Jonathan

Bruning
Writing 2
De Piero

WP1: Identifying, Describing, and Analyzing a Genre Across Multiple Sources

Comment [1]: Bruning, pick a title! Get me revved up

about reading this -- and maybe as importantly, key me
in on what it's about.

Various entertainment blogs have commented on the creation of the new Star Wars

franchise sequel - The Force Awakensall with very different opinions whether it will be

Comment [2]: Yeah! Cool idea, great start. :)

a disaster, or an amazing success. This film is a new installment to a decades old series that

Comment [3]: Apply that newfound hyphenating

wisdom.

many people grew up on, which why there is much apprehension for this new part, mostly
because some people are worried that it will ruin the legend of the Star Wars movies. When
millions of people are worried about a certain thing, you can be certain that someone on
the internet will post their opinion on the matter and are certain to get millions of views.
That is what people want, a way to reaffirm their already existing beliefs on the subject.
Websites such as cracked, cinemablend, and tor are all from the same genre, yet utilize
different conventions to convince readers that Star Wars 7 will be a cinematic genius or a
flop. Multiple sources from the same genre will ultimately give you different viewpoints,
however it is obvious that they utilize very similar conventions in their articles.

Comment [4]: Steer clear of things in academic writing

(maybe even all writing!). Its suuuuuuper vague.
Academic writing requires precision and specificitybe
direct and tell me exactly what youre talking about.
Comment [5]: How do you know this? It can't persuade
people to change their perspective? And what about
people who are on the fence and didn't have a preexisting stance/opinion?
Comment [6]: Not too shabby, Bruning -- this thesis
statement is almost "there." 2 ideas:

1, which conventions will you be analyzing?
2, so what? they're different from each other, which
means...?
Comment [7]: Don't need this sentence.

Cambridge Dictionary defines genre as A style, especially in the arts, that involves a

particular set of characteristics. The thing all the websites I chose have in common is their
genrethey are all entertainment websites. Entertainment websites comment on topics

Comment [8]: OK, so this gets us at "purpose," right?

Use the course terminology whenever possible.

such as movies, games, songs, television, and even some mainstream news to post their
opinion and try to give their readers a place to either agree or disagree with their assertion.
You can distinguish this genre from others by their informal tone, videos/pictures, and

Comment [9]: Who is you here? Me? Using

pronouns can be tricky, so you might want to steer
clear of using too many yous/wes.

lists. On cinema blend's website they use a famous picture of the original cast all sitting
next to each other, which is a rather famous picture for any Star Wars fans. The websites
use visuals like this photo because that is what Star Wars fans want to see when they are
reading an article about one of their most beloved movies. It also gives the real truth

Comment [10]: Audience, right? Are all Star Wars fans

the same? Do they appeal to different "sub-audiences"
in any way?

(Writing spaces: Losh and Alexander p.18) by touching on the nostalgia that readers have
for the films--by employing pathos. This is the real truth because it shows how the readers
actually think of the original movies before they criticize the new ones they have not even
had the chance to view. Most of them have titles that attract the attention of the reader. 4
signs the new Star Wars movies will be a disaster, 10 signs that the new Star Wars movies
will redeem the franchise, the only purpose of these titles is to lure anyone even interested
in the movies to click on the link. This is a great tool to use because people are more
inclined to just skim the list of articles, they need to snatch up the viewer's attention in a
millisecond. These distractions and added fluff are all conventions of the sites-- all known
for their unique style. Any article from the same genre is obviously going to have some
similar conventions, however each of the sites I visited also had their own unique flavor
that set them apart from the others.

Cracked.coms purpose of their articles is to inform people of current events, while

at the same time trying to give a lighter side to their argument. The sites most distinct
attribute is undoubtedly their sarcasm, this is their way of attempting to reach audiences.
Their article is riddled with sarcasm such as And finally, movies about established
characters everybody knows and likes. What could go wrong with that? Sarcasm is a
rhetorical element that is used to almost mock or demean anyone who agrees with the
statement. Cracked uses sarcasm in this case to exemplify their distaste for the movie

Comment [11]: Are these real textual examples? Make

sure you us as much evidence/support as possible -readers need to "see" what you mean.
Comment [12]: :) I like how you phrased this.
Comment [13]: When I see thiseven before I start
readingI think, Ahhhhhhh! Attack of the page-long
paragraph!

See if you like this metaphor:
Pretend your whole paper is a big, juicy steak. Do you
want your reader to enjoy that steak in easy-to-chew,
digestable bites? Or do you want them to start
gnawing away at whole thing in one piece (think:
zombie).

Paragraphs are like those bites. Give your reader
your argument in little, digestable, one-idea-at-a-time
bits.

Readers need to be able to see the different
parts/pieces/bites of the argument that theyre chewing
on.
Comment [14]: You acknowledged this in the previous
sentence -- no need to repeat yourself.

(Please don't think I'm being overly tough -- I'm just
trying to get you thinking about all the many'n'wonderful
ways you can polish this up to become a beautiful
diamond-of-a-paper.)
Comment [15]: A couple notes:

I like how you're describing what you mean by sarcasm
and how it's functioning within this particular website.

Is it worth taking some time earlier on to acknowledge
that Crack is the "anti" website?

because to understand that they are using sarcasm you must already know that the
opposite of what they are saying is the generally accepted version. This is argued in the
article Navigating Genre, Dirk argues that Because you know how these genres function

Comment [16]: You might be missing a word/phrase

as social actions, you can quite accurately predict how they function rhetorically, this is

Comment [17]: You need p#s for direct citations

why humor is used constantly in entertainment sites; they set the tone for the passage.
Their audience is mostly just teens or young adults that want to get another view on a
subject they are curious about. In this case its the release of a new Star Wars movie, and
humor is a great way to reach out to people who somewhat already understand the topic.
4 reasons why the new Star Wars movies are already screwed, this is a common headline
to get from Cracked and similar websites. The article by Cracked was very critical of the

Comment [18]: Do you think it'd help the

organization/structure of your paper if you analyzed all
of the titles, together? That way the
comparison/contrast might be more vivid?

new movie and gave several reasons in list form why they believe it will be a flop. Their
way of delivering their information is important because it keeps the attention of people.
Cracked and other websites have these conventions in their writing which sets them apart
from traditional mainstream media that uses a disciplined tone. Entertainment websites
are unique in the fact that they fill a niche that audiences are looking for. The readers are
looking for conventions like humor and a light tone because it is more enjoyable to read
while still getting the facts sprinkled with opinions (or vice-versa) just like a regular news
source.

The next website I visited was whatculture and as expected it has many of the same

conventions as cracked.com. They both contain a light tone, a list, and some humor.
However the biggest difference between the two websites is their stance on the topic.
While cracked.com criticizes the addition of a new film to an ageless classic, the writers at
whatculture generally praised it and even are excited for it. The articles writer however is

Comment [19]: Bruning, Im wondering if your paper

would benefit from re-structuring the organization.
Instead of

-Source #1
-Source #2
-Source #3

Could your paper/argument unfold a more
integrated/interwoven way if you did something like:

-Idea #1 (and then incorporate sources 1, 2, 3)
-Idea #2 (and then incorporate sources 1, 2, 3)
-Idea #3 (and then incorporate sources 1, 2, 3)?
Comment [20]: What's this? Is this a new website?

extremely excited about the new film, Episode 7 is already well on its way to producing a
higher quality entertainment than the prequels. This is very important because it shows
that two similar articles from the same genre can have dissenting opinions while still being
part of the same genre. You can also see differences of conventions in the rock and roll
music genre. In rock and roll the topics vary from drugged filled parties all the way to
romantic heartbreaks, genres dont have set in stone conventions. From this you can get a

Comment [21]: Is this relevant to your particular

argument/paper?

stronger sense of what a genre and its conventions really are, yes they are very similar, but
they can have extremely different views/conventions while still being from the same genre.

Tor.com gave another interesting twist on the same genre-- it gave an article that

Comment [22]: Can you think of a more powerful (and

more accurate) verb than "gave"?

didnt pick a side. Right off the bat the writer says, you cant just decide on whether its
going to be a good or bad film just on a 90 second clip of footage. It is interesting how they
say this because most people find an article that decisively picks a side of the argument,
however this one tries to directly persuade you into not judging the whole film off of a
small clip of a movie you have never seen. This is an important convention of this article
because it declines to pick a side and tries to convince you to too. The differences between
all the articles are important because they give everyone a chance to read and express their
opinions too. Whether it's that J.J. Abrams is going to be a horrible director with his lens
flare, or that Star Wars 7 is going to be the movie of this generation.

It is very important that people study genre and learn what it is. Many people need

to write for their future career, as a researcher or as a news reporter, no matter what you
do you need to keep your basic format to uphold the accepted conventions of what speech,
announcement, or report your giving. You cant just go up and rap your acceptance speech

Comment [23]: It might be neat if, earlier on, you laid

out the gist of what these pieces were saying about
Star Wars --ie, shitty writing, bad cast, sequels never
work, too much time lapse from the previous film, etc.

in front of the audience. Genres are similar to cultures in the sense that there are certain
cultural norms (conventions) that you just do not break. In Dirks Navigating Genres he
states, And by studying the genres that we find familiar, we can start to see how specific
choices that writers make result in specific actions on the part of readers. When authors
decide what they want to write they create an outline, and those ideas and points become
the basis and core of the novel they are writing. Without genre it would be ridiculously
hard to discern what you are reading. The main purpose of genre is to let the reader know
what to expect while they are reading it. Everything that a writer puts down on the paper
elicits a response from the reader, which is why it is important that a writer knows how to
communicate using the conventions.

Researching one topic over the same genre gives one, the reader, a better sense of

what exactly genre is by giving different perspectives and writing styles of the genre. This
is what is shown by comparing and contrasting the articles about Star Wars VII. When you
finally understand what a genre is, you find out different ways to utilize it and work with it.
People can learn to use genre as a tool instead of just an outline, maybe even create a whole
new subgenre itself. You improve your writing when you know how to write, but first you
have to learn what makes a genre.

Works cited
http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/4-reasons-new-star-wars-movies-are-completely-screwed/
http://www.tor.com/2014/12/02/you-cannot-tell-if-star-wars-episode-vii-is-good-or-bad-from-90seconds-of-footage/
http://whatculture.com/film/10-signs-star-wars-7-will-redeem-the-franchise.php/2

Comment [24]: You/they don't? I thought you said

these pieces did have different conventions.... which
were the ones they maintained?

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Star-Wars-7-Ending-Just-Might-Ruin-Your-Childhood-68347.html

Writing 2 Feedback Matrix for WP1

Table of Textual Features

Did Not Meet

Expectations

Met Expectations

Exceeded
Expectations

Thesis Statement

~X

Use of Textual Evidence

from Genres

Use of Course Readings

X-

Analysis

X+

Organization/Structure

Attention to
Genre/Conventions and
Rhetorical Factors

~X

Sentence-level Clarity,
Mechanics, Flow

Other Comments

Bruning,

Very cool topic. It makes me want to see the movie. Take a look
at my comments -- I hope they can give you some ideas on how
to expand and refine this paper. If I could give a couple of
suggestions right now, itd be: think long and hard about the
organization of this paper -- when you lay out certain ideas and
why. You should have a reason for everything that youre doing
in this paper. Also, Id like you to work in more specific textual
examples/evidence. Thats the best way to win your readers
over.

Z
8/10