Dirk and Genre

Before reading Dirk’s essay I would have defined genre as the category a work is placed into. These categories are decided by looking at various aspects such as theme, language, tone, etc. For example, I would explain the difference between the genres of horror and comedy. Horror has markers that indicates its category such as fear, dark settings, and a mystery aspect.  Whereas comedy is marked by bits of humor, basic language, and bright scenes. As a whole, I have never really considered genre one of the most important aspects when looking at a work. On the other hand, after reading Dirk’s essay I would modify my previous definition of genre. I would now define genre as a form of writing that becomes flexible based on who is reading the piece (location) and what the piece is meant to convey (purpose). In addition to this new definition, metaphors become extremely helpful when explaining genre. First, I would use the metaphor “genre is an aid to understanding”. This is a great metaphor because it explains that since people are already familiar with different types of genre, once they recognize the genre of a piece it will make the piece easier to understand. I would also say that “genre is an answer key”. Because many people are already familiar with the emotions connected to each genre, they can figure out how the author uses his argument to arrive at that emotion. Based off of my reading, metaphors are super helpful because they give the reader a few key phrases to keep in mind when reading a piece. So, as a whole, I have realized that not all pieces in a genre fit into one mold, they can vary greatly based on the situation, location, and purpose with which they are written.