Hello Classmates,

I wish to start off my first blog talking about “Navigating Genres” by Kerry Dirk. I read this shortly after our class on Monday night. I was amazed how much it related directly to our conversations in class. It touched on many of the same topics. Including, country music as a genre, and how it contains certain contingences. He also talked about how prior to writing the essay he thought about the best fashion in which to write it.  Thinking about his audience and the best way to reach them.

I felt he did a great job in this endeavor, by using a casual tone he makes this essay an easy read. I only have a few experiences with blogging, so before I started I googled some contingences about blogging. It confirmed my thoughts that blogging should be written in a conversational tone, similar to Kerry Dirk essay. I know that through out this class I will improve my blogging skills.

http://www.blog-tutorials.com/blog-tutorial/what-should-your-writing-tone-be/

I enjoyed how Kerry gave examples of three different ransom letters. Theses examples are powerful because it shows how all three quantify to be a ransom notes, but only one will be effective. This demonstrates how important it is to follow genres.

Genres are set through history. An example used in the essay was Gorge Washington. He had to give the first State of the Union Address. His was the original, so he set the guidelines for future addresses. Future presidents had to look back at his speech, weather they liked the style or not.

With this modern age new writing styles are continually being produced. Within the past 20 years. We have had email, instant messaging, texting, myspace, facebook, twiter, snapchat, instagram, and we can’t forget tinder. All of these have distinct genre and contingencies. Some may bleed into the other. But the better you follow the “rules” the more successful you will be using the app or program.

The other reading for this week touched on a similar topic. Understanding Rhetoric. Many of the topics matched with what I have stated earlier.

They did talk about how when one sits down to write an essay. They often will just stare at the blank word document. I find myself guilty of this. I will often spend 30 minuets just thinking about what to write and how to start. Than once I get through the intro paragraph. I’ll tend to have the reserves effect. I have so many thoughts and ideas, that I can just ramble on for pages. It is good to get my ideas out but only if they are organized and follow a proper pattern.

These readings did a great job of making the material we covered in class stick, as well as provide me with some new ideas and concepts. So that sums up my first post. Let me know how I did!