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Genre Conventions
Each genre you write in has different conventions. These have developed over time and continue to shift as genres change. Genres emerge because of a particular rhetorical need that is repeated, thus, a certain form of writing emerges to meet that need. Audiences come to expect certain conventions from certain genres. You may think about genres as types of fiction or movies, but genres can be everyday writing, too–like the form you fill out to register for classes. Genres can be multimodal, too.
The same text can represent different genres depending on the situation. Let’s take the example of a gestural genre of hand-raising. Try to identify each of the following pictures and the rhetorical situation surrounding the hand that is being raised. How does this text represent different genres depending on the situation?
Photos Credit: 1. Wedding Vow photo from Max Pixel, 2. Photo of Army Spc. Nelson, Armed Forces Boxing Champion by Pfc. Trevon S. Peracca, 3. Public Domain photo by Steve Hillebrand
What is it about each image that led you to interpret the hand that was raised differently? Each picture has different contextual clues, such as the flowers for the vow and the pencil for the classroom. There are also subtle differences in how the hand is raised. It is straight up for the question in the classroom, but a fist for the victory in the ring. Wouldn’t it be weird if you raised your hand in the classroom and made a fist? That’s because you would be violating a standard genre convention.
Now, think of that in terms of the type of writing you are doing in ENG 104. Perhaps you have been told never to use “I” in a paper. Wouldn’t it be difficult and strange to write a personal narrative without using I? That would violate the genre conventions. However, the use of first-person is not as common in a formal research paper. Be sure to think through what type of paper you are writing and how the genre of that paper affects the way you write it.
Media Conventions
Different media also allow for different conventions. For example, putting background music in a public service announcement is a standard convention of that genre, but it doesn’t work if you are creating a poster rather than a video. That may seem like a no-brainer, but it is important to think about how the media you use impact the genre and your choices.
Sometimes we talk about the affordances of certain media, meaning the possibilities that are granted by that medium. There are things you simply can’t convey with a print-based text that you can in a different medium and vise versa. Think about your favorite book that got turned into a movie. What changed? What could the filmmakers do with the story that the author of the print book couldn’t do? Where did the movie fail at capturing the print book? For example, the movie probably added some awesome visuals that didn’t match what was in your own head as you read the book. However, it probably wasn’t as good as the book for conveying the inner thoughts of the protagonist. That’s because the movie and the print book have different affordances.
In ENG 104, you may be asked to remix an academic paper you wrote for a new audience using a new medium. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you complete a project like this:
- Who is my new audience?
- What medium will be appealing to my new audience?
- What are the affordances of that medium?
- What needs to change about my project to convey the information in the new medium?
- What additional research (if any) do I need to complete the project in this medium?
For example, some students in 104 have created podcasts from their academic research. As we talked about in our section on Incorporating Sources, when you are writing an academic paper based on an interview, you have to sort through and choose only the most select quotes for the paper. In a podcast, you also have to edit and select the most important parts of the interview. However, you now have the affordance of hearing the participants voice. So, you can keep more of the original interview in the podcast and present it more in its original form than you would in the academic paper.
Disciplinary Conventions
Have you ever done really well on a paper in one class and then struggled to write for another class? That’s because writing varies significantly across different disciplines, so a different style may be required in your ENG 104 class than in your major. In fact, sometimes professors get very used to writing in their own fields and may not think about these differences (they are human, too!). Therefore, it’s a good idea to become familiar with how writing varies in different fields.
In particular, there are significant differences between empirical and non-empirical disciplines. Disciplines that are empirical are based on either quantitative or qualitative data, usually the sciences and social sciences. Many humanities disciplines use evidence, but that evidence comes from texts, or they may write more theoretical articles. Another way to think about disciplines is to think about sciences as studying natural phenomenon, social sciences as studying human phenomenon, and humanities as studying texts. Of course, it’s not that simple. Language, for example, is a human phenomenon and can be studied with a more social perspective or by analyzing texts. Even in English classes, you might find a mix of more humanities-based classes and more social science classes.
There are three areas, in particular, to consider in terms of how writing in different disciplines differ: conventions of reference, conventions of structure, and conventions of language. Reference applies to the way these disciplines use source material. Structure refers to how the content of the paper is organized. Language has to do with the style of the writing. This chart will help you think about conventions of different writing.
| Sciences | Social Sciences | Humanities | |
| Reference | Summarize. Do not quote.
Be clear how your research builds on noteworthy studies in the field. Use APA or similar citation style. |
Summarize or paraphrase secondary sources.
Use direct quotes from interviews or primary sources. Use APA or similar citation style. |
Use direct quotes as textual evidence.
Disagree directly with previous scholars. Use MLA or similar citation style. |
| Structure | Use a hypothesis not a thesis.
Follow the Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion (IMRD) form and label it. |
May use a hypothesis or a thesis.
Follow the IMRD form, in general, but may use different labels for sections. |
Clearly state a thesis and support it.
Make strong use of transitions rather than relying on headings. (Headings may or may not be used.) |
| Language | Hedge your claims. (This study suggests…)
Use passive voice to focus on the results not the researcher. Avoid figurative language. |
Hedge your claims. Disagree with other research indirectly.
Passive voice or active voice may be used. Figurative language is used sparingly. |
Make claims directly and support them.
Use active voice. Use metaphors and figurative language. |
These guidelines are general, and you should be sure to ask your professors what conventions they would like you to follow. However, this is a good start for thinking about how the writing you do would vary in different classes and disciplines.
Summary
Always consider the genre, media, and discipline in relationship to your project. These three all affect the choices you make and the conventions that apply to your work.
NEXT: Citation Conventions