Understanding Genres

A genre is defined by The Bedford Book of Genres as 'a composition's kind, category, or sort.' Genres provide a way for us to categorize different types of literature and media into types and subcategories. If you think about it, this is similar to the categorizations you learn about in science classes. Each species has a few different ways they can be separated and grouped together. In addition, genres and compositions have their own attributes and characteristics that cause us to perceive them different ways. In the study of genre, terms like rhetoric, mode, and style are used to further classify and describe a piece. You can categorize a piece of music as 'classical' just as you can describe a frog as 'amphibious.'