Entry #11...Overview about the Genres

It's hard to believe that we have completed all of the genre presentations and that we only have four classes left this semester. It seems like just yesterday we started this class and now we are starting to wrap everything up. Walking into this class, I thought I knew each of the genres discussed in Tompkins pretty well. I had my favorites as well as ones that I highly disliked. After some of the presentations, however, I learned that there was a lot more to each genre and some of my feelings actually changed based on those new discoveries.

Before the very first presentation, which was on the descriptive genre, I thought it was all about adding explicit details to your writing. What I didn't know, however, was that the descriptive genre consisted of five techniques: specific information, word choice, sensory image, figurative language, and dialogue. I didn't know that there were these five techniques that writers used to make their writing more descriptive to help readers create a picture in their head. According to Tompkins, "Descriptive writing involves using words to paint a memorable picture and evoke a distinctive mood. Students need to be keen observers, attentive to word choices, and sensory images" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 136). While reading, I came across something that I found to be really important for everyone to remember:even though descriptive writing is found in all of the other genres, it is important to remember that it is its own genre!

 During the persuasive genre presentation, it really hit me how much persuasive writing in used in our media nowadays. I guess I never really thought about it that much until Sarah, Kristine, and Regina shared their presentation with the class. When I thought of persuasive writing I thought of testing and how we would have to write a persuasive piece on the state tests sometimes. I also thought of all the debates that we would have to do in class, and that was something that I HATED doing. The one thing that I learned from their presentation was that there are three different ways to persuade the readers:ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), or logos (logic or reason). I never knew that those three ways ever existed! The persuasive genre is used so much everyday that some kids have a difficult time coming up with a longer piece of writing. "Persuasion is a part of everyday life...as students write persuasive letters and essays, they learn to think critically, differentiate between persuasion and propaganda, analyze arguments, and use oral and written language effectively in their appeals" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 252). They see it can be done with just a sentence or a phrase. If they want to back up their arguments, however, they need to be able to share their thoughts verbally as well as on paper.

Before the presentation on the poetry genre, I could definitely say that I highly disliked poetry. I was never good at writing it in school and would always dread that unit. Now, after the presentation, I can now say that my views have changed a little. I used to think of poetry as rhyming or their having to be a certain number of syllables in each line. I always would have trouble trying to say what I needed/wanted to say in my poems. I didn't like the way they turned out and the message I was trying to get out didn't happen because of all the rules there was to follow. I learned, however, that you do not need to follow all those rules in poetry and that you can write however and which ever way you wanted to. It was all up to you! The creativity part of poetry finally makes sense to me now! I'm not saying I love poetry now, but I am for sure going to give it a try now instead of shunning it like I have all of my life.

The genre that I wanted to focus on and learn the most about was the expository genre. I am currently working on this genre with my child from clinic so I wanted to make sure I knew everything I needed to know about it so that I didn't teach any false information and that I knew what I was talking about. I knew that expository text were informational texts, but that was about it. I didn't know that there were five different text structures to this genre:description, sequence, problem-solution, cause and effect, and comparison. Compared to all the other genres, the expository genre is different whereas it is used to give facts and explain information about a certain topic. Since it doesn't tell a story, like most of the other genres do, it does not need to be read from front to back in order to understand what it is about. Looking back, I have read many expository books and even written a few pieces myself if I remember correctly, but not once did I ever realize that the five text structures ever existed!

Overall, I really feel like I understand each of the genres more than what I had before. With all the different examples of activities that my peers presented, I now feel more comfortable and somewhat confident in explaining each of the genres to future students and what they have to offer. I want my future students to be excited about their writing and not just feel like they are writing for a grade and that they have to follow each and every rule to get that grade. My goal is to have them enjoy it! "Writing is a process, not just a final product" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 226).


Tompkins, G. E. (2012). Teaching writing: balancing process and product. Boston, MA: Pearson
   Education, Inc.