Kyle 1

Kyle Cordova
Mrs. Litle
Eng 121
27 March 2017
Speech Acts, Genres and Activity Systems
Bazermans Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems: How Texts Organize Activity

and People provides a lot of ideas that apply to the majority of writing and everyday

interactions. Bazerman went into depth about each and gave examples as well about each. He

also mentioned the importance of knowing these will help the writer. In Speech Acts, Genres,

and Activity Systems: How Texts Organize Activity and People Bazerman gives his insight on

speech acts, genres and activity systems and how those apply to everyday interactions and

writing.
Bazerman says how words will set things into motion and the person saying those words

must be qualified for it if not then they dont mean anything (paragraph 15). He uses the example

of Similarly, if the person making a marriage declaration were not a member of the clergy or

judiciary with power in this jurisdiction, or if the people were not legally eligible for marriage

with each other, or if they were taking part in a dramatic performance, there would be no real

binding marriage. Bazerman then goes into the three types of speech acts Locutionary,

Perlocutionary, Illocutionary. Locutionary is what is literally said, Perlocutionary is what the

listener hears, Illocutionary is what the speaker intends for the listener to hear.
Its important who is saying these statements because it gives the power behind the

words. For example, if you were in high school and a random student told you to go to the office

you wouldnt have to because that student doesnt have the power to send you to the office

unlike a teacher. It is also important to understand the three speech acts. The speech acts can

apply to sarcasm in conversation. Loctutionary could be like Arent you just the greatest?

Depending on the tone you say it in Perlocutionary can depend on what the listener takes the
 Kyle 2

statement as may it be sarcastic or literal. Illocutionary is the intended meaning if its sarcastic

they arent the greatest.

Bazerman also goes into the differences between genre sets and systems. A genre set is

the collection of types of texts someone in a professional role is likely to speak and write, you

are identifying a large part of their work. (paragraph 29) A genre system is comprised of

several genre sets of people working together in an organized way, plus the patterned relations in

the production, flow, and use of these documents. (paragraph 30)

The analysis of genre sets and systems are very insightful. Just about everything can fit

into a genre set and system. One example is an apple store. The singular apple store is a genre set

that is larger than the consumer and smaller than the supplier. In this case the genre is system is

the way the supplier, apple store and consumer interact. This can be applied to websites and other

things thus understanding the differences and the interactions between them is beneficial.
He then states When we look at the total activity system of the classroom as students

participated in each unit, and the kind of work and learning accomplished in the production of

each of the teacher-directed genres, we can see that students were doing more than reproducing

facts from handouts and books. (Bazerman Paragraph 77) This is activity systems in play. The

students are interacting with genres and speech acts with their handouts and books. They are also

adding more to the conversation rather than regurgitating the facts from the text.
Activity systems is the interactions of genres and speech acts. The activity systems are

the interactions of the subject, instruments and mediating artifacts, objects, division of labor,

community and rules. This is just a better way of breaking down genres and speech acts and

giving it a nice blueprint. In class, we were able to find how school websites, search engines,

food blogs, twitter and snapchat can all fit inside the activity system.
Bazerman was able to show us how in speech acts the importance of credibility is

important when it comes to what is said and the three different types of speech acts. He was also

able to explain what genre is and the difference between genre systems and genre sets. And
 Kyle 3

finally, he explains the importance of the interactions between these in the form of an activity

system.
 Kyle 4

- Bazerman, Charles. Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems: How Texts Organize Activity

and People. What Writing Does and How It Does It: An Introduction to Analyzing Texts and

Textual Practices. Ed. Charles Bazerman and Paul Prior. London: Routledge, 2004. 304-39.

Print.