Week 03 Overview

Introduction

Welcome, everyone, to Week 3 of English 131A. This week, our lessons will be centered around the concept of genre. 

We'll look at a few albums and articles to analyze the concept of genre. When you hear the word "genre," what comes to mind? Fiction genres? Ways and forms of writing? The answers are vast, but that's precisely what genres are: common rhetorical ways of responding to recurring situations, both written, and environmental. 

At the end of the week, using your new understanding of genre, you'll be able to analyze both different texts and situations for their commonalities and differences, thus determining what aspects solidify those contexts as a genre. 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, students will be able to:

  1. Develop a solid understanding of genre, and identify what aspects make genres
  2. Apply genre analysis skills to new texts, situations, and environments
  3. Understand why genres occur as responses to reoccurring situation

Due Dates

Readings

1. For Wednesday: Lena and Peterson, Classification as Culture: Types and Trajectories of Music Genres, https://www.jstor.org/stable/25472554 Links to an external site. (SKIM THIS) 

2. For next Monday: Anderson, Intro to Imagined Communities 

Assignments

1. Short Assignment #2 - Genre Analysis (due 04/12)