Revision: Genre and Audience

Genre is the type of writing and audience is the “who” of the writing, or in other words the readership of a piece of writing. These two terms are interconnected in many ways. 

The genre of the writing, such as whether to write an article or a personal essay, can be determined by looking at the audience for that particular piece of writing. For example, if the audience for a piece of writing is a professor, or a high ranking official in a firm, then the genre chosen would normally be a formal essay or letter, whereas if it was a younger audience, the genre would more likely be a blog post or a personal essay. 

Some other examples of genre include a blog proposal, or a research log, which comprises of collecting different sources and writing short summaries on each source. 

Genre can also help determine audience. For example, the readership of a scholarly article would comprise mostly of an older audience, whereas a comic strip as a genre would attract a much younger audience.

Commentary on opening scene of Eat Drink Man Woman

Welcome to “Cooking through a Vegetarian’s Eyes”. I am your host Shanil Mehta, and today we will be watching as this chef prepares a traditional meal. We open onto a scene of a bowl of fish. The man fearlessly grabs one of the fish and sticks a pair of chopsticks through its mouth. He then cuts it open and, after coating it in a white flour-like powder, fries the remains. He then progresses onto slicing and dicing a few vegetables and spices to add some flavor to the dishes. As he cuts, we can observe the precise and confident skills that are borne of a lifetime of cooking experience. He then removes some meat from the frier and slices it into pieces. Following this, he uses a woven box to steam fry the vegetables he had earlier cut. As he waits for the food to be ready, he takes a walk to his private animal enclosure and selects the best looking chicken. He brings the chicken into the kitchen by its legs, and we also see some live frogs! By this time, the dish he was steam-cooking is ready and he makes it presentable on a plate and also adds some sauce on top. He then cuts and guts the chicken, and adds some broth to it as he sets it in a pot. We then see him enjoying the preparation of a dish as he happily chops away as some meat. Finally, he prepares the dough for his final dish, stuffs it with some filling, and moulds it into the shape of dumplings. That completes the preparation of the dishes, with a wide array of meats and vegetables combined to create a sumptuous meal for him and his family.