When you hear the words "syllabus week" what do you think of? For most, the title is often interpreted as the easiest week of the semester. Given that common definition, I suppose you could say that I was not entirely enthused when I had found out that I had to read 38 pages for an assignment by next class. But aside from my pessimistic outlook on my assigned reading of Chapter 1 of the Bedford Book of Genres, I took to the reading anyways. As I had suspected, it wasn't exactly what I would describe as leisure reading. But nonetheless, the chapter was extremely informative about introducing genres in the literary sense, and also getting deeper into the many forms and uses of them. The book described genres as having a fluidity to them, being able to range from the likes of the memoirs of a former slave, to the creation of a sculpture used to point out the overshadowed characteristics of the pharmaceutical business. From the reading, I gathered a better understanding of genres all around, including the separation of mode and media. With this newfound knowledge, I started to analyze how genre affected my life. I now realized that genre was present when I had done writing for myself, in the notes of my phone, as well as when I had to put on a scholarly persona for writings and assignments in my other classes. Genre has very much so evolved and expanded over the years, in so that there are platforms for every person to develop their own personal genre and others where people can gain knowledge on specific genres. For example, there are websites that welcome in amateur writers to read other works and post variations of their own work. I am pleased with what I have gathered from the first chapter, and am looking forward to continuing my adventure through the other parts of the book, no matter what my predispositions on the Bedford Book of Genres may have been.
Until next reading.
-JDS