Abigail Raines ENC 1102 Professor Wolcott 13 February 2013 Genre Analysis When thinking about genre one

tends to think of categories of writing. Maybe one pictures a library with different types of books such as fiction or biographical, but genres are much more than that. Amy Devitt a professor of English at the University of Kansas has written extensively about genre and its purpose. Devitt explains that genre is much more than a category of writing, genre is created to solve rhetorical problems. Genre is a dynamic response to and construction of a reoccurring situation, (Devitt 580). With knowing this about genres, one is able to dig deeper into genres and discover many different things about the discourse community that they have been written for. I have spent a good amount of time looking at academic journals from the discourse community of pediatric speech therapy. The goal of speech therapy is to improve the speech of individuals, specifically children with speech impediments. In order to accomplish this goal the therapist must stay up to date with information, techniques and tips in the field. I looked at three different articles pertaining to the field of speech therapy. The information in them pertains to the demographics of who receives the therapy. The articles dealt with percentages of children who receive therapy and the relationship those children have with their therapists. The information in these pieces are presented through an academic journal. From the reading in Devitt I am able to infer that there must have been a reoccurring rhetorical problem or question. I have to infer that that problem is a good interest in the demographics of

speech therapy and the how the children feel about their therapists. This problem resulted in information being presented in a formal academic journal format for other speech therapists to read. The presentation shows a lot about the pieces in general. All three pieces are presented in a formal academic journal format. They all contain and abstract, and method, results, a discussion and an acknowledgement/references section. This shows me that the information is very valuable to the audience. It is organized and very formal. It is also easy to follow and organized, it is in optimal format for learning and comprehending which is why it was written. The lexis invites professionals to the genre and outsiders or those not educated in the field would have a hard time understanding the information. Each of the three articles has a lot in common, more than just the format. They all appeal largely to the logos appeal. All three of the articles have graphs, charts, and statistics that are added to the article to enhance its information and its research. Statistics are obviously valued by the people in this field. From looking at the three papers I am able to conclude a lot about the discourse community and what they value through the genre that the information is presented. I can tell that research is very valuable in this field. I can also tell that from the citations in all three papers (APA style) that year of research is also valuable. The formal format of the articles makes the information seem very important. From looking and analyzing the three genres I can tell that the way the information is presented is directly related to what the discourse community is and what it values.

Works Cited

Broomfield, Jan, and Barbara Dodd. "Is Speech And Language Therapy Effective For Children With Primary Speech And Language Impairment? Report Of A Randomized Control Trial." International Journal Of Language & Communication Disorders 46.6 (2011): Devitt, Amy J. "Generalizing About Genre: New Conceptions of an Old Concept." College Composition and Communication, 44.4 (1993): 573-586. Fourie, Robert, NIamb Crowley, and Ana Oliviera. "A Qualitative Exploration of Therapeutic Relationships from the Perspective of Six Children Receiving Speech-Language Therapy." 628-640. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. Mullen, Robert, and Tracy Schooling. "The National Outcomes Measurement System For Pediatric Speech-Language Pathology." Language, Speech & Hearing Services In Schools 41.1 (2010): 44-60. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.