Genres and Rhetorical Situations

Cullen Strady

Florida State University

ENC 2135: Research, Genre, and Context

Andrew Zolot

July 08, 2022

Genres and Rhetorical Situations

In Chapter 2 of the class textbook, the authors discuss the concept of Genres, defining it as how a speaker chooses to respond to a rhetorical situation. Braziller and Kleinfeld (2021) declare that identifying the audience and the purpose is noteworthy when reading genres. In social contexts, a genre can be oversimplified to mean “type” or “category.” In Chapter 3 on Reading as a Writer: Rhetorical Situations & Genres Together, these authors suggest that genres go hand in hand with rhetorical situations. In particular, Braziller and Kleinfeld (2021) argue that genres simply respond to rhetorical situations. So, the composition of a genre occurs when the speaker or writer is working within a rhetorical situation, trying to respond to it in a creation (genre) characterized by a purpose, an audience, use of rhetorical appeals, mode, and medium.

This understanding of genres and rhetorical moments or situations is vital in analyzing the publication by Kimbu et al. (2021). This publication is one of the artifacts relevant to my area of study in Project 1 that I might utilize for my artifact analysis in Project 2. The genre of this artifact is a peer-reviewed journal article. Braziller and Kleinfeld (2021) define this genre as a paper created from research outcomes, submitted to scholars for a review of facts, and accepted for publication in a journal after review. So, the rationale for concluding that the genre for this artifact is a peer-reviewed journal article is because it has already been accepted for publication in the Annals of Tourism Research. This is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal containing academic research on tourism.

The article’s purpose is clearly stated in its abstract. The rhetorical appeals apparent in this article are appeals to logic (logos) demonstrated by the authors’ use of descriptive evidence and appeals to credibility (ethos) manifest in the credibility of this evidence. The common elements of this genre are professional language, adherence to conventions of an academic citation style (APA), and adoption of IMRaD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). The genre’s style involves a scholarly tone and its design textual without visuals and with minimal statistics. Regarding sources, this peer-reviewed journal article has drawn from other credible and academically written publications.

A rhetorical moment or situation has three elements. These include constraints, exigence, and audience (Braziller & Kleinfeld, 2021). The rhetorical situation that this artifact responds to is scholarly conversation revolving around gendered leadership. Its exigence is the authors’ need to recontextualize the nexus between gendered perspectives, entrepreneurial performance, and entrepreneurial leadership. So, the possible audience entails scholars and experts in entrepreneurship. The article’s constraints include reliance on a textual content only, arguments based on some theoretical assumptions, and focus on tourism-related entrepreneurship.

The article’s appeals to credibility (ethos) allow it to respond to the rhetorical situation about gendered leadership effectively by integrating evidence from multiple academic and professional sources. This helps build a coherent and reliable argument about the place of women in contemporary entrepreneurial leadership. The article’s use of appeals to logic (logos) helps fulfill its purpose by leveraging logical points, objective descriptive evidence, and a carefully organized structure to appeal to the entrepreneurial audience about the nexus between entrepreneurial leadership, gender, and entrepreneurial performance.

References

Braziller, A. & Kleinfeld, E. (2021). The Bedford book of genres: A guide & reader for Florida State University (3rd Ed.). Bedford/St. Martin. E-book ISBN: 781319470104.

Kimbu, A. N., de Jong, A., Adam, I., Ribeiro, M. A., Afenyo-Agbe, E., Adeola, O., & Figueroa-Domecq, C. (2021). Recontextualising gender in entrepreneurial leadership. Annals of Tourism Research, 88, 103176, 1-12. Doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2021.103176.