Academic Discourse & Genre

Academic journals are an important part of staying up to date on developments in the field of Chemical Engineering.

1. How many different kinds of genres seem to be published in this particular issue of the journal you selected?
There seems to be three different types of genres published in this journal: research essays, letters about research essays, and editorials.

2. Identify at least three different genres within the journal issue and describe the significant formal differences between the three genres. If you made up your own name, explain why you chose the name you invented. If you'd like, provide snapshots of the different genres (clearly labelled) to help your reader see how they look different (or are organized differently, with different conventions) on the page.

Research Essays: This type of genre has many conventions including Headings, specific subheadings (abstract, introduction, etc.), graphs and tables, and is very technical. I did not make up this genre name but I am sure the reason it is called a research essay is because the main topic of the piece is to analyze research.

 Research Essay Example

Letters about Research Essays:  This genre is slightly different than a research essay for many reasons. Letters about research essays do not have sub headings. They still have graphs and data tables like research essays. They are usually a response to other research essays.

Letter about Research Essay Example

Editorials: This genre is completely different than research essays and letters about research essays because it has nothing to do with research an data. It is a letter directed towards the readers of the journal and describes changes or topics concerning the journal. Some conventions are the use of first and second person, bullet points, and a signature by the author.

Editorial

3. Now come up with your own definition for each genre (using the name you coined, if you weren't sure what the 'official' name is for the genre). Be sure to explain what you perceive to be the purpose of each genre and how each genre might meet the needs and expectations of a target audience.

Research Essays: The definition of these research essays is a document that has a primary purpose of informing the reader of the results of an experiment and analyzing the data to come to a specified outcome. The targeted audience of the research essays are professionals and people who are interested in the topic at hand.

Letters about Research Essays: The definition of the letters of research essays is a document that compiles other documents about a certain topic and analyzes them. The purpose of the document is to analyze other publications and research. The audience is professionals in the field of Chemical Engineering.

Editorials: The definition of editorials is a document, usually a open letter, that describes the changes and advances that are available in the journal. The purpose is to inform the reader of any changes and the audience is anyone who regularly reads the journal.