reading this particular article I have to comment that I am not completely sure that gender matters in writing and I am not convinced of its place in genre.