This document provides a template for analyzing a genre through a stylistic analysis. It includes sections for analyzing examples of the genre, the situations in which the genre is used, the typical audience, the rhetorical actions and purposes, conventions and features, and potential failures. The analysis will draw on material from three examples of the genre being analyzed to support the points made in each section.

1. STYLISTIC ANALYSIS EXAMPLE
English 309
Project 1
NICOTRA
For my genre parody, I decided to focus on X genre. I found three
examples of this [describe examples], which I analyze below.
In what situations is the genre used?
Explain the situations – use material from the three examples of the
genre you analyzed to support your points. Describe it in depth – for
instance, yes, letters of termination are meant to fire employees, but
they also serve CYA purposes for companies, and can also help create
Who is the typical audience for the genre?
Who is the genre typically aimed at? How do you know? Use material
from your sample genres to prove your point.
What rhetorical actions does the genre aim to accomplish?
Explain here what the purposes of the genre are. What effect do they
aim to have on their users? What do they want to make users do, think,
or feel?
What are the typical conventions and features of the genre?
This describes both the content of the genre, as well as physical
features like layout, design, etc. For example, newspaper stories are
conventionally written as “reverse pyramids,” with the most important
information first. If they appear in print, they are in narrow columns.
What are the failures of the genre?
Here, you’ll talk about where the genre could go wrong. Love letters
could be too mushy, or could reveal too much about the writer; they
could also appear inadvertently threatening or passive-aggressive.