Composition Theory or Genre Theory?

     Based on last week's discussions, I now find that composition theory and genre theory are intrinsically and permanently linked. Essentially, ideas about our writing (or the writing of others) and ideas about classifying and subdividing our writing coexists. We cannot really think about one without thinking about the other.
     Our discussion of the "Bullshit" article demonstrates this well. The importance of the audience (also highlighted with the "rhetorical triangle" emphasized in class) is crucial. The relationship between the writing and the audience is basically as important as the information being presented, whether argumentative or explicative. When considering "what is good writing?" we must also consider "what genre is this?" and "who is this written for?" among other important questions. One particular class moment spurred this idea. We talked about the essay form, and Professor Dolson asked something to the effect of "What is an essay?" The expected responses ensued: ideas about a thesis and supporting evidence were pointed out by students. I began thinking about essays, and I found this to be true, until I thought of a creative writing class I took last semester. We read and wrote creative nonfiction essays, which do not have a thesis per say or supporting evidence, in the quotable form. Personal experience and reflection replace the accepted conventions of academic essays. Nevertheless, the academic community considers these works essays (as do I), because they demonstrate a sort of insight that has been gathered through study and experience. This points out both the difficulty of assessing "What is good writing?" and suggests the importance of implementing genre-specific criteria when gauging the success of a work of writing, making our job all the more difficult.