Genre Analysis Project

When you first think of genre Im sure that you think of different categories that
books or movies fit into. Genre is actually much more complicated because the
types of genre range anywhere from a romantic novel to an obituary. An obituary
has several functions but the main communicative function is making a verdict
about the worth of the dead persons contribution (Tight 126).Along with
obituaries, epitaphs and tributes are also communicative functions. Most obituaries
include details of the cause of death, gender imbalance, and interests of the dead.
The details included in a persons obituary help us remember that persons life,
whether it be their struggles or their accomplishments.

Obituaries are usually found in newspapers as an announcement of death,

sometimes with a picture of the deceased. In the majority of obituaries they contain
the deceaseds name, date of birth, place of residence, date of death, and cause of
death. This helps to inform the audience general facts about the persons life. Since
the components of an obituary can vary depending on the person, they fall under
both exposition and description. An exposition is written to inform the reader of
whatever information they are trying to put out there. The purpose of all obituaries
is to inform the audience of a persons death and the achievements throughout
their life. Although to inform is the main purpose of an obituary, I think they also
serve as a description. A description is commonly written according to your five
senses but can be written to stimulate a mood or atmosphere. The mood of the
majority of obituaries is positive but because of the reason behind the writing, a
sad, negative mood can also be given off through the obituary. (Are there any bias
formed from this genre)

As there are several purposes for the writing of an obituary, it mainly serves as a
rite of passage for the dead. The motive behind the obituary is not only to give
notice of someones passing but to provide the last judgment about their
personality (Tight 126). This can be accomplished through the content contained in
the obituary. The content of the obituary, such as the deceaseds name, date of
birth, date and cause of death, and place of residence, act as the core features of
the text. Any information in an obituary regarding the funeral; time, date, or place,
is also part of the core features. These are the most significant parts of an obituary
because the purpose of an obituary is to inform which the features help to do.

For my first example of obituaries as a genre I looked at a collection of memoirs. (I

think you could use a different way to introduce this example as well as the
following ones. Maybe introduce the example without actually saying youre
introducing it) Each of the 50 plus memoirs goes into a detailed description of the
deceaseds life and accomplishments. They also include the date of death and age

at the time of death. Some of these obituaries are even paired with a photo of the
deceased. All of the obituaries start off listing the accomplishments of each person
whether it includes their success in school or their discovery or invention of
something. This is important in these obituaries because I believe the audience they
are intended for would be a group of mechanical engineers. The obituaries express
the lives of the people as engineers so a group of engineers would make sense as
the best audience. Although the engineers would be the best option for an
audience, the actual audience of the obituaries can differ. For instance, right now I
am the audience of the obituaries because they follow the requirements I need.

My second example in my corpus is the obituary of Robert Karl Johnson. He was a

biology professor at the University of Charleston. Just like the memoirs in the
example above, his obituary also recalls the achievements throughout his life.
Roberts obituary contains how his life was growing up, where he attended school,
and his contributions to the American Society Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
Also included in his obituary is a photograph of him. After reading his obituary I
believe the intended audience is meant to be members of the American Society of
Ichthyologists and Herpetologists because they thank him for his contributions and
talk about his love and dedication for the society. Since the obituary mentions a
memorial fund in his name for the Biology Department of the College of Charleston,
Roberts obituary could intended for both the society but the students of the college
as well. Because of the intended audience and the writer, how great Robert
Johnsons contributions to the society may seem more exaggerated then they
actually were. The more impressive the writer makes him look in the obituary, the
more money they may be able to collect for the memorial fund.

For my final example in my corpus there is a collection of clinical obituaries written

by doctor, Adam Goldstein, about the passing of his patients. These obituaries differ
greatly from the ones in my first two examples. The doctor includes his relationship
with the patient in the obituaries. Along with details of their relationship, the doctor
talks about the patients health problems they have suffered. Some of these health
problems are the result of their death which is included in the obituaries also. One
thing that stuck out to me that was different from these obituaries than the others
was there are no names or pictures included. Instead of posting the patients name
with each obituary, he refers to them by their initials. I figure this is because it is
written by a doctor about deceased patients so doctor/patient confidentiality is still
important. The obituaries were posted in the Journal of the American Board and
Family Medicine and due to this I feel that the intended audience would mostly be
doctors and physicians.

Although all of my examples in the corpus are models of obituaries, they all have
various features. The collection of memoirs and the obituary of Robert Johnson are
more similar than my last example because of the format and structure of the

obituary. Both begin the obituaries with the persons first, last, and sometimes
middle name. They then go on to describe the persons early life, mainly including
their education. Followed by their education, the obituary continues with that
persons accomplishments and goals achieved throughout their life. They end each
obituary by stating the details of the death such as, place, time, cause and age. The
details of the persons death are also included in my third example of obituaries but
in a different way. Since the author of these obituaries is the doctor of the patients
referred to in them, he begins each obituary talking about their struggles with
whatever illness they may have had when he treated them. These obituaries serve
as more personal than the others because the doctor goes into detail of the
relationship he had with each specific patient. No names or pictures of the deceased
are present in the obituaries, only initials, to help secure privacy. As my first two
examples are two inform the audience of the celebration of everyones life, the last
one serves as more of a way for the doctor to say goodbye to his patients who have
passed by remembering their lives.

By looking at obituaries as a genre I have learned the numerous features significant

to this genre. Most forms of writing are probably always changing as time goes on
because new ways of writing are always invented. I dont think obituaries are
changing because they have always had the same purpose of informing someone of
ones passing. The obituaries itself are not changing, but the content written in
them is. This can be shown when looking through my examples because the first
two examples act as the primary focus to inform while the last example acts as a
personal goodbye. By looking more closely at the content written in the obituary, it
can give you a better idea of what the purpose of each obituary is. As most
obituaries have the primary purpose to inform, from this project I have learned that
every genre can have more than one purpose.

I dont have many critiques as far as content because I believe you accomplished
the goal of this paper for the most part. You answered the questions provided and
gave good supportive examples. You should look at the questions Olivia provided
about the conclusion. Talk more about the development and origin of the genre. I
think what you need to focus on is your style and the way you have presented the
information. What you have already is good but it would be good to think of ways to
spice your paper up. Overall this was an awesome first draft.