PB1B: Generating a Genre

Although texts of the same genre can have varying content, their particular genre is easily distinguishable because they contain particular conventions and patterns. There are various websites that create works of a particular genre at random using their associated conventions.

The first website I visited was called SCIgen, which generated a scientific research paper page. Although the information was complete nonsense, the genre was easily distinguishable because of the associated conventions including the layout, context and style. In most cases, the audience is a professor or someone of a research descent, so one could assume the audience doesn’t have plentiful time to look through lengthy research papers. The paper is therefore formatted in a very specific, uncomplicated structure so that the different segments of the paper can be referred to at ease. The headings of each segment are all bold and larger font, accompanied by numbers, making each section easy to find. The spacing in-between each of these sections are exactly the same each time, which also conveys a professional pose. The authors names are also listed below the title of the research paper, which creates credibility. Although the title itself is randomly generated, it is very specific and scientific. For instance “Constructing Evolutionary Programming and Vacuum Tubes”  doesn’t sound like a fictional title, but more scientific. The content involved in a conventional scientific research report includes the author(s), abstract, introduction, related work, principles, implementation, evaluation, conclusion, references and scientific diagrams. The diagrams are specifically labelled using “Figures,” as conventional reports often are. The whole research paper is in black and white, as it appears more professional and scientific, because colors can often sway the audience away from the content.

The next website I visited was the Pandyland website, which randomly generates comic strips. The website is formatted by having three separated boxes, one after the other. Each box’s comic is selected at random, so the comic itself often doesn’t make sense. The comic genre is easily distinguishable because there are often colorful and funny scenes, with no more than two or three characters. When there is dialogue involved, the characters’ words are placed into a cartoon bubble emerging from their mouth. The characters themselves are cartoon, often with distinct facial expressions. This particular website randomly generated rather crude humor, involving erect penis’ and having an itch on his ‘winky’. The content in the comics seek to evoke a laugh or happiness using different kinds of humor including aggression, violence, and crudity.

The third website I visited was a meme generator. A meme is the compilation of a well-known picture of someone or something, with a short caption that is often humorous and relatable to society. The words within the meme are always presented in a white, block, clear, prominent font, so that the audience is able to read it at ease. The picture is always centered in the text; the first part of the text is above the picture, with the punchline always appearing underneath the photo. This forces the audience to read the joke in two separate parts, which typically enhances the emphasis on the punchline. For instance, the meme I created myself is a well-known character in a TV show, that includes text that relates to a communal situation. “One does not simply do thlogs on a Sunday.” The audience is for people in Z’s class, and the joke is aimed at procrastination in the class. The punchline “do thlogs on a Sunday” is situated at the bottom of the picture, to emphasize its importance in the joke.

The final website I visited was the bibliography generator “Easy Bib.” A bibliography is a list of the books referred to in a scholarly work. A bibliography is set up in a specific way and order, so that the readers of their work are able to access information on where the references are derived. A bibliography begins with the referenced author's name, title of publication, date of publication, place of publication (if a book), publishing company, the volume number of a magazine or printed encyclopedia and the page number(s). A bibliography is always formatted alphabetically with clear font, often the same as the body paragraphs of the author’s work. 

These varying websites can help people better understand genre because although the actual content within these websites are generated differently, each website follows the exact same conventions and patterns making it easy to distinguish the specific genre. For instance, even though I had never created a meme before, I was able to review the thousands of previously created memes and decipher how to formulate one. This assignment has enabled me to understand that although the content within a text varies, what makes a genre are the multiple conventions included.