The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

56 literary works don’t fit into genres because they follow the form of that genre. As he states, “The conclusion therefore is that all objects are made and not found, and that they are made by the interpretive strategies we set in motion” (para 24). By this he means that texts are placed into that genre by the interpretation of a discourse community. Fish’s students were able to devise the meaning of that list of names because of how they interpreted it, not because it fit into a specific genre form. Amy Devitt adds to the discussion of form/interpretation by stating that “ I will argue not for teaching the textual features of particular genres…but rather for teaching genre awareness… as a side effect of teaching genre awareness, students may also acquire new genres that can serve as antecedent genres for their future writing” (192). Devitt is arguing for a learning strategy that echoes Fish’s point about genres being defined by the reader’s interpretation. Rather than teaching the very specific formulas of an individual genre, she proposes that students learn to interpret genre so that they can go anywhere that it exists and know how to learn and use that genre. Thus, despite the resolve with which many hold onto this mistaken understanding, genre is not defined by form, but rather by the interpretation of the reader. One final fictitious belief held by some is that genre acts as an austere master that requires slavish obedience and conformity to the forms and formulas of that genre. This is simply not the case. Genres are evolving forms; not a rigid set of rules to which writers must adhere. Though all works are limited by genre and the work and worldview of earlier authors, as Bawarshi states, “ rather than being static backdrops against which speakers and writers act, social and rhetorical conditions are constantly being reproduced and transformed as speakers and writers act within them” (9). In other words, genres build upon the work of earlier writers and evolve over time as they are used by diverse discourse communities with varying ideologies and purposes. From this, Devitt concludes that “Genres allow a range of choices, as well as set constraints” (200). Though writing will always be limited by the mere fact that genre exists, it also changes alongside the communities that use it, and is thus far from inflexible. While current research, defining genre as a fitting response to repetitive rhetorical situations, being defined by the reader’s