Blog Post #4 Chapter 1

I found Chapter One of the Bedford Book of Genres to be a much needed clarification since last class everyone, including myself, was a little lost at what qualified as a genre and has opened my eyes more to the addition of emotion in writing. I think an important clarification from the beginning of this chapter is that genres do not fall neatly into categories and are always changing. By reading lots of different texts, we are able to analyze how writers interpret the genre for their piece and how they flex it to meet their take on it. I think this will be important to consider when we write our papers in this class and create our own spin on the genre we are writing for our projects. In terms of “writing for our audience”, I believe that this is not necessarily meant to imply “write so that certain people will be satisfied” but rather write so that your work fits what you are trying to achieve, that way your audience who find it interesting will be able to follow along well and enjoy it fully. The rhetorical appeal of Pathos is somewhat related in this way. Pathos, derived from the ancient Greek word literally meaning emotion or suffering, can be used to appeal to the emotions of your audience by creating something new yet familiar which goes hand in hand with the idea of a genre (which people are typically familiar or can relate to in some way) and a writer’s own spin on what is expected. Mastery of this can be achieved by knowing your genres and what is expected and creating something that adheres to certain rules that make a genre that genre while adding a unique twist in a way that captures the audience. By doing this, many writers are able to “move” their audiences, which relates to the idea of Pathos again just as the ancient Greeks considered a play good or moving only if they left crying or laughing.