Blog Entry #2: Genre

The definition of genre to me is the category or description a type writing fits under. I came up with this definition from years of writing and reading. For example, I love to read and to find the type of books I like to read when I go to the library I need to have an idea of what genre it fits under. In the text the author defines genre as following communicative patterns that other people are familiar with and recognize more easily. The texts definition of genre is similar to mine because if multiple texts have similar patterns they can fit in a particular category. The authors definition doesn’t diverge from what I’ve read or learned in class, in fact, it’s very similar to what we talked about and is even similar to my own definition. In our previous class we talked about Collins commencement address and how he formatted it. He go’s on explaining how they work and during all of this he’s following the format for a commencement address by encouraging the students, giving them life advice for the future, and also giving them a thought provoking story and a metaphor. During the speech he talked about the speech itself, which is different than your typical commencement speech, and how commencement speeches all fit the same format. He even jokes about how commencement addresses all start by explaining what a commencement speech is and instead of your typical thought provoking question at the end he gives us a poem. Collins speech was well written and thought out; his speech fits the conventions of a typical commencement address by giving advice, opening students minds and encouraging them to take on the future. I looked up two more examples of commencement addresses online and similarly to Collins they follow the conventions of these type of speeches. They both encourage students to succeed and not being afraid to fail, as well as, giving them helpful advice on life and telling them about their own experiences with success and failure. https://youtu.be/ELC_e2QBQMk ,https://youtu.be/JgUDjixWB5I