I would like to research a discourse community that I am already part of since it is required that the research paper is based on something very specific. I can only think of two options, which would be of either work or my internship. Working for a corporation is not necessarily too specific as there are many departments and many positions, so I will choose to research the National City Chamber of Commerce, which is where I currently form part of as an intern.
I am interested in this organization because it allows businesses to network, and I am a business major, furthermore, I like to see how business owners interact among each other to reach shared interests. In addition, this organization is a non-profit one, and many of the meetings that take place require certain practices that I have never seen before. Each chamber of commerce has specific rules, sometimes in order to allocate funds to a certain activity a minimum number of the board members have to be present in order to approve such allocation. Also, an example that I can recall of, is that in order to approve a certain activity, the board chairman has to introduce the proposition by saying motion to approve "X and Y". The use of language is very unique and I especially notice it when introducing an idea or concluding one. I am also interested in this organization because it is amusing to see how business owners can conflict with each other but have to work with each other in order to reach a solution. Sometimes it involves politics or special interests and can cause many of the board members to take sides which is something that like to analyze as I can learn from these instances to solve my own problems when I apply it to my daily life.
I would like to interview my direct boss who is the CEO of the National City Chamber of Commerce. I know that she is a first generation college student who got a master's degree at Harvard, which is something I deeply admire for she was very determined since she was very young. I would like to ask her why she chose to work for a non-profit organization, in my perspective she might be a bit "overqualified" for that job, nonetheless, she is passionate about her job and I can see that she enjoys giving back to her community.
I would like to approach this research paper by disseminating its communicative practices in a professional manner, by comparing agendas, emails, meetings and staff discussions to understand a better what Board Member's tasks consist of. After all, I have only been interning at this organization for two month's so there is still a lot of aspects that I have to learn about.
I think that these communicative practices are acquired by assisting to many meetings and by being involved in many forms of business. Its members enculturate themselves by cooperating with each other and reading policies that businesses have to follow. Members have to be familiar of how a new activity will take place by being present in all of the meetings that discuss the different items that business owners would like to implement.
Being part of this organization can lead its members to take political ideologies and consequently, can be rejected by some of the communities that they belong to since most of their actions will be reflected publicly, and at times local news will mention all of these aspects.
There are multiple genres in chambers of commerce, particularly agendas, invitations, thank you letters, emails, income statements involving allocation of funds for non-profit organizations etc.
I really do not know what I should focus on, however, I know that many people do not know what these organizations do, and I do form part of one and have a general understanding of its practices so I think that this would be the best option for me to research on. Perhaps I can analyze the way that its board members decided to join this organization and why it is convenient for them to form part of it since they do pay an annual membership fee. Or maybe I can interview my boss and ask her in what ways she has contributed to her community, what she envisions for her community if she continues to work there and so on. I definitely need to get some guidance on what to specify on, but there are different aspects that I can analyze as there are many people that conform such organization.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
Blog #8: learning to read...
Reading Mirabelli's article Learning to Serve, was entertaining because one can see how different people can perceive a task to be more prestigious and more complex than others. Also, some people do not value certain tasks in jobs that they view as "simple", such as that of a waiter/waitress. I was surprised to learn that there was a website in which waiters/waitresses can reply to reviews made by their customers.
I found it amusing to read that a waitress was more knowledgeable than a customer who left negative feedback and discriminated the servers by using complex terms, which goes to show that usually, people perceive servers, customer service employees, or "simple" job workers as uneducated and low-skilled. I think that people should never underestimate such workers because they might realize that those workers may be educated or know more than they assume they do. I have never worked as a waiter before but after reading the article I gained a better understanding of the challenges that being a server implicates. For instance, I never thought of how servers needed to memorize the entire menu and the process of elaborating a dish.
I personally have a retail job as a jeweler and I am also an inter at a chamber of commerce, these jobs are quite different and I can point out the major differences of each one and how the interaction among co-workers and clients differ. For example, working in retail, I think that customers tend to be rude and disrespectful, moreover, I also feel underestimated. However, this is a generalization, I am not saying that I always feel this way. Working as a jeweler implicates understanding how jewels are priced and minerals and processes that go into elaborating them and many customers assume that as a sales person I am only standing there without having any special skills or knowledge whatsoever. In contrast, working as an intern at the chamber of commerce I feel more respected by those that interact with me as I usually surround myself with business owners and I always wear a suit, and usually, people think it is a very challenging job that requires much education, but this is not always the case. I see each job as different, maybe the retail one requires a lot more physical work while the internship requires more knowledge, yet each one requires effort and being part of these allows me to understand that we should not underestimate anyone.
Also, in my view, having a degree does not always mean that a person is more educated than one that did not attend college, I often encounter people that read a lot and are just as informed as people that have a college degree.
After reading the article I realized that forming part of a discourse community requires a lot of learning and effort.
I found it amusing to read that a waitress was more knowledgeable than a customer who left negative feedback and discriminated the servers by using complex terms, which goes to show that usually, people perceive servers, customer service employees, or "simple" job workers as uneducated and low-skilled. I think that people should never underestimate such workers because they might realize that those workers may be educated or know more than they assume they do. I have never worked as a waiter before but after reading the article I gained a better understanding of the challenges that being a server implicates. For instance, I never thought of how servers needed to memorize the entire menu and the process of elaborating a dish.
I personally have a retail job as a jeweler and I am also an inter at a chamber of commerce, these jobs are quite different and I can point out the major differences of each one and how the interaction among co-workers and clients differ. For example, working in retail, I think that customers tend to be rude and disrespectful, moreover, I also feel underestimated. However, this is a generalization, I am not saying that I always feel this way. Working as a jeweler implicates understanding how jewels are priced and minerals and processes that go into elaborating them and many customers assume that as a sales person I am only standing there without having any special skills or knowledge whatsoever. In contrast, working as an intern at the chamber of commerce I feel more respected by those that interact with me as I usually surround myself with business owners and I always wear a suit, and usually, people think it is a very challenging job that requires much education, but this is not always the case. I see each job as different, maybe the retail one requires a lot more physical work while the internship requires more knowledge, yet each one requires effort and being part of these allows me to understand that we should not underestimate anyone.
Also, in my view, having a degree does not always mean that a person is more educated than one that did not attend college, I often encounter people that read a lot and are just as informed as people that have a college degree.
After reading the article I realized that forming part of a discourse community requires a lot of learning and effort.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Blog #7: Real or Mushfake
Mushfaking is something I have done in order to fit in at both of my jobs, sometimes at school as well. I personally think that everyone has mushfaked at one point in their lives, otherwise they would not be where they are today.
First off, when I began working as a jeweler I did not know anything about metals, gemstones but especially not about diamonds. Being in that job implicated competing with my co-workers as it is a job commission based job which means that if one does not meet a certain quota, the chances of losing the job become much higher than in other jobs. Personally, I had to learn quickly otherwise I would lose my job, which meant not being able to afford rent, which would lead me to dropping out of college. So this mentality pushed me to be a quick learner at least in this field. Working as a jeweler required me to develop a new identity, and the easiest way for me to adopt that was by watching my co-workers interact with their customers which lead to sales. First off, I have to say that one has to be extremely mushfake, I heard my co-workers giving compliments to all of their customers, and necessarily not on the piece of jewelry that they were looking to purchase, but on any physical aspect of their customers, and after they completed a transaction they would criticize the customers behind their backs or just make mean comments among other associates. I had to implement some of these dynamics into my selling methods in order to be able to keep my job, I learned the language and the composition that is used when selling diamonds, there are a few characteristics that one has to learn on gemstones in order to seem knowledgeable. In fact one has to seem knowledgeable about any one of the products one is selling in order to be able to project trustworthiness. Also, when talking to customers one has to be very respectful. Sometimes it can be kind of complicated trying to sell a diamond to some customers because they will often want to talk about their personal lives and I am not known to be the most social person, not that I don't like socializing but its not my strongest quality, nonetheless, when selling, I will do everything to seem more of a friend to my clients than just merely a sales person. Although I am not the best seller, I am good at it, so I no longer have to mushfake when selling, yet, I do give fake compliments every now and then but I never criticize my customers behind their backs because I am not as mean as my co-workers.
Another example of how I had to mushfake and continue to pretend is at my internship. Currently I am an intern at the National City Chamber of Commerce, and everyone in the office wears professional attire, meaning that I began wearing suits, which I do not really like but there is no alternative on this aspect. I started interning in July of this year, and so all the community events, business meeting, economic development sessions and city ordinances are all new to me. Whenever I am at a meeting the use of many terms is implemented and I have to write everything down to later find out what such acronyms mean. Introducing myself and getting along with certain politicians is something that I am not too comfortable with, especially when I differ with their ideologies, but it is something that I have to continue to do in order to fit in. Fortunately, one of my co-workers is very outgoing and friendly and has helped me immerse in the chamber of commerce. I continue to read community and ordinance projects related to the city of National City to project myself as a knowledgeable intern. I continue to be intimidated by my boss since she graduated from both Harvard and Berkeley Universities, which I see as a great accomplishment, moreover, she is very professional and I have to work very hard to impress her. The most intimidating part is the businesses' meetings endings, where everyone takes the time to network and socialize, to me that is the hardest since I do not own a business, and usually the age difference between my potential employees and mine is usually a few decades apart, so I continue to learn and one day I will learn the discourse that being in this field requires.
I have always liked people to be honest and to be who they really are, but at times, we have to pretend in order to acquire knowledge and to become who we really want to become.
First off, when I began working as a jeweler I did not know anything about metals, gemstones but especially not about diamonds. Being in that job implicated competing with my co-workers as it is a job commission based job which means that if one does not meet a certain quota, the chances of losing the job become much higher than in other jobs. Personally, I had to learn quickly otherwise I would lose my job, which meant not being able to afford rent, which would lead me to dropping out of college. So this mentality pushed me to be a quick learner at least in this field. Working as a jeweler required me to develop a new identity, and the easiest way for me to adopt that was by watching my co-workers interact with their customers which lead to sales. First off, I have to say that one has to be extremely mushfake, I heard my co-workers giving compliments to all of their customers, and necessarily not on the piece of jewelry that they were looking to purchase, but on any physical aspect of their customers, and after they completed a transaction they would criticize the customers behind their backs or just make mean comments among other associates. I had to implement some of these dynamics into my selling methods in order to be able to keep my job, I learned the language and the composition that is used when selling diamonds, there are a few characteristics that one has to learn on gemstones in order to seem knowledgeable. In fact one has to seem knowledgeable about any one of the products one is selling in order to be able to project trustworthiness. Also, when talking to customers one has to be very respectful. Sometimes it can be kind of complicated trying to sell a diamond to some customers because they will often want to talk about their personal lives and I am not known to be the most social person, not that I don't like socializing but its not my strongest quality, nonetheless, when selling, I will do everything to seem more of a friend to my clients than just merely a sales person. Although I am not the best seller, I am good at it, so I no longer have to mushfake when selling, yet, I do give fake compliments every now and then but I never criticize my customers behind their backs because I am not as mean as my co-workers.
Another example of how I had to mushfake and continue to pretend is at my internship. Currently I am an intern at the National City Chamber of Commerce, and everyone in the office wears professional attire, meaning that I began wearing suits, which I do not really like but there is no alternative on this aspect. I started interning in July of this year, and so all the community events, business meeting, economic development sessions and city ordinances are all new to me. Whenever I am at a meeting the use of many terms is implemented and I have to write everything down to later find out what such acronyms mean. Introducing myself and getting along with certain politicians is something that I am not too comfortable with, especially when I differ with their ideologies, but it is something that I have to continue to do in order to fit in. Fortunately, one of my co-workers is very outgoing and friendly and has helped me immerse in the chamber of commerce. I continue to read community and ordinance projects related to the city of National City to project myself as a knowledgeable intern. I continue to be intimidated by my boss since she graduated from both Harvard and Berkeley Universities, which I see as a great accomplishment, moreover, she is very professional and I have to work very hard to impress her. The most intimidating part is the businesses' meetings endings, where everyone takes the time to network and socialize, to me that is the hardest since I do not own a business, and usually the age difference between my potential employees and mine is usually a few decades apart, so I continue to learn and one day I will learn the discourse that being in this field requires.
I have always liked people to be honest and to be who they really are, but at times, we have to pretend in order to acquire knowledge and to become who we really want to become.
Blog #6: Discourse Communities and the Cost of Affiliation
Immersing in college life, something that most college students love and hate at the same time for simple reasons. We get to meet a lot of people, to make new friends, socialize and to build a network, but on the other hand, we lack time, most of us are always tired, stressed and overworked. College life, fun yet painful.
Personally, I miss my parents a lot since I had to leave home to come to SDSU, time management is key to be able to sustain oneself. I had to learn how to cook, what groceries to get, how to set up my work and school schedule and how to make enough time to get to see my parents every now and then. English being my second language presents another challenge, yet I like activities that require a lot of effort because that means I am learning and I am being productive. Nonetheless, sometimes I wake up and forget why I'm doing all this, but then I remember that school gives me some sense of direction, which I think is great because after graduation there is nothing that will guide me, so being in school in a way means that I don't have to worry too much about the following months because my main responsibility is just going to classes. What I mean by this idea is that after graduation I really have high expectations as to my future occupation, if there is something that I have been hoping for ever since I started my college career is to have a job that really makes me happy, and so these two following years give me some time to prepare for this.
After reading Madden's article, I can see why many students who do not have many funds have dropped out, I have been close to being one of them. I remember that during my first semester at SDSU, I had purchased my first car, and I was only left with $630 or so in my bank account, and rent was due a week after that, instances like this can really stress me out, but throughout the past two years I have learned how to sustain myself and in a way I am thankful for having such a busy schedule because it makes me believe that after I graduate things will get much easier. I also remember that the first two weeks of moving out, all I ate was tuna and lettuce, but I realized I could not go on for four years eating like that. I also remember that after last semester ended, my roommates' and my lease agreement had ended a month before we expected to end, this happened in May right after the Spring semester was over, they went back to their parents, I was left homeless but conveniently enough I had a couple of friends that took me in, yet, such circumstances can be very challenging as I do not like to ask for big favors like that, but again, one has to find the means to reach its own goals.
Academically speaking, that is probably the biggest challenge I have faced, as I mentioned earlier I am not the brightest student at least not when it comes to English, since it is my second language sometimes having to pretend what a professor means by certain words is very intimidating, especially when they ask you to answer in front of the class, but then again, I like challenges. I also have to mention that there have been a lot of students that have really impressed me on how academic they can be, not only in English but in other classes, I have made a few friends that are graduating like two years earlier than me, or some of them have great jobs, which makes me want to reach my full potential in all aspects.
In conclusion, immersing in college is a challenge, it can be physically and mentally tiring, but it helps us become a better version of ourselves. There are always options on how to budget everything, this should not stop anyone from graduating.
Personally, I miss my parents a lot since I had to leave home to come to SDSU, time management is key to be able to sustain oneself. I had to learn how to cook, what groceries to get, how to set up my work and school schedule and how to make enough time to get to see my parents every now and then. English being my second language presents another challenge, yet I like activities that require a lot of effort because that means I am learning and I am being productive. Nonetheless, sometimes I wake up and forget why I'm doing all this, but then I remember that school gives me some sense of direction, which I think is great because after graduation there is nothing that will guide me, so being in school in a way means that I don't have to worry too much about the following months because my main responsibility is just going to classes. What I mean by this idea is that after graduation I really have high expectations as to my future occupation, if there is something that I have been hoping for ever since I started my college career is to have a job that really makes me happy, and so these two following years give me some time to prepare for this.
After reading Madden's article, I can see why many students who do not have many funds have dropped out, I have been close to being one of them. I remember that during my first semester at SDSU, I had purchased my first car, and I was only left with $630 or so in my bank account, and rent was due a week after that, instances like this can really stress me out, but throughout the past two years I have learned how to sustain myself and in a way I am thankful for having such a busy schedule because it makes me believe that after I graduate things will get much easier. I also remember that the first two weeks of moving out, all I ate was tuna and lettuce, but I realized I could not go on for four years eating like that. I also remember that after last semester ended, my roommates' and my lease agreement had ended a month before we expected to end, this happened in May right after the Spring semester was over, they went back to their parents, I was left homeless but conveniently enough I had a couple of friends that took me in, yet, such circumstances can be very challenging as I do not like to ask for big favors like that, but again, one has to find the means to reach its own goals.
Academically speaking, that is probably the biggest challenge I have faced, as I mentioned earlier I am not the brightest student at least not when it comes to English, since it is my second language sometimes having to pretend what a professor means by certain words is very intimidating, especially when they ask you to answer in front of the class, but then again, I like challenges. I also have to mention that there have been a lot of students that have really impressed me on how academic they can be, not only in English but in other classes, I have made a few friends that are graduating like two years earlier than me, or some of them have great jobs, which makes me want to reach my full potential in all aspects.
In conclusion, immersing in college is a challenge, it can be physically and mentally tiring, but it helps us become a better version of ourselves. There are always options on how to budget everything, this should not stop anyone from graduating.
Monday, September 12, 2016
Blog #4: Opinion Pieces
After reading several editorials an opinion pieces, I realized that they attempt to persuade very specific audiences with either ethos or pathos. Such texts do not include a lot of logos, and most of these texts only defend one side and heavily criticize that which they disagree with.
For instance, a clear example of these opinion pieces being very supportive of their argument while criticizing opposing points of view is the text called Liberals are the Sort of People Who..., in which the author, John Hawkins appeals to his intended audience's pathos and lacks statistics and facts that actually proof his perspective on liberals. As I am not very familiar with politics, I do not want to project a sort of pro-liberal perspective, however, the way this author establishes his claims is extremely biased, moreover, it does not use solid evidence to back up many of his claims.
In addition to noticing that editorials and opinion pieces lack logos, the language that it is used is not too formal, it is a bit casual and appeal mostly to audience's feelings.
Authors make themselves look believable by pointing out observations that may predict a certain outcome.
These genres are different from other genres I have previously been exposed in academia since they utilize less facts and logos. It almost feels as if these genres were a blog, except they are a little bit more formal.
The opinion pieces that I just read, as I stated in the beginning, only consider one point of view, which may appear as not too credible by those who oppose the author's ideas.
The JSTOR Daily is different since it uses a lot of academic citations but nonetheless is not extremely formal, and it also uses a lot of pathos. This genre reinforces relevant occurrences and I think it is only offered online, ad opposed to newspapers and other types of genres.
Overall, I notices that most opinion pieces and JSTOR Daily works focus on one single ideology while criticizing points of view that contradict their ideas, which in my opinion, allows audiences to discuss their own ideas.
For instance, a clear example of these opinion pieces being very supportive of their argument while criticizing opposing points of view is the text called Liberals are the Sort of People Who..., in which the author, John Hawkins appeals to his intended audience's pathos and lacks statistics and facts that actually proof his perspective on liberals. As I am not very familiar with politics, I do not want to project a sort of pro-liberal perspective, however, the way this author establishes his claims is extremely biased, moreover, it does not use solid evidence to back up many of his claims.
In addition to noticing that editorials and opinion pieces lack logos, the language that it is used is not too formal, it is a bit casual and appeal mostly to audience's feelings.
Authors make themselves look believable by pointing out observations that may predict a certain outcome.
These genres are different from other genres I have previously been exposed in academia since they utilize less facts and logos. It almost feels as if these genres were a blog, except they are a little bit more formal.
The opinion pieces that I just read, as I stated in the beginning, only consider one point of view, which may appear as not too credible by those who oppose the author's ideas.
The JSTOR Daily is different since it uses a lot of academic citations but nonetheless is not extremely formal, and it also uses a lot of pathos. This genre reinforces relevant occurrences and I think it is only offered online, ad opposed to newspapers and other types of genres.
Overall, I notices that most opinion pieces and JSTOR Daily works focus on one single ideology while criticizing points of view that contradict their ideas, which in my opinion, allows audiences to discuss their own ideas.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Blog #3: Memes!
"In just a few hours you'll be sitting around a campfire with Andy making delicious hot Schmoes." "They're called s'mores, Buzz." - Toy Story
I chose this particular meme because it is one that I feel its unique as it is very relevant to most millennials since most of us grew up watching Disney movies and many of us love all of Toy Story films. As posted above, the original quote is nothing like the popular meme that this image has been transformed into, it never includes the word "everywhere". In the film, Buzz Light year was just imagining a scenario that would have occurred in the future, nonetheless, internet users did it again and modified a meme and included the word "everywhere", which in my opinion, actually does fit Buzz Light Year's facial expression.
I picked these first two memes as most college students will agree with the ideas that the images are trying to convey. But the last two images serve as an example of what Knobel and Lankshear expect of a meme.
As mentioned in Knobel and Lankshear's analysis, memes are a form of social literacy that has been recently recognized, and its practice has become more widely used by the digital community, and regardless of how old a concept is or if the original image was modified, such as in the image above, it is an efficient form of communication that can be recognized by a large audience. This previous image reflect longevity and is also susceptible as one of the characters is juxtaposed with an old viral sensation, which is presented in a similar outfit, but still manages to convey the concept of how a trend is taking place "everywhere".
I picked these first two memes as most college students will agree with the ideas that the images are trying to convey. But the last two images serve as an example of what Knobel and Lankshear expect of a meme.
After reading Knobel and Lankshear's analysis on memes, I realized that memes have been around for a long time. I thought memes were just a recent popular trend, however, the analysis was very eye-opening as the authors included trending examples that took place more than a decade ago through different online websites, and that were popular during that time. The three most important characteristics that a meme can include, according to Knobel and Lankshear, are fidelity, fecundity, and longevity.
Moreover, I agree with the idea that a meme's purpose is not to be useful or extremely important, but to be memorable, which is why I chose this particular one, as I am sure many of my classmates can remember these popular Disney characters. I also mention this since I grew up in Mexico and even though I celebrate different holidays and have a different culture than most of my class mates, I can identify this image. This is where the longevity aspect of the meme comes into play as Toy Story 2 was released in 1999, yet 17 years later people can still identify it. In my opinion, memes are a great humorous way to relate ideas with different groups of people, and can work socially or even in a literary context as it is an easy and simple form of communication.
This last meme is one that may appeal to a large audience as many items say "made in china", and it can be seen throughout the world. This is a perfect example of a meme as it includes all three aspects, fecundity, longevity and fidelity, as it is presented in a modified way, yet, it manages to convey an idea, and it is relevant and will be for a very long time. Lastly I, analyzing memes has made me realize that memes are a form of social interaction, as certain audiences will find some memes to be more humorous than others, and some concepts to be more relevant than others as well, although they can utilized easily as the usage of an image makes it more appealing, it depends on the audience's point of view of what is humorous, relevant and memorable.
Finally, I would like to mention that I find it interesting how the dialogue between the Disney characters does never include the word "everywhere" yet the meme managed to be widely used, it makes me realize that not everything that is believed by many people is actually true. In the future I will research and look for evidence before I make assumptions.
Blog #2: Writing Genres
After reading Devitt's research article, I have never thought of genres as being something more than just poems, fictional stories, etc, but now I realized they can be any form of communication. Moreover, the article made me realize that a genre can influence not only an intended audience but the author of a specific text itself.
I agree with Devitt's idea of how teachers may expect a certain genre and most students will write a five paragraph but the instructors themselves would like to see something more than just a five paragraph format, which is why it is important to teach students more than just a five paragraph essay format. However, I do think that for very simple purposes, the five paragraph essay results efficient as it can convey an idea in a short amount of text, nonetheless, students should explore other genres as they may express different and more creatively.
As Devitt explains, "genres are social and rhetorical actions: they develop their languages and forms out of rhetorical out of rhetorical aims and contexts shared by groups of users" (342), genres will change depending on the audience. For instance, I use different kind of genres at SDSU, for this class I make use of blogs, for my other classes I will mostly use a five paragraph format, and at my internship I often write invitations, and thank you letters and many types of flyers. In some genres I tend to try to be more academic such as the papers that I write for school, while at my internship I communicate formally but in a casual way simultaneously. The papers that I write for school are intended to be very academic so that professors notice that research and a lot of effort was put into them so that I can receive a high grade. In contrast to an invitation that I often have to write in my internship, I have to seem friendly, more casual, otherwise if I used the same language and format that I utilize at school my intended audience will think that I am out of context and that my forms of communication were not intended for them.
In addition, when I am writing, I adopt the ideology that it I am to communicate to my audience as I have to be clear to certain groups of people, for instance, when I am writing a history research paper, I have to inform myself of past events in order to appeal to my intended audience, and while I do so I learn new content that influences the content of my project, which is what Devitt is referring to when she says that a writer can adopt an ideology. Moreover, following a genre such as a five paragraph essay is taking up an ideology as certain groups of people have utilized that format before and usually is easy to identify the argument and the evidence in specific areas of said genre as they follow a pattern, a structure that has been established even before one writes it.
Ultimately, I agree with Devitt as she explains that different genres are intended for different groups of people and that exploring different genres allows us to understand people with different ideas, and lastly, I think the whole purpose of understanding a variety of genres is to be able to communicate with people that think differently than us, and to be able to persuade different audiences. In my personal life for instance, I do not communicate formally with most of my friends, in contrast, when I am work, I approach all my customers very professionally and respectfully.
I agree with Devitt's idea of how teachers may expect a certain genre and most students will write a five paragraph but the instructors themselves would like to see something more than just a five paragraph format, which is why it is important to teach students more than just a five paragraph essay format. However, I do think that for very simple purposes, the five paragraph essay results efficient as it can convey an idea in a short amount of text, nonetheless, students should explore other genres as they may express different and more creatively.
As Devitt explains, "genres are social and rhetorical actions: they develop their languages and forms out of rhetorical out of rhetorical aims and contexts shared by groups of users" (342), genres will change depending on the audience. For instance, I use different kind of genres at SDSU, for this class I make use of blogs, for my other classes I will mostly use a five paragraph format, and at my internship I often write invitations, and thank you letters and many types of flyers. In some genres I tend to try to be more academic such as the papers that I write for school, while at my internship I communicate formally but in a casual way simultaneously. The papers that I write for school are intended to be very academic so that professors notice that research and a lot of effort was put into them so that I can receive a high grade. In contrast to an invitation that I often have to write in my internship, I have to seem friendly, more casual, otherwise if I used the same language and format that I utilize at school my intended audience will think that I am out of context and that my forms of communication were not intended for them.
In addition, when I am writing, I adopt the ideology that it I am to communicate to my audience as I have to be clear to certain groups of people, for instance, when I am writing a history research paper, I have to inform myself of past events in order to appeal to my intended audience, and while I do so I learn new content that influences the content of my project, which is what Devitt is referring to when she says that a writer can adopt an ideology. Moreover, following a genre such as a five paragraph essay is taking up an ideology as certain groups of people have utilized that format before and usually is easy to identify the argument and the evidence in specific areas of said genre as they follow a pattern, a structure that has been established even before one writes it.
Ultimately, I agree with Devitt as she explains that different genres are intended for different groups of people and that exploring different genres allows us to understand people with different ideas, and lastly, I think the whole purpose of understanding a variety of genres is to be able to communicate with people that think differently than us, and to be able to persuade different audiences. In my personal life for instance, I do not communicate formally with most of my friends, in contrast, when I am work, I approach all my customers very professionally and respectfully.
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