Jordan -- Navigating Genres

Kerry Dirk's "Navigating Genres" showed me the true complexity of the term "genre." Genre is so many more thing than simply a way to categorize something, which until last week is what I, and I'm sure many of us for that matter, believed was all it meant. Many of you have already talked about it, but the George Washington State of the Union address example greatly helped clarify and show me the deep complexity of the word. Genre is not simply a formula or format for you to use when writing. It is a flexible term that helps, not guides, you when you are writing an essay or what have you. Another great example Dirk used for this was when you are writing an email you are participating in a genre which you change to suit your situation depending on who it is you are emailing and what the subject matter is. Simply put, "Navigating Genres" assisted me in taking a step back and looking at the vastness of the term "genre" rather than focusing on just the categorical use of it.