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JamieMisanko
ProfessorBranson
WRIT2
29April2016
DiscourseandGenreandLemons,OhMy!
PartII:AccioGenre!
AsImentionedpreviously,oneofthemanygenresfeaturedwithintheonlinefanfiction
communityarethereviewsthatreadersoffanfictionstoriescompose.Thenotionofgenre,
accordingtoAmyDevitt,isaresponsetorecurringrhetoricalsituation,andinthiscase,the
reviewsaretheresponsetotherhetoricalsituationoffanfictionauthorsbeinginneedof
feedback(GeneralizingaboutGenre,576).
Reviewandcommentsectionsarecharacteristicofmost,ifnotall,hostsofonlinefan
fiction,including
ArchiveOfOurOwn.org.
InlieuofadiscussionpageorforumonAO3,the
reviewandcommentsectionistheprimaryplaceformemberstointeract.Attheendofeach
chapterisatextboxinwhichareviewerneedonlyfillouttheirname,emailaddress,anda
commentthatis4,300charactersorless.Onceareviewissubmitted,itisfirstevaluatedfor
appropriatenessbyamoderatorandthenpostedwithintwelvehoursforboththeauthorandthe
publictosee.Severelynegativecommentswillnotbepostedsincemembersbelievethata
positive,constructiveenvironmentshouldbemaintained.AsoflastOctober,AO3gaveauthors
theabilitytodisableanonymouscommenting,showtheirworkonlytoregisteredusers,and/or
havethecommentsmoderatedduetonumerousaccountsofInternettrollsharassingauthors.


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Atypicalreviewcontainspraise,encouragement,and/orconstructivecriticismregarding
howtheauthorcanimprovecontinuity,characterization,orspellingandgrammar.Forinstance,
thestoryChaosTheory,a
HarryPotter
fanfictionwrittenbyTessaCrowleyonAO3,which
currentlyhas1,998reviewsspanning58pages,consistsofcommentsappealingtopathos.AO3
memberGunjaNandiwrites,Stupendous.Absolutelybeautifulandastounding,anduser
loudisawesomecommentsAWMANTHATWASSOWONDERFULTHANKYOU
GODDAMN[SeeFigures1and2].Someofferhelpfulsuggestionsastominorerrorsthat
Crowleycouldfix,suchasKiritsu_re_chakusekiscommentregardingagrammarmistakein
chapterfiftythree[SeeFigures3and4].Otherusers,suchastheuserThunderUmbra,critique
CrowleysinaccuratecharacterizationofDracoMalfoy.However,ThunderUmbrascommentis
notseverelycriticalinsteadtheysuggestthatCrowleypaymoreattentiontocharacterstraitsif
shedecidestowritemorestoriesinthefuture[SeeFigure5].Asonecansee,ThunderUmbras
phrasingoftheircommentwasaspecificchoicethatwillresultinspecificactionsonthepart
ofthereader,whointhiscaseistheauthor,Crowley(Dirk254).Nonetheless,nomatterwhat
thecontentofareview,whetheritbeasimpleThankyouforsharing,oraparagraphlong
critique,amajorityoftheauthorsonAO3,includingTessaCrowley,replytocommentsinorder
todisplaytheirappreciationforfeedback[SeeFigures6and7].Suchagestureconformsto
Devittsanalysisofgenrespowertohelporhurthumaninteraction(Dirk252).
Authorsarenottheonlyoneswhoreadthereviews,however.Readersoffanfictionalso
payattentiontowhatcriticswriteandjudgeastorybasedonthosecriticisms,muchlikewebase
ourdecisiontogoseeamovielike
Batmanvs.Superman
basedonthereviews.Ifastoryhas
severalhundredreviews,areadermaybeintriguedtoreaditsinceithasobviouslyprovoked


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severalresponses.Ontheotherhand,ifastoryhasonlyfivereviews,readersmaynotbe
inclinedtogiveitachance.Nevertheless,thecontentofthereviewisthemostimportantaspect
becauseareviewpagethatisfullofoverwhelminglypositiveornegativecommentsiswhat
makesorbreaksastory.Thus,thereviewersservetheirpurposeofprovidingtheiropinionsand
feedbacktotheauthor,whothentakesthesecommentsintoaccountwhentheyeditanupcoming
chapterorbegintoworkonanewstory.AsDirkmentions,agenrecanhelppeopleaccomplish
goals,andmuchlikeastellarresumehelpsoneachieveajob,areviewhelpsfanfiction
authorsaccomplishthegoalofbecomingabetterwriter(253).
Asshownabove,atremendousamountofthoughtandcaregoesintowritingbothfan
fictionstoriesandthereviewsthataccompanythem.Obviously,onecanseethatthefanfiction
communityismuchmorethanaplacethatharborspoorlywrittenplagiarism.Instead,it
functionstoaidaspiringwriterstoimproveandhonetheirwritingskillsandabilities.These
writersdonotclaimtheworkastheirown.Theyutilizefanfictionasaformofcreative
expressionwhichisappreciatedbymany,asseenbythevastamountofreviewsstorieshaveon
AO3.Withoutsuchmeansofcommunicating,aspiringwriterswouldbeleftinthedark.
Thankfully,theexistenceofthisgenreisabletoshowthemthelight.


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Figure5


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Figure6

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WorksCited
Gaiman,Neil."Journal."
NeilGaiman's
.HarperCollinsPublishers,8Apr.2002.Web.12Apr.
2016.
Kornhaber,Spencer."Reylo:The"StarWars:TheForceAwakens"FanFictionShipBetween
ReyandKyloRenIsPopularandControversial."
TheAtlantic
.AtlanticMediaCompany,
30Mar.2016.Web.23Apr.2016.