People, including myself, used to believe that genre mainly revolved around the form of a written piece. Genre is the term for any category of literature, whether its audio or visual. However, the definition of genre has changed over time since it is now seen as more than repeating rhetorical situations. A genre can be writing an email, creating a persuasive essay, or giving a speech. All of these examples are trying to inform/persuade its readers into the message of the composition. This is how a genre can be related to rhetoric and writing.
A genre that I tend to often encounter myself with is writing an e-mail. E-mails function rhetorically since they elicit a response from its reader. The audience for my e-mails tend to range from peers of my age to adults such as parents and professors. The readers of my e-mails expect to receive a piece of writing that is appropriate in tone. For example, I will not send a “friend-level” e-mail to my professor or a professionally written e-mail to my friend. My professor would expect a meaningful subject line with a proper greeting. They expect a brief/polite e-mail that explains why I am contacting them. At the end of an e-mail, I always sign my name and include the class in which I am writing to him/her about. However, if I were to write an e-mail to a friend, the subject line would say either “Hey” or “What’s up?” The tone of my message would be brief and I would even use abbreviations such as “idk” or “lol”. The genre of writing an e-mail can relate to the composition of a persuasive essay or writing a tweet on twitter since they are both targeting specific audience demographics and have a particular tone.
Overall, genres help us make more efficient decisions when writing. Knowing what a genre is used for can help one accomplish goals, whether that goal is to get an A on a blog for English class or getting into college by writing a stellar application essay.
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