Teaching Critical Genre Awareness By Amy Devitt

Even within composition, teachers often see the power of genres to inhibit creativity more than the power of genres to reveal constraint. Amy Devitt, Teaching Critical Genre Awareness

Problem Genres are often taught explicitly as forms, outside of the context of social or cultural meanings. Instead, teach genre within social/cultural contexts as a way for individuals (students) to use – yes, to take advantage of – specific genres.

Taking a rhetorical stance Allows us (readers) to distance ourselves from the text (genre) and critically ask ourselves what the text is doing – or trying to do. how did they come about? how do they work/function? whose interests do they serve? how may we use them to change the world – or at least our portion of the world?

Devitt sees… and wants us to see . . . . . . genre as actions in social contexts. Instead of seeing genres as static, unevolving, and rigidly based, she wants us to see genres as ways of communicating within specific social contexts.

What she does not want us to see . . . . . . is an uncritical view of genres as a bounded foundation of norms and values. . . which is how genre is often taught, unfortunately.

In other words . . . . . . when professors uses a specific genre within their classroom, are they using it as a way to assess knowledge, or as a way to limit thinking and creativity?

For example . . . . . . to teach that an academic research paper written as an assignment, with only the professor as the reader, limits the student’s writing to an unrealistic audience.

Instead . . . . . . what if the professor asked the student to research conferences or journals that were looking for papers on this subject, whereby the student could join in the conversation (look up Burke’s Parlor for further information here, if you wish) that is taking place and has been taking place. . . depending on the kairotic nature of the issue/topic.

Instead of teaching students . . . to distance themselves from an issue/topic, via such writing as the five-paragraph essay, teaches students to write in such a way that they automatically distance themselves from the issue.

Devitt also uses the example of . . . . . . when professors require personal/narrative writing in composition classes, thereby elevating the value of personal writing above what Devitt calls Quotidian reality, the reality of our every day lives.

This is not to say . . . . . . that personal narratives should not be valued, but they may not require critical thinking skills, etc. that other writing involves. What is important here – is that discourse, just like genres, varies, depending on the focus, and students could, if encouraged, learn the discourses of their chosen fields, examine what is accepted in each field – and why, and join in that conversation as deemed appropriate.

Like any job situation . . . . . . , we can more easily speak our minds once we have developed ethos in our job. So it is with discourse genres: People are more willing to listen to us – even if we choose to push the envelope of the genre – if we have developed ethos by showing them that we can adhere to tradition.

Using Aviva Freedman’s 1993 article. . . . . . Devitt stresses the point that Writing teachers cannot possibly possess insider knowledge of all the genres students want or need to learn, so their instruction in particular genres will always be incomplete, no matter how much they want to help students gain access to important genres (340).

Additionally . . . . . . Devitt refers to Bazerman’s point that if teachers (not considering where they stand regarding a true understanding of each genre) condemn genres as hegemonic, these same professors ignore any rhetorical struggles, by those involved in the genre, cementing the idea of power issues even more than they should be stressed.

Instead . . . . . . a true rhetorical analysis will delve into the existing purposes, goals, restraints of a genre; the history of the genre; and any evolving moves within that genre.

On the one hand . . . . . . Devitt says, we cannot ignore genre, as students will use genres they know to write their assignments. Teaching a ‘new’ genre to students will encourage them to use that new genre. In other words, if we do not address genre with our students, we are doing them a disservice.

So . . . . . . introducing genres can be problematic Ignoring genres is problematic. What should be done? Devitt says – do not teach particular genres explicitly. . . the one form of pedagogy that Devitt condemns.