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Crystal Conde English 1101 Ingram October 25, 2013

Genre Study: High School In high school, we were all assigned some form of research based project. In my high school, I was assigned a senior exit project. This project was a multi-part paper which included models, a formal presentation, and some way to solve the global issue we addressed in our project. I chose to research efficiency in architectural design. I realize that the senior exit assignment was extensive and would be entirely too much to analyze for this essay, therefore I chose to take a piece and analyze it. I made an architectural blueprint with my mentor of a potential energy efficient home design. The blueprints had no text, and to someone who did not know how to read blueprints would find it difficult to see what was going on. For this purpose I wrote a textual essay that described the blueprints in every facet of the display. This description is what I chose to analyze as my high school genre. I interpreted what the blueprints meant and I wrote the description based on my knowledge. The intended audience for this blueprint description is for those viewing the blueprints, in this case would be my panel of judges from the senior board. The purpose for me to create this piece of text was to inform those who do not know how to read blueprints what each part meant. I needed to convince the judges I was an expert on my topic. I needed to

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convince the judges in order to get a passing grade needed to graduate from high school. The description includes explanations such as the kitchen and laundry room are placed side by side to prevent extension of plumbing. Innovative dome lighting cannot be seen in the blueprints but are present to increase lighting on the third floor, and other descriptions of that nature. The explicit messages in this text are to describe the blueprints. There are implicit messages as well advocating for a more energy efficient building route when it comes to construction and drafting, such as the energy star emblem on the side of the model and solar panels on the roof. Another implicit message is that drafting is simple and it has an encouraging you can do it too tone. Some values that are seen in this text are the outreach of protecting the earth. It values the dependability of renewable resources in infrastructure. This text would be classified under blueprint draft description genre. It explains what each part of the system is and why it was put in place. It gives an overview as well, in order to understand the blueprint. This genre is both informative and descriptive. It can be found in an engineering firm or architect office. The advantage of this genre is space is unlimited. You can describe the piece in detail or a quick summary it is up to the author on how to approach this piece of genre. Though this text is very useful with advantages come disadvantages. The limitations of this genre are you can only talk about what is in front of you. The author must adhere to what is displayed on the model. The rules for this genre are made by the author. The author who made the model makes the description; therefore it is at their discretion what rules to adhere to. Different rules can apply if a company hired a professional writer to interpret the model. If this were the case the rules would be set by the company. In the case of my high school description for my blueprint I made the rules on what to write and how to present the information.

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My example text was successful in fulfilling its purpose. The purpose was to explain what the blueprints were and discuss energy efficiency seen in the draft. The description covered the questions the audience had about the blueprint, therefore achieving its goal. The description was meant for someone who had heard my full presentation. If the intended audience was changed the successfulness of my text would not had been as successful because background information and definitions of certain materials were covered in the presentation. If the audience did not hear the speech they would not fully grasp everything in the description. This high school draft description was part of my senior project; this project was a graduation requirement. I received a high score of 105 percent and as a result continued to further my education. In this second part of my paper I will discuss and analyze a genre I encountered in college.

Genre Study: Email Frenzy In this genre study, I chose to analyze a college email I sent to my professor. As a freshman in college we try hard to keep up with our grades and are constantly checking for updates. I was on Moodle, a learning management system specifically used by UNC Charlotte that communicates course information to students, and stumbled across an inaccuracy in a grade posted from my economics class. I had erroneously received a zero for an assignment. The email I sent my professor was of that regarding the mistake. This email is what I chose to analyze for my college genre. This email was sent to James Bowman who is the TA for my Economics professor Dr. Tseng. Mr. Bowman was the intended audience for this email. I wrote specially addressing him

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in the greeting stating Dear Mr. Bowman, It was sent from my email and the signature was Sincerely, Crystal Conde, because I was the author of the text. The purpose of this text was to inform Mr. Bowman that I had received a zero for an assignment I turned in. I wanted the error to be corrected and I knew he was the best person to talk to about it, and therefore I sent him an email discussing my concern. This email of course has an explicit message that asked if there is any way you can fix this problem it would be greatly appreciated. This message is explicitly stated because it is why I sent the email to Mr. Bowman. I wanted him to understand the matter at hand and what my concern was. There are implicit messages as well such as me stating that I signed the attendance sheet that day implies I was present in class. Another implicit message is that can be taken from the text is that I am a responsible student. It was evident that I keep up with my grades since I noticed the mistake. Values can also be seen in this email. It shows that I value education and want to do well in class. I would classify this text as an academic email. This genre exists in the academic setting, including both high school and college. It addresses an issue in a respectful and passive tone though at the same time remaining professional. The limitations of this genre are who can view the text because you can only send information to those who have an email address. The email may be forwarded to someone else but because they are not the intended audience the text would not be effective. The advantages of this genre are you can address any issue youd like; it is a quick and easy way to communicate. The rules for this genre are made by the author. It usually involves a question or comment that needs clarification. The author choses what will be the topic of the email and then proceeds to write about. The author knows who the audience will be and adjust the text accordingly.

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My example text of the email to my TA was successful. I addressed what the problem was in a professional manner, gave a little bit of background information that I thought would be helpful for Mr. Bowman. I did get my grade adjusted and the assignment was put into Moodle, making my text effective and successful. If the audience were to change, those reading the email would not find my text relevant. They could not help me with the task making the text unsuccessful. Part 3: All Good Things Come to an End In the previous sections of this genre study I analyzed two different texts, high school text versus college text. The first text I analyzed was a draft description written in high school. It was very different from the college email I later analyzed. The main difference between the two texts is where they would be found and who the intended audience was. While differences are easily seen, there are similarities amongst the texts as well. These two writings are both successful in achieving their goals; they follow the rules of the genre. They are both written for a purpose, and both fulfill that purpose. The high school draft description paper could be found at a museum or in front of a model describing the display and what each part means to the overall model. This specific example is representative of the descriptive text genre as a whole. Blueprint description genre continues to exist as it is one of the few genres that explain in explicit detail what each part of a whole means and represents. The college text falls under the genre of academic email. This genre will continue to exist as long as academics exist. Its purpose is to communicate within the academic realm in a professional and thought out manner. When writing in these genres each genre has its own rules. Descriptive genre must follow the guideline of explaining what a part

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is, why it is there and how it is implemented into the project. The rules of the genre are set by the author and how in depth the author would like to go with his/her writing. As for the academic email the rules for this genre are also set by the author, depending on what they would like to address in the email. I suggest for writers wanting to engage in an academic email they should consider the party to whom they are writing too. If it is the dean compared to a TA they should make sure they revise and have a fluid sentence structure. I also suggest that because it is an academic email that grammar, punctuation, and appropriate wording is used as well. In the genre of descriptive writing the writer should make sure that the reader gets a vivid sense of what the writer is trying to describe. They should make it easy for the reader to understand what the piece does to the whole and why. These genres give insight that in college it is important to communicate with the professor. One must keep up with grades and ask questions to the professors but making sure to always maintain a professional tone. From this assignment I learned there are many more genres than what we explored in high school. Every piece of literature and text falls under a genre. As a freshman all the genres may seem intimidating but now that we learned to analyze and break it down it is easier to understand the authors purpose and categorize the text into a specific genre.