The concepts of genre, audience, and rhetorical situation are alike in their significance to the process of writing. They can be distinguished not only by their definitive meanings, but by a series of questions considered in the early stages of writing; what do I want to say, how do I want to say it, and who do I want to say it to? To these questions there are no clear-cut answers, empowering the writer to explore a variety of topics. It is important to understand that genre, audience, and rhetorical situation are not considered in a sequential order, nor are they exclusive to planning. In fact, the development of new ideas can occur in any stage of writing. To better make connections amongst these concepts, and begin to develop a theory of
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Consequently, the reader must pay more attention to style, design, and source. Here, Anzaldúa gives a retrospective account of her experiences with her native Hispanic language in American culture. The writing is told in the first person point of view and is based solely on her own observations, characteristic of a memoir. A similar analysis as this should be given to all works regardless of what may be implied. Although it cannot be mistaken that King’s, Letter from Birmingham Jail, is a letter, or Collin’s, Commencement Address at Choate-Rosemary Hall, is a speech, the concept of genre is much more complex as it is also dependent on audience and rhetorical …show more content…
King’s letter exists as a lengthy appeal to emotion. Here, we must consider this in its effect on multiple audiences; the intended clergymen, and now as a historic piece, generations of everyday people. The situation in which King is writing is from the Birmingham City Jail, in response to a statement calling his campaigns for equality “unwise and untimely”. He disputes these claims in such a reasonable way that portrays his accuser’s to be especially cruel and unjust. His writing is abundant with detailed experiences of injustice had on his people, and his own disappointment in having “to explain to [his] six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the local amusement park that was advertised on television (King 3), making the letter more personal. It seems as though King was hopeful that this letter would reach a more general audience, and gain sympathy from new-found supporters. However, we can be certain of his intention to prove wrong the clergymen to which he addressed his letter. The only possible negative effects of this piece of writing is that the audience is forced to make a decision based only on their judgement of Dr. Martin Luther King’s credibility, because there are no hard facts supporting his claims.
At this point we have come to understand audience as it applies to the concepts of genre and rhetorical situation. However, as it stands alone audience refers to the person or persons receiving the message. As with King’s composition, discussed above, not always
Consequently, the reader must pay more attention to style, design, and source. Here, Anzaldúa gives a retrospective account of her experiences with her native Hispanic language in American culture. The writing is told in the first person point of view and is based solely on her own observations, characteristic of a memoir. A similar analysis as this should be given to all works regardless of what may be implied. Although it cannot be mistaken that King’s, Letter from Birmingham Jail, is a letter, or Collin’s, Commencement Address at Choate-Rosemary Hall, is a speech, the concept of genre is much more complex as it is also dependent on audience and rhetorical …show more content…
King’s letter exists as a lengthy appeal to emotion. Here, we must consider this in its effect on multiple audiences; the intended clergymen, and now as a historic piece, generations of everyday people. The situation in which King is writing is from the Birmingham City Jail, in response to a statement calling his campaigns for equality “unwise and untimely”. He disputes these claims in such a reasonable way that portrays his accuser’s to be especially cruel and unjust. His writing is abundant with detailed experiences of injustice had on his people, and his own disappointment in having “to explain to [his] six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the local amusement park that was advertised on television (King 3), making the letter more personal. It seems as though King was hopeful that this letter would reach a more general audience, and gain sympathy from new-found supporters. However, we can be certain of his intention to prove wrong the clergymen to which he addressed his letter. The only possible negative effects of this piece of writing is that the audience is forced to make a decision based only on their judgement of Dr. Martin Luther King’s credibility, because there are no hard facts supporting his claims.
At this point we have come to understand audience as it applies to the concepts of genre and rhetorical situation. However, as it stands alone audience refers to the person or persons receiving the message. As with King’s composition, discussed above, not always