Reading Worksheet 2

Read "Generalizing about Genre" by Amy Devitt Then, complete the reading worksheet

• Key Issue(s) or Question(s):

The author asks what genre really means and whether we’ve been thinking about it the wrong way.

• Main Claim/Argument:

Genres aren’t just fixed rules—they change depending on the situation and help people communicate in certain ways.

• Important Terms or Concepts:

Important ideas include genre, rhetorical situation (the reason for writing), and the idea that writing is shaped by who it’s for and what it’s trying to do.

• “Data” being drawn upon (and how that data was collected):

The author uses other people’s writing and theories to build her ideas, not experiments or surveys.

• Overall “structure” of the reading:

First, she explains the old way of thinking about genre, then she gives her new ideas, and finally she explains why they matter.

• Key Conclusions the Author Draws:

Genres help people respond to different situations, and they change with how people use them.