14 GENRES SUBGENRES AND REGISTER It is in

14. GENRES, SUB-GENRES AND REGISTER “It is, in particular, the obligatory features 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 Science Fiction Biography Fantasy Autobiography Poetry Fairy Tale Legend Tall Tale 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 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 15 th. 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 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.