Genre's, Patterns, and Organization

Zephyrus's picture

As defined by the TCT, a genre is a predictable pattern for organizing information to achieve specific purposes (pg 183). Different genres dictate which document types are utilized, eg. the report genre could use a research proposal document and the hypertext genre could use a web format. Most of my experience with genre's falls into these two categories. I've written plenty of research papers for other English classes, and I've written my share of content for the web. What interests me are some of the other genres described in the article. I've never been tasked with, or even considered writing in the genres of "Definitions", "Descriptions", or "Resume" for that matter. That is part of the reason I'm interested in the course work for this class. Writing these types of technical documents, especially resumes and cover letters, will be a very important skill to learn for the real world.

I also especially enjoyed all the tips given in this chapter about organizing your content in any genre or document. The six "opening moves" are something that I have naturally picked up on when writing in the past, and are very important. The more of these six your introduction is missing, the less clear your document becomes. However, the best advice this article gives about writing effectively is to start in the middle, not the beginning or end. I always find when writing papers it’s much better to write your content first, then provide the appropriate introduction afterward.

The patterns of arrangement described in this chapter are broad, but are basically used in every document possible. I’ve written in most of these “arrangements” before in my business experience, including comparing and contrasting our companies services with another companies. For each of these patterns, there are strategies to learn to make your writing effective and/or persuasive, such as capturing your audience’s attention, or making logical arguments.

Outlining is also a very important organization tool, and I found the hint about using Microsoft Powerpoint to outline especially interesting. I'm a visual learner, and think separating your ideas onto multiple slides with different headings could further clarify and organize your ideas. Has anyone ever tried this?

Power Point Outline

I actually did make my outline with power point once, although it was more of an accident then anything. I had a bunch of notes together for a research paper that I was going to present to my AP English class. So instead of writing the paper then doing a power point presentation about the paper, I decided to make a presentation first on what I thought the most important things from my notes where. Only after making the power point presentation did I realize that I had also made a very good outline for my paper. Since then I haven't had any major writing assignments that would require a very extensive outline, but next time I do need an outline, I am planning on trying to do it on power point again to see how well it turns out the second time.

Patrick Griffin
pgriffin@purdue.edu

Meeting in the middle

jstn's picture

I, too, share a similar interest for the coursework we will take on here and its application in the real world. For example, learning how to properly prepare a resume is imperative in beginning to apply for any new career position. Knowing how to organize technical documents to achieve a desirable flow may be necessary in keeping that position! As you’re suggesting, there is much to be learned in this course that will likely prove beneficial down road. I also agree that “it often proves most effective in beginning your writing in the middle.” That is, to first outline and organize the content that will serve as your document’s body, then come back to author the introduction and closing arguments. Although this process is likely assumed as standard by many, it is not practiced by all and some stand to benefit by incorporating this process into their writing style.