Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville straddles country and pop, Black–Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” straddles R&B, Hip Hop, and Pop, Kid Rock’s “Roll On” is a country song often categorized as Rap because of the artist’s other work). Ask the class to come up with a “genre bleeder” or song that is difficult to categorize (i.e. Then ask students to define the genre of each, or ask in which genre the song is categorized in their iPod? Continue class discussion by asking for other genres of music, with conventions and song examples. Ask for some favorite songs and write them on the board. Next, ask students to look at their iPods or phones or wherever their music is stored. Move to class discussion – ask each group to present their genre while you note their points on the board once all groups are done, engage in class discussion to add more conventions or expectations, draw connections between genres, and allow students to come up with genres and conventions you did not originally assign. Evidence: Provide 3 examples of movies that fit this type and explain why they fit.Audience Expectation: What does an audience expect to experience/feel/learn/see from this genre?.Audience: Who goes to/rents/watches this type of movie?.
Genre: What are the conventions of your group’s movie genre?.Have students answer the following questions: Assign each group a movie genre (horror, romantic comedy, drama, action, thriller, comedy, documentary, or other). Procedure: Divide students into small groups.
Suggested Time: 30-50 for exercise plus 20 minutes suggested for journal writing which can be assigned in–class or as homework The class then discusses what these genres include, how they might be defined, and what audiences expect from each genre. In groups, students identify conventions of various genres of writing – the academic essay, a text message, a newsletter, a poster, a web site, a lab report, an obituary, a magazine article – and report back. Students have some confidence about the concept of genre for the next step, the discussion of the less familiar writing genres. All this discussion about the familiar – movies and music – gets students to identify what a genre is, how we might define it or at least qualify it, and finally what an audience expects from a particular genre. The discussion shifts to genres of music, where conventions are identified but also the “blurriness” of genres is discussed. Each group presents the conventions of their genre to the class, and class discussion allows for identification of similarities/differences/connections between genres. Developing genre knowledge prepares students to assess the writing situations they’ll encounter in college and beyond.ĭescription: Students work in small groups to identify conventions of various movie genres and discuss audience expectations.
To reach an audience effectively, writers need to be flexible - they need to be able to analyze and make decisions about how to approach any writing situation. Purpose of Exercise: This exercise helps students understand that writers use genre to reach a variety of different audiences (themselves, friends, peers, instructors, employers, parents, and more) with lots of different expectations. Genre Knowledge: Linking Movies and Music to Genres of Writing