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Thomas Johnsen

Hunter McDaniel
William Wiltse
Amaris Glover
Purpose
As seen from the different sources used in this collaborative assignment, each author
illustrates his or her purpose in a unique way depending on who the audience is and what the
rhetorical situation is. In order to have a meaningful paper or discourse, the author needs to be
able to express his or her purpose effectively to the audience. The purpose of ones work is the
reason why he or she is creating it. There are different purposes for why you will have to create a
work. This paper focuses on six sources that each pertain to a specific audience who will erect a
unique reaction to each reading. The purpose of both Genres are Enacted by Writers and
Readers by Hart-Davidson and Genre by Devitt were to inform their similar audience on what
genre is. Additionally, the purpose of the song Orphans of Wealth by Don McLean was to
bring to light the issue of the rising homeless population in the United States in the early 1970s.
The purpose of the Ted Talk Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career by Larry Smith and the
commencement speech This is Water by David Foster Wallace were to motivate their audience
to do better than they are now and to inform their audience on how they believe they can be
successful and live a better life. While the purpose of Obamas 2009 Inaugural Address was not
only to motivate his audience, but to persuade and inform them of his goals for the United States
as President of the United States.
Interestingly enough, a good author tends to also be a good audience member, meaning
that when a writer has an idea of a purpose for a text, he or she needs to predict the reaction from
the audience and base the writing upon this prediction. This allows the composer of a piece to
keep the purpose in mind at all times during the writing process, because he or she will
continuously be predicting the reaction the audience will create, thus shaping the genre in which
the text is presented. In the following annotated bibliography, each piece is analyzed using these
guidelines and portrays the individual genre, audience, and, of course, the purpose or intent.
Devitt, Amy J. Keywords In Writing Studies. Genre. Edited by Paul
Heilker and Peter Vandenburg. Pg.83.
Source: <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nfo48MZC9xU1SojfUtUKLuB2415mwyBqmpgK5aEER8/edit>
Devitt takes a similar stance on genre as Hart-Davidson in that she states that genre is more
dynamic and not so static. However, she also states that genre is something that is more fluid,
that it is stabilized-for-now or stabilized-enough sites of social and ideological action
(Schryer 1994, 108) (Devitt 83). This illustrates Devitts view on genre: it fluctuates as time
passes and societies develop. She says that Genres interact with other genres within these

contexts, performing the work of professional communities in genre sets or serving as tools
within activity system, within other kinds of systems, or within a genre ecology across systems.
(Devitt 83) In this quote, she states that genres help bridge the gap between different ages of
literature, helping everything to be more universal.
Devitts purpose for writing this piece is similar to Hart-Davidsons: to inform the reader on the
evolving definition of genre and its prevalence in modern literature. She states that genre isnt
even specific to literature, that it is so much more prevalent in everyday conversation that To
understand the rules of the genre is to know when and where it is appropriate to do and say
certain things, and to know that to say and do them at inappropriate places and times is to run the
risk of having them ruled out (Freadman 1994, 59) (Devitt 84). This says that genre isnt
specific to literature, that its fluidity and abstractness finds its way into everyday conversation.
Devitt also speaks about the distinction between genre and subgenres. The line of demarcation
between these two terms is very fuzzy, as subgenres in and of themselves can also be considered
genres. Genre has been explored to a great degree, and the evolution of the term has gone a long
ways. However, she concludes the topic of genre is rich and still has much to be explored. This is
to be assumed, as genre is ever-evolving and not static, but rather dynamic, ever-changing, and
hard to define.

Hart-Davidson, Billy. "Genres Are Enacted by Writers and Readers." Naming What We
Know : Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle. Utah State Univeristy.
40. Print.
Source:
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I1Ze1buIGhLN7raeAId8wAKZjo825Ppr4pe87sFwo
GA/edit>
Hart-Davidsons excerpt discusses genre and its pertinence to both literary and non-literary
works. He says that genres are not just defined as set distinct adjectives, such as detective
novels being a genre distinct from romance novels (Hart-Davidson 39), but rather as a
construction of groups of ideas or adjectives that have implicit or explicit sanction of
organizational or institutional power. He discusses how not one single text can be genre, but
rather a single text is an amalgamation of multiple genres, and that genres take up specific
instances within a piece, but do not make up the piece as a whole. For instance, a scientific
research paper can discuss theories from pop culture as well as scientific studies. The paper itself
does not have a specific genre, yet it pulls from multiple genres in itself.
The purpose of Hard-Davidsons piece is to discuss genre and its definition. He discusses the
purpose of practicality in genre and its hybridization in different works. For instance, the
header block of a business memo appearing in the upper left corner, become stable in use
situations. (Hart-Davidson 40) This is an example of genre coinciding with practicality, that this

header becomes a norm even though it technically wouldnt be accepted in todays society as a
genre. However, as it becomes a stable use in different business situations, we can accept that it
becomes part of a genre of business writing; it is a norm or standard for business papers, and
thus is a genre that is part of a larger amalgamation of genres within these business papers. HardDavidson uses this purpose to drive home to the reader that the conventional definition of
genre is obsolete in his eyes. He says that it has several interesting implications most
newcomers to the idea find challenging and fascinating (Hart-Davidson 40). He writes this in
order to illustrate how the practical definition of genre is obsolete and that the more modern
definition of genre is so much more complicated; that genre is very fluid and open to
hybridization (Hart-Davidson 40).
Hard-Davidsons purpose of discussing genre is also to discuss the view of genre in writing
studies, that genre is the visible effects of human action, routinized to the point of habit in
specific cultural conditions. (Hart-Davidson 39) He elaborates this point by saying that the
textual structures are akin to the fossil record left behind, evidence that writers have employed
familiar discursive moves in accordance with reader expectations, institutional norms, market
forces, and other social influences. (Hart-Davidson 39) In describing our conventional
definition of genre in this way, he influences the reader into feeling that this definition is
antiquated and obsolete; genre as a subject of writing studies is much more dynamic and fluid
than conventional literature would have you believe.
McLean, Don. Orphans of Wealth. Mediarts, 1970. CD.
Source: http://www.metrolyrics.com/orphans-of-wealth-lyrics-don-mclean.html
Don McLeans Orphans of Wealth is a desperate plea to all American listeners to cease
ignorance of the rising homeless population in the United States in the early 1970s. He
expresses through his lyrics that the problem is not going to get any better unless there is a call to
action and an uprising of help and service from the more fortunate side of the economic
spectrum. He frequently reminds us that when the tides rise, they cover the floor and of other
brutalities that individuals in poverty face on a daily basis, such as with weather-worn hands on
bread lines they stand. McLean lays down the sad truth that even though the problem is
exponentially increasing, more and more of American people are turning their heads from the
problem. He is, in essence, proposing the blame on the American listeners by including lines
such as disowned by this nation they live in, our census neglected the tally, and theyre
treated like tramps while we sell them food stamps, this thriving and prosperous nation. Finally,
the hopelessness climaxes in the closing lines of this piece: a child is crying, hes hungry and
cold, his life has been sold, his young face looks old, its the face of America dying.
This song exemplifies the meaning of purpose in text because of its frequent expression upon
assumingly ignorant listeners of the harsh suffering that the homeless have to face. The purpose
is clearly to inform the audience of the degradations upon the bottom tier of American society
and to bring forward a call to action upon the listeners to do something towards solving this
problem and no longer ignoring it.

Don McLean explicitly outlines the problems that are occurring within the community of
the United States. Even though he does not give specific solutions to the problem, he
passionately expresses in his music that something must be done about it. Beginning to reference
certain events of the past and present, such as our census neglected the tally, he leads into the
more general observations of the homeless as disowned by this nation they live in. By doing
this, his purpose is being fulfilled by using an example of the problem that listeners can relate to
and then generalizing a statement to portray the overall picture.
The genre in which this text is presented is one that is transmitted by the use of music and
singing, an interaction between the audience and the listener. By the use of changing aspects of
sound such as amplitude and tone of voice, McLean is able to incorporate an appeal to the ethos
of the listener to portray his purpose implicitly. For example, the closing line of the song reads
its the face of America dying; it is presented in such a way that almost sounds as if the singer
is yelling at the listener in order to portray his message more effectively. Also, the lyrics of the
song include ideas the listeners can relate to in their lives in order to produce a greater effect of
persuasion that something needs to be done about the problem. For example, a child is crying,
hes hungry and cold, his life has been sold, his young face looks old, its the face of America
dying incorporates the large idea at the end that there is a huge problem and it could end in
tragedy for all of us.
Orphans of Wealth portrays its message to the audience that the homeless in America
are suffering and the problem is escalating every day. The genre of the piece of text is presented
in the most appropriate way for the purpose to be presented, and Don McLean includes many
explicit and implicit examples to support his premise.
Obama, Barack Hussein. "President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address." Inaugural
Address. The United States Capitol, Washington, D.C. 20 Jan. 2009. Whitehouse. Web. 5
Sept. 2015. <https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/01/21/president-barack-obamasinaugural-address>.
President Barack Obamas first inaugural address informs the Country of what his goals
are, lays an overview of his policies and how he hopes to improve the United States. The topics
he covers are terror threats, our weak economy, our need to pursue renewable energy, our costly
health care system, and our need to improve our education system to meet the increasing
demands of today and the future. The context of the speech is that it is 2009, Obama has just
been elected President of the United States, the country is fighting two wars, and the economy is
in a deep recession.
The purpose of the address is to inform the American people of his hopes and dreams for
the country, his policies and intents, and persuade the American people to believe in his
objectives and to believe in the United States. The reason being that its what the audience and the
American people expect to be the themes of a Presidents inaugural address. The genre of this
inaugural address can be classified as informative and persuasive.
Obama begins the address by thanking Bush for his service, which helps show Obama as
a respectful and modest leader. This is important for Obama and accomplishes his most

important purpose of his address because being being seen by the American people as a
respectful and modest leader helps him gain much needed support and respect. It also gives what
he says, is more merit.
Throughout the duration of the address, Obama maintains a serious and inspirational
tone, which helps make his ideas appear more realistic and professional because the audience
knows by the tone of his voice that he is serious. That is what his ethos are as an orator. As
illustrated in Obamas inaugural address, change in tone and use of body language are two key
techniques that can be utilized to effectively accomplish the author's purpose in presenting his or
her writing. For example, Obama utilizes change in tone and use of body language to effectively
persuade and motivate his audience. When he tries to persuade the audience that we must all
unite to begin again the work of remaking America, Obama begins this section of the speech
by alluding to what our ancestors sacrificed for the common goal of making America better for
generations to come. The tone of this part of the address can be characterized as being
appreciative, complementary, and proud. But once Obama begins the part where he articulates
what we must do now, his tone swifts to optimistic, vibrant, and confident. This change in tone
motivates the audience and helps the audience identify the purpose of Obama alluding to our
past, which is what Obama is hoping for because he believes that the American people will feel
more motivated to work together in remaking America if it has been done before by our
ancestors.

Obama tries to persuade his most fierce critics who argue that his ambitions and goals are
unrealistic by reminding them of how much the United States has already achieved: their
memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done.
Another purpose of the address is to inspire and motivate the American people to believe
in the United States, which is accomplished by Obama delicately reminding his audience of our
great past and promoting patriotism. As seen from the following excerpt of his address, loyalty
and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of
progress throughout our history.
Obama also successfully motivates the American people by drawing a parallel between
the American soldiers in the American Revolution and the citizens now to call for action for the
common goal of making America better for the generations to come.
The theme of uniting the American people for the common purpose of improving
America is displayed multiple times throughout his inaugural address, starting today, we must
pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. This is a
significant part of Obamas address because of the United States being in an economic recession.
Obamas purpose in the address was to inform the audience of his policies, intents, and
hope for the United States and to persuade the American people that we can get through this time
of economic difficulty and decline.
This is Water commencement speech by David Foster Wallace

Source: Wallace, David Foster. "DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, IN HIS OWN WORDS."More
Intelligent Life. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept. 2015. <http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/david-fosterwallace-in-his-own-words>.

In David Foster Wallaces commencement speech he speaks to the students about how
adult life usually happens. It is not the typical speech college students receive at a graduation and
Wallace used a different approach to get his important message across to the students. He talked
about changing their perspective and attitude about everything. Wallace emphasized that the way
a person thinks can have the biggest impact on their life. He discussed that the way you think can
also impact others and that its not always about you.
David Foster Wallace used his speech as the genre to grab the attention of the students.
Through the speech, he mentioned that students have a very short attention span and expect him
to come to them as the wise older fish, but he rebuttals their thoughts by saying he is not the
wise older fish, but rather a man simply giving the speech to talk about their liberal arts
educations meaning and how it has human value rather than just a material payoff. Wallace
discusses how thinking helps a person in their everyday life and he uses several metaphors and
parables to relate to the graduating students. His perspective of how people should think was
different and unique rather than just the usual inspirational talk of you can do it, which helped
keep the audiences attention during the speech. He spoke of the importance of paying attention
even when its difficult, valuing others around you, and not thinking that everything is just about
you.
The purpose of this speech was to get students to consider thinking in a new perspective
and to be selfish but not selfish at the same time. He speaks about the importance of knowing
yourself rather than always overanalyzing and overthinking things that are not as important as
people make it. He believes it is great to be educated but it is much better to know yourself. By
knowing yourself and being aware of others around you as well as your surroundings, you can
help improve not only your day and life, but the day of others as well. David Foster Wallace used
both explicit and implicit examples to deliver his message. Most of Wallaces metaphors were
implicit because they never directly said what they meant, but the listener could make their own
conclusions about the story. Explicitly, Wallace directly told students that they should change the
way they think in order to improve themselves. His message was clearly delivered by the end of
the speech.
Smith, Larry
"Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career." Larry Smith:. Ted Talks, Nov. 2011. Web. 08
Sept. 2015.
<http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_have_a_great_career?
language=en>.
In this Ted Talk, Larry Smith discusses why you will fail to have a great career. He uses
comedy to assist in getting his message across while still being blunt and straightforward. He

uses the Ted Talk platform to reach an audience of people who are most likely college students or
people in their early adulthood. He expresses that most people do not have a great career, or even
a good career, even if it is something that they say they want. Smith states that people tell a
person if you want a great career, you have to pursue your passion, you have to pursue your
dreams, you have to pursue, the greatest fascination in your life, you hear it again and again and
then you decide not to do it. He highlights the fact that people have many excuses for deciding
not to pursue, and goes on to give more examples.
Smith says if this was 1950, being completely competent, that would have given you a great
career, which lets the audience know that times have changed and there is much more
competition for work, and just working hard doesnt always cut it. He begins to talk about the
difference between having an interest and a passion. Passion is your greatest love and the thing
that will help you create the highest expression of your talent. Smith says that if a person doesnt
find their passion then they just settle for something interesting, which doesnt fulfill a persons
destiny or purpose. He urges the audience to pursue and to encourage younger generations to
pursue instead of making excuses for them at a young age.
The genre of this piece is presented in speech or lecture, and encourages the audience to think
about what they actually want out of life instead of just settling for something interesting. He
changed his tone of voice throughout the speech and created humor allowing the audience to be
more receiving of his message. Smith used both explicit and implicit examples. He wanted the
audience to think about his message which made most of his piece implicit. The purpose of this
piece is to urge others to stop making excuses and to stop settling and just go for it, failing
happens whether you try or dont try.
Youve chosen some diverse texts to annotate, which gives you a variety of examples for how
authors develop purpose in their writing. However, some of the entries seem to focus more on
describing the content of the text rather than analyzing to show what you have learned about
purpose from reading the text. Your analysis of Obamas speech provides a good model for what
you might do in the other entries. I think it would also be helpful if you did a little more work in
your introduction to show what some of the main issues relating to purpose might be.
Intro to Remediation - The Purpose of Genre
In our remediation, we revised our original thesis on purpose and are now using a picture
from the Vietnam War protests to illustrate purpose. The genre of our picture is that of protest
there are activists, protesters, war supporters, and police all in this picture. Their purposes all
coincide with the same genre: the war. Their purposes are different, however. The protesters want
troops out of Vietnam, holding up posters protesting the war and stop the murdering. There are
also war supporters, arguing against bringing the troops home and supporting the war. The police
are the intermediary, attempting to keep the peace and not taking sides with either of the two
groups within the scene.

This poster shows an END THE WAR campaign based on those from the Vietnam War.
The poster shows how a politician is speaking to the audience for the campaign. There is also a
group of pro-war protestors being patrolled by authorities. This piece takes another perspective
on our annotated bibliography. The key term of our bibliography is purpose. The purpose of this
remediation is to change the outlook on audience and rhetorical situation by providing a new
genre or remediation in this case. The poster shows the audience being the actual audience of the
speaker, which includes the people for war and those who are protesting against it. The rhetorical
situation is very easy to recognize. There is a politician or spokesperson speaking about ending a
war and a group of people who are for wars. This illustrates the impact that the war and the
protests relating to it had on the country, both in the media and as a whole. The genre chosen to
present this remediation is a visual similar in appearance to a political cartoon about the Vietnam
War.
Within all of the pieces that we used as sources to discuss the purpose of genre, there was
one recurring theme: human society dictates genre, from its definition to its role in societal
change. The purpose of genre is akin to the purpose of language: to entertain, to inform, or to
persuade. Within our illustration for our remediation, we look upon a scene that illustrates
societal change being the purpose of genre perfectly.
In this scene, there are multiple groups, all vying for societal change (or continuity)
regarding the war in Vietnam. This illustrates a real societal issue perfectly; many marches and
rallies were held in protest of the war in Vietnam, with the government needing to keep the peace
between the peace protesters and the group advocating for the war. This display of anger and
hostility towards other groups in protest of the war illustrates Hart-Davidson's point very well,
that genre is "the visible effects of human action, routinized to the point of habit in specific
cultural conditions" (Hard-Davidson 39). Protest is very much a routine, a practice made
common years ago in human history, and yet it still occurs and reoccurs to this day. The genres
and subgenres of this picture are many: social order, protest against war, public outcry, public
discourse. The list goes on and on.
Devitt also makes a good point about social protest. In this context, the protesters are
validated by other protesters, with mob rule dictating that this kind of display is okay. However,
if two or three protesters were to stand in a church and cry for the end of the war, they would not
be heard. The genre must be appropriate to the situation, or else it loses its effectiveness, thus
failing to accomplish its objective (whether that be to entertain, inform, or persuade). Devitt says
"To understand the rules of genre is to know when and where it is appropriate to do and say
certain things, and to know that to say and do them at inappropriate places and times it to run the
risk of having them ruled out." (Devitt 84)
Devitt and Hart-Davidson agree that genre is dynamic and ever-changing. If we are to
look at this piece from a historical context, we can see that not long before these protests

occurred, war was something to be celebrated and praised. Around thirty years prior to the
Vietnam war, the biggest war in Earth's history occurred: World War II. In this time, the genre of
"protest" was attributed to working conditions, government rallies, and other non-war topics.
Those who were sent off to war were treated as heroes, and the country rallied together to
support and provide for all of those that participated.
However, during the Vietnam war, many of those who spoke against the war and the country that
sent their men off (the United States) also spoke against the men themselves. The genre of
protest was no longer banding together to inspire social change, but rather to speak against your
fellow countryman for participating in a war that caused many atrocities. This is a perfect
example of genre being dynamic, in that the same genre (protesting) has a very different purpose.
Sources:
Hart-Davidson, Billy. "Genres Are Enacted by Writers and Readers." Naming
What We Know : Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle. Utah State
Univeristy. 40.
Print.
Devitt, Amy J. Keywords In Writing Studies. Genre. Edited by Paul Heilker and Peter
Vandenburg.
Pg.83.

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