Week 7 LectureNotes COM350 Lakeland University

1. Week 7
Lecture Notes
COM350
Chapter 7 Generic Criticism
Foss, S. (2018). Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration &
Practice. 5th Ed. Long Grove, Il:Waveland Press.

2. Generic
Criticism
Is rooted in the assumption that there are
situations that provoke similar needs and
expectations in the audience.
Examines recurring patterns in discourse or
action, repeated use of image, metaphors,
arguments, structural arrangements.
A generic critic identifies similarities in
rhetorical situations and in the rhetoric
constructed in response to them.

3. A rhetorical
genre has 3
elements
1 – situational
requirements: the
perception of conditions
in a situation that call for
certain kinds of
rhetorical responses
2 – substantive and
stylistic requirements:
the characteristics of the
rhetoric chosen by the
rhetor to respond to the
situational requirements
3 – the organizing
principle: key idea that
serves as a label for the
characteristics of the
rhetoric.
Genres from everyday
life include:
•Greetings, farewells,
congratulations, weather
forecasts
•Advertisements, instruction
manuals, travel blogs
•Closing arguments in a
criminal trial, personal
homepages

4. HowGenres
Function
Sort and classify rhetoric
Help shape and generate rhetoric
Influence you to develop your
message in particular ways
Are pattern templates of
communication
Roots trace to Aristotle

5. 3Types of
Discourse
Deliberative or
political, exhortation
or a dissuasion which
aims for expedience
Forensic or legal
accusation and
defense that aims for
justice
Epideietic or
ceremonial praise or
blame that aims for
accusation and
defense

6. History of the term “genre”
Edwin Black 1965 as an
alternative to traditional
criticism
Lyoyd Bitzer 1968 focused on
recurring situations
Conference 1976 focused on
significant form
Caroly Miller 1984 focused on
the action the discourse
accomplished and extended
genre’s scope to letters of
recommendation, user manuals,
lectures, ransome notes, and
blogs
Batty Blummett 2004 rhetorial
homologies
The Sidney School genres to
effect social change
Anthony Pave and Graham
Smart focused on genres in
organizational settings

7. 3Options for
Generic
Criticism:
generic description,
generic participation,
generic application
Research question: Does a genre exist among
a set of artifacts?
Analyzing the artifact using Generic
Description 4 steps
1- observing
similarities in rhetorical
responses to particular
situations
2- collecting artifacts
that occur in similar
situations
3 - analyzing the
artifacts to discover if
they share
characteristics
4- if they do share
characteristics,
formulate the
organizing principle of
the genre.

8. 3optionsforgenericcriticism:
genericdescription,genericparticipation,genericapplication
Analyzing the artifact using
Generic Participation
Determine which artifacts
participate in which genres
in a deductive process using
3 steps:
1- describing the perceived
situational requirements,
substantive and stylistic
strategies, and organizing
principles of a genre
2- describing the perceived
situational requirements,
substantive and stylistic
strategies and organizing
principles of the artifact
3 – comparing the
characteristics of the
artifact with those of the
genre to discover if the
artifact belongs in the genre
Research question: Does
this artifact participate in a
particular genre?

9. 3optionsforgenericcriticism:
genericdescription,genericparticipations,genericapplication
Analyzing the artifact
using GenericApplication
Is the artifact a good example of the genre?
Apply the generic
characteristics to the
specific model.
1 – describe the perceived situational requirements, substantive and stylistic strategies, and organizing principles of the genre
2 – describe the same for the artifact
3 – compare the characteristics of the artifact with those of the genre
4- evaluate the artifact according to how well it fulfills the genre
4 steps:
Is this artifact successful in fulfilling the required characteristics of it genre?Research question:

10. References
 Foss, S. (2018). Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration & Practice. 5th
Ed. Long Grove, Il:Waveland Press.