I would argue that Genre can at the same time be both limiting and enabling. The key is that we must understand our audience as well as the context of the situation.
Sometimes Genre can limit what we are allowed to say or do in our presentation. For example, take the Presidential address; although the President may crack a few jokes, it would be highly inappropriate to render the speech in a satirical way. The President is basically stuck talking about big ideas, giving vague reports of how the country is doing, and sticking in many uplifting and cliche statements meant to get the viewers fired up. He doesn't have time to delve into detailed analysis of each issue, and he is forced to give the speech in a positive, uplifting manner.
On the other hand, in many situations Genre opens up a world of possibilities to us. For example, satire often allows us the freedom to do and say things that otherwise would be wildly inappropriate. If we are trying to point out the absurdity of wrongness of a particular candidate's views, we could just write an article about how everything they say is wrong and no one should vote for them. A few people would probably read it, write us off as biased nuts, and move on to the next article. However, we could instead do a satirical piece on the issue. Satire is often very entertaining- it gets people to read it because it's not just facts and opinions, but it's humor. More people would read our article, and would be much less likely to get offended at what we are saying, since after all it's just satire. However, they would also be listening to what we were saying, and there would be a much greater chance for them to internalize our words and not just write us off .
An interesting place where Genre can be used in new ways is video games. Historically, video games have been a form of entertainment, fun to mash buttons and shoot nazis or chop orcs in half. However, more and more, companies are using video games to tell a story instead of just entertain. The graphics and options open to developers now allows them great freedom in this respect; often video games now are more compelling story wise than many movies. This is a great example of a Genre being changed and used in new ways.
These are good examples of how Genre can really help or hinder you, depending on the circumstances.
The post if very focused between genre, audience, and style of rhetoric. You use all three to analyze the effectiveness of genre in regard to getting a point across.
ReplyDeleteThe key argument (as I read it) is that every medium of rhetoric has a certain audience, and not all rhetoric is suitable for every audience.
*one suggestion: suggest specific video games. I was interested!
I agree that genre can be both limiting and enabling. The post is very good at pointing out how the change in genre can make a person like or dislike something.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the video game aspect, I like how it was included, but I feel that it needed to be a little more specific, and talk why the stories are better.
Overall, very good post.