Genre Defined

A genre, as defined by the Bedford Book of Genres is “a composition’s kind, category, or sort.” In other words, genre can be defined as a work’s classification in relation to other similar works. A good example of a composition’s genre can be seen in my recently composed research paper on the Spanish conquistador’s conquest of the Mexica/Aztec people. My research paper was constructed around a defined and specific purpose, known as a rhetorical situation. A rhetorical situation, as defined in Lloyd Bitzer’s “The Rhetorical Situation” as “a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence… introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as to bring about the significant modification of he exigence.” This is seen in my research paper’s purpose of answering the question “What aided the Spanish victory the most in their siege of Tenochtitlan?” in addition to being constructed around a purpose, my paper also followed the defining rules/characteristics of a research paper, as stated in Kerry Dirk’s Navigating Genres “You must have a thesis statement at the end of the introduction… Every thesis statement should introduce three points of discussion…” are all evident in my paper, earning it the genre of a classic argumentative research paper.