SUMMARY

TEXT TYPES: GENRE

GROUP 3 PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION

Submitted in fulfilment of the Discourse Studies assignment

in the Academic Year of 2020/2021

Lecturer:
Dr. Katharina Rustipa, M.Pd.

TOMY WIDIYANTO - 0203520004

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION

GRADUATE PROGRAM

UNIVERSITAS NEGERI SEMARANG

2021
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Name : Tomy Widiyanto Course : Discourse Studies
Student’s Number : 0203520004 Lecturer : Dr. Katharina Rustipa, M.Pd.

A. Definition of Genre
According to John Flowerdew (2013), genre means “kind” or “form” and was used by
the Greek philosopher in his Poetics to refer to major types of literature: poetry, drama, and the
epic. Meanwhile, according to Martin (1993) defines “genre” as a category that describes the
relation of the social purpose of text to language structure. Genre is a field of applied linguistics
which refers to different communicative events which are associated with particular setting,
and which have recognized structures, and communicative functions.

B. The Characteristics of Genre

According to John (2013), there are eight characteristics of genre can be explained as follow:
1. Staging
Genres are staged because they accomplish tasks that require multiple steps; they are goal-
oriented because their users are motivated. By staged, we mean that a genre has a specific
sequential structure.
2. Communities of Practice
Genre belong to particular communities of users. It is a group of people who "share a
concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact
regularly. Communities of practice are not new phenomena: this type of learning has existed
for as long as people have been learning and sharing their experiences through storytelling.
3. Recurrent Nature of Genre
Genre knowledge develops through repeated exposure and practice. Knowledge acquired
through repeated exposure is stored in the form of schemata. It is why the recurrent is meant
that it happens again and again. Genres take their shape in recurrent situations because the
communications that occur in recurrent situations tend to be remarkably similar.
4. Genre as a Flexible Concept
A “flexible”, rather than a “static” view is required
a. Swales (2004) → metaphor
b. Palrtidge (2006) → prototype
c. Kress (2003) → tension

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5. Genre Relations
a. Genre Set
A range of genres which a professional group uses in the course of their daily routine.
(Devitt, 1991)
b. Genre System
A full set of genres (spoken or written) which are involved in a complete interaction.
(Bazerman, 1994)
c. Genre Chain
A chronologically related sequences of genres in a given interaction. (Raisanen, 2002)
d. Disciplinary Genre
All those genres associated with a profession or discipline. (Bhatia, 2004)
6. Intertextuality
It means how there are references in one text to other texts. Intertextuality has various forms.
a. From Fairclough viewpoint (1992)
o Manifest intertextuality (quotation, citation, paraphrase)
o Constitutive intertextuality (generic features which do not leave an obvious trace from
the source)
b. From Devitt viewpoint (1991)
o Referential (when one text refers directly to another one)
o Functional (when a text is part of a larger system of texts, dealing with a particular
issue)
o Generic (when a text draws on similar texts created in a similar situation)
7. Intercultural Nature of Genre
Various writers prefer to see the differences among cultures in terms of “the differences
or preferences in the pragmatic and strategic choices that writers make in response to external
demands and cultural histories. A number of differences were noted both at the level of
assessment by members of the two communities of practice and at the level of rhetorical
structure.
8. Convensionalised Lexicogrammatical Features
Some genres are quite formulaic. For example by the use of parallel grammatical structure
and the use of material process verbs.

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C. The Characteristics of Genre
The other characteristics of genre, according to Susan (2009), are divided into four features:
1) Textual Focus
2) Linguistic Characteristics
3) Distribution of Linguistic Characteristic
4) Interpretation

D. Types of Genre
According to Thornbury (2005), there are three types of genre. They are as follow:
1. Drama
Abrams (2013) defined drama as a composition designed for performance in the
theatre, in which actors take the roles of the characters, perform the indicated action and
utter the written dialogue.
Meanwhile according to Shorter Oxford Dictionary drama is a composition in verse or
prose and verse, adapted to be acted on the stage, in which a story is related by means of
dialogue and action and is represented with accompanying gesture, costume and scenery
as in real life.
a. Elements of Drama
1) Plot
It means the arrangement of the events in a story, including the sequence in which
they are told.
2) Characters
It is persons like the men and women we see around us but sometimes unreal and
supernatural types of characters are also present. There are types of characters:
major, minor, dynamic character, static character, protagonist, and antagonist.
3) Dialogue
Dialogue is simply conversation between people in literary work; in its most
restricted sense, it refers specifically to the speech of characters in a drama.
4) Action
In drama, the characters/actors talk to themselves and react to issues according to
the impulse of the moment.
5) Conflict
The conflict can be the protagonist’s struggle against fate, nature, society, or
another person.

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 6) Staging/Stage Directions
Stage Directions are guidelines, suggestions, given by the dramatist in the script of
the play.
7) Theme
We use the word theme to designate the main idea or point of a play stated as a
generalization. The complex of ideas presented by the dramatist.
2. Prose
Prose is an inclusive term for all discourse, spoken or written, which is not patterned into
the lines either of metric verse or of free verse (Abrams, 2009) .
There are two types of prose:
1) Fiction
It can be understood as an imaginative creation, which does not exist in reality, rather
it is produced by the author’s creative thought (Abrams, 2009). Some types of fiction
prose:
- Short story. It It is brief fictional prose narrative that is shorter than a novel and that
usually deals with only a few characters.
- Novel. It invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity
that deals imaginatively with human experience, usually through a connected
sequence of events involving a group of persons in a specific setting.
- Novella. It is a shorter novel but longer than a short story.
- Folktale. It is passed down from one generation to another by word of mouth.

Elements of Prose Fiction:

- Plot. The “framework” or “skeleton” of the story. A series of related events that are
linked together (Stanton, 1965).
- Character. Character is A person or being in a story that performs the action of the
plot. A person (sometimes a group of people, an animal, or a physical force)
invented by an author who has an impact on the outcome of the story (Abrams,
2009).
- Conflict. It exists when a character is struggling with something or someone
(Abrams, 2009).
- Setting. It is the time and location in which the story takes place (Abram, 2009).
- Theme. It is what the author is saying through the story (it’s a deeper truth about
reality). Theme of the story is whatever general idea or insight the entire story
reveals (Abrams, 2009).
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 - Point of View. It is the direction from which the writer has chosen to tell the story.
2) Non-fiction
Nonfiction is a form of writing that is based on fact and reality; it is not created in the
mind of the writer (Abrams, 2009). There are six types of non-fiction prose. They are
as follow:
- Autobiography
- Biography
- Diary
- Essay
- History
- Journal
3. Poetry
Poetry is the imaginative expression of strong feeling, usually rhythmical, the spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings (Irmawati, 2014). Types of poetry:
1) Narrative Poetry
Types of narrative poetry are as follow:
- Epic
- Mentrical Tale
- Balads
2) Lyric Poetry

A poetry has structural aspect, such as: form, stanza, and line. It also has elements
which are intrinsic and extrinsic elements. In intrinsic elements, a poetry has imagery and
figurative language. Meanwhile, in extrinsic elements of poetry is a supporting element of
poetry that comes from outside the work of poetry created. Some elements of extrinsic
poem are like: author biography, social background, religion, and education of the author,
and social circumstances at the time the poem was made.

E. Conclusion
1) Genre refers to different communicative events which are associated with particular setting,
and which have recognized structures, and communicative functions.
2) John Flowerdew (2013), there are eight characteristics of genre: Staging, Communities Of
Practice, Recurrent Nature Of Genre, Genre As A Flexible Concept, Genre Relations,
Intertextuality, Intercultural Nature Of Genre, and Conventionalised Lexicogrammatical
Features.
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3) Susan (2009), there are four characteristics of genres: Textual Focus, Linguistic
Characteristics, Distribution of Linguistic Characteristic, and Interpretation.
4) Thornbury (2005), there are five kinds of literary genre: drama, prose, and poetry.
5) Abrams (2013) defined drama as a composition designed for performance in the theatre, in
which actors take the roles of the characters, perform the indicated action and utter the
written dialogue.
6) Elements of Drama: Plot, Characters, Dialogue, Action, Conflict, Staging/Stage Directions,
Theme
7) There are four basic stages of structure in a plot: (1) exposition or introduction, (2)
complication and development, (3) crisis or climax, and (4) Falling action, (5)
dénouement/resolution, or catastrophe.
8) Characters in drama can be classified as a major, minor, static, dynamic, Protagonist, and
antagonist.
9) There are 4 forms of drama: tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, and melodrama.
10) Prose is the most typical form of language and it is derived from the Latin word prose
which literally means "straight-forward.
11) There are two types of prose. Those are fiction and nonfiction.
12) Fiction can be understood as an imaginative creation, which does not exist in reality, rather
it is produced by the author’s creative thought
13) Element of prose fiction are Plot, Character, Conflict, Setting, Theme, and Point of View.
14) Nonfiction is a form of writing that is based on fact and reality; it is not created in the mind
of the writer.
15) Kinds of nonfiction are: Biography, Autobiography, History, Letter, Diary, and Journal
16) Poetry is the sound and meanings of words are combined to express feelings, thoughts, and
ideas.
17) It refers to those expressions in verse, with measure and rhyme, line and stanza and has a
more melodious tone.
18) There are narrative and lyric poetry.
19) The elements of poetry are intrinsic and extrinsic.

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F. References
Thornbury, S. 2005. Introducing Discourse Analysis Beyond The Sentence. Oxford: Macmillan
Publishers Limited Companies.
Routman, R. 2005. Writing Essensials. New York: Portsouth NH.
Biber, D., & Susan, Conrad. 2009. Register, Genre, and Style. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Flowerdew, J. 2013. Discourse in English Language Education. New York: Routledge.
Imron, W.H., 2012. Staging A Streetcar Named Desire, Understanding Its Elements. Prosodi:
Vol. 1, (1).
Stanton, Robert. (1965). An Introduction to Fiction. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Ebook.
Van Zoonen, L. 2017. Intertextuality. The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects: Wiley-
Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781118783764.
Abrams, M, H., Harpham, G, G. 2013. A Glossary of Literary Terms eleventh edition. Canada:
Nelson Education.
Luh Angelianawati. 2019. “Using Drama in EFL Classroom”. Journal of English Teaching,
Volume 5 (2).
Noer Doddy Irmawati, D. (2014). Understanding how to Analyze Poetry and its Implication to
Language Teaching. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature
(IJSELL).
Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry by Laurence Perrine (1956) An Introduction to
Literature: fiction, poetry, drama; third edition written by Barnet, Berman and Burto
(1961).