Blog 2

       Just as Professor Flewelling discusses how her students' first thoughts jump to music when genres are brought up, that is exactly where my mind first went to. The next thought I had was that there are actually a lot of different genres of writing. There are many types of writing and each has its own unique purpose. There are cookbooks, which are more informative and give direction, and then there are blogs, which are more personal and descriptive. These are just 2 of the many genres of writing there are. In my many years of attending school, in addition to my life outside of school, I have encountered many different types of writing. In school, I have encountered writing which has the purpose of teaching and assisting in learning, and then there is my internship, where writing is more geared toward using writing in order to describe a product and advertise for it. There are many other forms of writing I have encountered in my life, such as instruction manuals or fictional books, which each have their own unique style and purpose. It is exciting to think of just how many different types of writing are out there and how a lot these writings aren't even thought of as a type of writing.

       I found the article "Teaching Critical Genre Awareness" by Amy Devitt to be very interesting because it really made me consider just how many sources of writing are circulating around the world, and how each has its own impact on the world. She explains just how important it is to be aware of genres and discusses how genre teaching can be "formulaic and constraining, if genres are taught as forms without social or cultural meaning. Genre teaching can also be enlightening and freeing, if genres are taught as part of a larger critical awareness." (337) It all depends on how it is presented, and what message is trying to be conveyed. Just as many of you can relate, throughout school, we have been taught the 5 paragraph method of essay writing. This, in my opinion was not for the best, because it presents the 5 paragraph method as a standard, and students very rarely steer away from that style of writing. It leads to a dry looking essay and I can just imagine how upset professors get when they notice it is the typical 5 paragraph style. Devitt discusses this phenomenon when she describes how when people use a genre, they tend to adhere to the ideology of the genre. By using the 5 paragraph method as an example, what she means to say by that is that when people think of writing an essay they automatically write in the 5 paragraph style, without even realizing it. They first introduce their topic, write their thesis, and have 3 supporting paragraphs to go into further detail. Next they summarize what is above and conclude their essay. Devitt also discusses how much power is given to the various genre ideologies and that is definitely true of the 5 paragraph essay method. It is widely known and is how most students write.

       Luckily, there are a lot of other different genres of writing out there, that are not as drab and boring. A good example would be this blog! I like the fact that we are able to demonstrate our creativity and go in any direction we decide to. It allows us to better showcase our personality and sparks more interest. The purpose of each genre of writing is different and has a different effect on the writer. Through Devitt's article, she is hoping to spread the message to educators that it is their responsibility to enlighten people about the freedoms of genres and present it in a way that entices them rather than boring them. I definitely agree with her thinking and I feel as though I am already becoming more aware to the different genres and the ideologies that are paired alongside them.