Blog Post #4 BBG Ch. 1: About Genres

I had never really given much thought to literary genres. They were always so seemingly complex and I quite honestly didn't see the value taking the time to know and differentiate them. Chapter 1 was a good clarification and really demonstrated to me the effect using different genres can have on an audience, and how much they can influence how a work's message is received. I appreciated the way the book described the complexity and overlap some works can have, being considered more than one genre. Most of the genres I were familiar with and had been exposed to throughout high school: the classic five paragraph essay and the research paper. In the future, I feel that having better knowledge of literary genres will help me understand the context and decipher the aim or message of different works. Although I understand the use and importance of genres, it still seems a little bit tedious and I would prefer to pleasure read rather than analyze the hell out of some obscure literary work, but it is a skill I will definitely need to develop. My hope is that by understanding genre, I myself will become a better and more conscious writer, thinking more in depth about what exactly I'm writing and how and who will be receiving my message.