Genre Analysis

This assignment asks you to select a discourse community and analyze the main characteristics of a genre that is important to that community. Please select a genre that contains a significant amount of writing. An effective essay should start with a definition of a genre, followed by a brief description of the community and its main activities and goals, followed by a description and analysis of your selected genre. You should also identify and include specific examples of your genre, ideally through a mix of description, quotations, and visuals (such as screenshots). The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate that you understand how a specific kind of writing works (e.g., who reads and writes it, why it is persuasive or effective, why it takes the form that it does, and why certain conventions are employed). You should demonstrate this understanding by applying insights from Units 2 and 3 in our course, in addition to your own research. You may use examples from additional languages and/or include words and phrasing that differ from the norms of academic English, as long as you provide translation or explanation. This essay will require at least one source from our course readings, several specific (and cited) genre examples, and two peer-reviewed sources that you find through your own research. If you use examples from a community that communicates in a language other than English, you must include translations of the relevant material