Weekly Thlog#1 Saturday 4/2/16

This week we focused on genres and how they can defined by their conventions, genre is term that is changing constantly and is has become more that just a structured form. According to Kerry Dirk in Navigating Genres, one must understand that genre is a response to something new happens. I found it very interesting that Dirk relates genre with daily life. I agree that we approach situations with a goal and knowing what is appropriate for example will give you the results you may be looking for. To prove this, I went to work today and i had to write a note asking for a day off, because i am aware of the professional situation i will write in a formal manner that is characterized with proper language. I think that we subconsciously live according to the genre that are presented to us.

In class we spent a little time reading and analyzing Peter Elbow’s Teaching two Kinds of Thinking by Teaching Writing. I discovered that the reason why it has always taken me so long to write papers in the past was because I only used second order thinking. I find myself in a process of writing and deleting which gets me nowhere. I will definitely start practicing the first order thinking because I think writing knowing its not suppose to be perfect will allow for more natural ideas to arise.

From the journal entries, i noticed that we didn't really understand how specific genre conventions could be because until we discussed it became apparent that some conventions do not apply for all subjects. Journal 7 discusses how “Romance novels are simple and redundant in their conventions” this can be further examined by noting what kind of love story, who is involved etc.