Genres!

    

     I found the reading to be very helpful in my understanding of why we write differently throughout all the contacts one may write in.  It took the conversation that we had in class about understanding a genre one step further.  Each year I have grown older and pursued my education in a new way I have found myself asking the questions that the writer brings up on page 250.  In writing term papers, resumes, formal letters, speeches, ext I have had to understand each genre before I begin and keep it in mind as I write.  This has been something that I do naturally but now that I understand how important understanding of audience and genre are I want to put more effort into this part of the writing process.  

     

     I found page 252 particularly interesting, Dirk points out that the first person to create a new genre paves the way for those who will follow.  He used the example of George Washington's state of the union address.  Now when I first read this I didn't like the idea that we are stuck in a pattern made by those before us, I thought to myself that George Washington's state of the union address could have been horrible and that presidents may get a better point across with a powerpoint, a speech with visual images and examples, maybe even a dance number?  But as I kept reading I understood the point Dirk is making, that genres help us decode information and without them we wouldn't have to read in the first place.  They give order and structure in our lives but this does not mean that we should set our creativity aside.  By taking the time to understand our audience and genre we can then make our writing even better because we can cater specifically to that group.