Genre and Technical Writing: Online Discussion Week 1 - Essay Example

Board Post: I have one difficulty in relating Carolyn Miller’s Genre as Social Action to the theme of technical and business writing. This is the essay’s focus on rhetorical discourse because it indicates stylistic elements of persuasion, which indicates a requirement for the infusion of the writer’s personal opinion or position. Technical writing and business writing is primarily concerned with providing information. There is no intent to persuade according to the writer’s perspective since its main characteristic that distinguishes them from other forms of writings is its absence.

Again, its classification is defined by mere provision of information without evoking any emotional response. What is usable for me in the Miller text in the evaluation of the cited articles about global warming and climate change is her arguments about the parameters of defining genre. She said that text classifications should also consider the context variable (p. 155). The idea is to locate genre according to the situation wherein the writer and the reader find themselves. So in a way, the “genre” of technical writing and business writing could be expanded if the audience requires it so.

For instance, a group of business leaders requires a material that outlines actions that can be done to combat global warming. Here, persuasive elements can be included as was the case in the article, Global Warming, It’s On You, where several courses of actions were presented. However, there is still the imperative to provide the “convincing” part based on facts and precise information (see for instance, Solving Global Warming: Doing Something). The motive here is not the writer’s own.

There are several stakeholders involved that the appropriate thing that the writer can do is to stay neutral especially with the different contexts and perspectives present. All in all, it is important to underscore that the usability of technical and business writing to its readers is paramount. It does not only provide information for readers but also as foundation for other texts and research. Its exigency is specific and its persuasive elements are not stylistic but quick and to the point.

In this aspect, one can say that Miller is correct, an expansion to the genre is called for, although the flexibility required would not be as wide as other rhetorical genres.