When doing the “Peel The Onion” activity in class yesterday, Eric confessed that he was extremely confused by the genre portion of our first project. At that point, Mat asked the class if we felt the same way and in turn, there were a lot of blank faces in the room. It seemed that none of us really had a firm grasp on the idea of genre. So, when reading chapter one in the Bedford Book of Genres, I was pleasantly surprised to find a clear explanation of genre and its purpose. As teenagers, the word genre is constantly thrown around when describing a type of song, tv show, or movie. But when it comes to writing, why is it that we become so confused by the concept? Chapter one helped shed light on genre by explaining its importance. According to the text, authors must first construct a general idea for their work and then settle on a genre to guide them along a certain path. This reminds me of driving on a highway in which the highway is the idea and the exits are genres. The same way we use various exits to take us in various directions, writers choose from various genres to guide their writing. Another important aspect of the chapter was how flexible the definition of a genre truly is. I had once thought that genre referred strictly to categories such as drama, comedy, hip-hop, sci-fi, jazz, country, romance, etc. However, in writing, genre actually can be used to describe anything that conveys a message from a letter to a poster. Thus, it is extremely important to distinguish which genre you are utilizing in a given moment. Being able to gauge your genre and determine an audience are the best ways to conduct an appropriate and well-written piece of work.