14. GENRES, SUB-GENRES AND REGISTER
“It is, in particular, the obligatory feature that allow us to identify a genre
[…]” (Taylor p. 145)
Genre and Sub-genre
Categories of Writing
Genre = Category
All writing falls into a category or genre.
We will use 5 main genres
and 15 subgenres.
Fiction
Realistic
Fiction
Historical
Fiction
Drama
Nonfiction
Comedy
Tragedy
Folklore
Informational
Writing
Persuasive
Writing
Poetry
Fairy Tale
Legend
Tall Tale
Science
Fiction
Biography
Fantasy
Autobiography
Myth
Fable
5 Main Genres
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Nonfiction: writing that is true
Fiction: imaginative or made up writing
Folklore: stories once passed down orally
Drama: a play or script
Poetry: writing concerned with the beauty
of language
Nonfiction Subgenres
•
•
•
•
Persuasive Writing: tries to influence the reader
Informational Writing: explains something
Autobiography: life story written by oneself
Biography: Writing about someone else’s life
Auto = Self
Latin Roots
Bio = Life
Graphy = Writing
Fiction Subgenres
• Historical Fiction: set in the past and based on
real people and/or events
• Science Fiction: has aliens, robots, futuristic
technology and/or space ships
• Realistic Fiction: has no elements of fantasy;
could be true but isn’t
• Fantasy: has monsters, magic, or characters
with superpowers
Folklore Subgenres
Folklore/Folktales usually has an “unknown”
author or will be “retold” or “adapted” by the
author.
• Fable: short story with personified animals and
a moral
Personified: given the traits of people
Moral: lesson or message of a fable
• Myth: has gods/goddesses and usually
accounts for the creation of something
Folklore Subgenres (continued)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tall Tale
Set in the Wild West, the American frontier
Main characters skills/size/strength is greatly
exaggerated
Exaggeration is humorous
Legend
Based on a real person or place
Facts are stretched beyond nonfiction
Exaggerated in a serious way
Folklore Subgenres (continued)
Fairytale: has magic and/or talking animals.
•
•
•
•
Often starts with “Once upon a time…”
Like fantasy but much older
Often has a human main character
Fables also have talking animals, but fables are
VERY short
What are Dramas?
Stories written in script form.
Example
Teacher: Everyone take notes.
Student A: I don’t have a pen.
Drama Subgenres
Comedy: has a happy ending.
Tragedy: ends in death and sadness.
Review
Nonfiction: persuasive writing, informational
writing, autobiography, and biography
Fiction: historical fiction, science fiction,
realistic fiction, and fantasy
Folklore: myth, legend, tall tale, fairy tale, and
fable
Drama: comedy and tragedy
Poetry: many subgenres we will not study…
Practice
Try to identify the genre and sub-genre of each
of the following texts.
1
Science Textbook
This science textbook contains much of the
human knowledge of Earth and the universe.
2
As I Was Saying by Augustus Gluten
Mr. Gluten writes the story of his humble
origins as a child in Germany to his meteoric
rise to power in the candy industry.
3
They Came from the Sun by Tom Mitchell
The story of a race of aliens that come to
enslave the residents of Earth with their
advanced weaponry. Only one teacher can
stop them, but is it too late?
4
“The Ant & The Grasshopper” Adapted by Chad
Peplum
The really short story of an Ant who works hard
all summer to prepare for winter and a
Grasshopper who just plays. Winter comes and
the Grasshopper freezes to death. The moral is
“prepare today for tomorrow’s needs.”
5
Bag Lunch by Dillard Perkins
It is the fictional story of two young African
American girls living in Greensboro, N.C. in
1960. One day while waiting to buy food at a
Woolworth's lunch counter, the girls find
themselves at a significant crossroads in
American history.
6
“Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind” retold by
Mitch Colwell
Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind was the
toughest girl in the Wild West. She plays with
rattlesnakes and dries her clothes in a
tornado. She’s tougher than a ten-year-old
steak. Read about her extraordinary
adventures in this humorous text.
7
“Reduce, Re-use, Re-imagine!” By Sasha
Marsh
In this essay, Marsh tries to convince people to
do small things to help the environment. She
gives readers many suggestions on how to live
more eco-friendly and challenges readers to
make the world a better place for future
generations through small contributions.
8
Eric Vaser and the Educator’s Rock by J.P.
Tumblin
This is the first book in the Eric Vaser series.
Eric goes to Mage school and becomes a star
student. He learns to play pencetrench, a
football-like game played on flying platforms,
and he fights to stop a growing evil within the
school that will test his newfound magic
powers.
9
Journal of a Lumpy Kid by Ken Jiffy
In his first year of middle school, Hank Griffin,
the main character of this story deals with
“cooties,” older bullies, running for a class
election, and other problems that many
middle school students face.
Answers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Nonfiction ; Informational Writing
Nonfiction ; Autobiography
Fiction ; Science Fiction
Folktale ; Fable
Fiction ; Historical Fiction
Folktale ; Tall Tale
Nonfiction ; Persuasive Essay
Fiction ; Fantasy
Fiction ; Realistic Fiction
REGISTER
The term register is sometimes used to refer to the degree of formality of
a written or spoken text. A fuller definition would be to say that register is
a variety of language defined according to its use in specific social
situations: scientific conference register, medical examination register etc.
A genre may require that a specific register be used. That register must
meet the expectations of the discourse community, i.e. those people who
habitually use that genre. We know immediately if the register is not
appropriate:
THE HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Once upon a time, in a land where men wore short trousers and yodelled
in the mountains, there was a little chap with a teeny weeny black
moustache who looked a bit like Charlie Chaplin.
Register and Halliday’s Context of Situation:
FIELD: what is happening
TENOR: who is participating
MODE: what role the language is playing
“[…] register refers to what a person is doing with language at any given
moment (making a speech, telling someone how to cook eggs, encouraging
a football team, writing a business memo, etc.) and it can be deduced that,
at least theoretically, there are as many registers as there are distinct
activities.” (Taylor p. 147)
GENRE, REGISTER AND TRANSLATION
The translator has to:
categorize the source text (i.e. identify the genre);
understand the register that the genre and discourse community require;
make the translation conform to the equivalent genre and register of the
target language.
Genre: OBITUARIES (NECROLOGIE)
Anne White
Our deepest sympathy and condolences to Martha on the passing of her
dear mother. She is in our thoughts and prayers. Helen Greene and all the
Greene family.
Elena Verdi, Riccardo e Giovanni addolorati sono vicini a Marta dopo la
scomparsa della carissima mamma
Anna Bianchi
Elena Verdi, Riccardo e Giovanni si uniscono al dolore di Marta per la
scomparsa della carissima mamma
Anna Bianchi
Elena Verdi, Riccardo e Giovanni partecipano al profondo dolore di Marta
per la scomparsa della carissima mamma
Anna Bianchi
But some people flout the genre conventions even of an obituary. When the
British actor John Le Mesurier knew that he was dying, he left instructions
that the following should be published in the Times after his death:
“JOHN LE MESURIER wishes it to be known that he conked out on
November 15th. He sadly misses family and friends.”
And the Anglo-Irish comedian Spike Milligan had the following inscribed
on his tombstone:
“I told you I was ill.”
FALSE FRIENDS 14
What do you remember about conductor and confidence/confident?
Conjure: to produce something apparently by magic, fare giochi di
prestigio. The conjuror pulled a rabbit out of the hat.
Conjure up: ricavare qualcosa quasi da niente. Although there wasn’t
much food in the fridge, she managed to conjure up a meal.
Congiurare: to plot, to conspire
Consistency: sometimes the same as consistenza or densità but also means
coerenza. Serious politicians display consistency; mere
opportunists change their views for their own advantage.
Similarly, the adjective consistent often means coerente.
That footballer is so inconsistent: brilliant in one match,
hopeless in the next.
THE DIARY OF A BRAVE TRANSLATOR VERILY IN LEG – PART 14
Why do we have such useless politicians in Italy? There are a few
exceptions but it seems to me that most of our national and local politicians
are just a bunch of half socks. A lot of them have a hen’s brain and talk only
because they have a tongue in the mouth. Those that do have a bit of
intelligence don’t necessarily use it because they just agree with whatever
their party leader tells them to do and think. Hardly any of them have the
liver to say, “Hold on, I don’t think that’s in the interests of the people who
voted for us.”
Nonentities/Mediocrities. Idiomatically, men of straw.
Fathead, lunkhead (USA), numskull, plonker (UK), empty suit.
Prattle, talk gibberish/nonsense. It’s just hot air.
To have the guts to do/say something.