This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1050651908324376v1 23/1/3    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Markel, M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Time and Exigence in Temporal Genres

Boise State University, Boise, Idaho

Genre use entails a rhetorical response to an exigence in the writer's context. In one category of genres, which the author calls temporal genres, linear time constitutes a major exigence to which writers must respond. Temporal genres, such as annual reports and status reports, call for writers to publish texts because a certain amount of time has passed, even if they are not yet ready to do so. The first annual report of the Privacy Office of the Department of Homeland Security reveals an ineffective ethos and discontinuities between the mission of the office and that of the department. But the second annual report reveals a more effective ethos and greater harmony between the missions. This study shows how the requirement to report can force writers to decide existential issues of identity and mission.

Key Words: genre • temporal genre • annual reports • exigence • Department of Homeland Security • privacy

This version was published on January 1, 2009

Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Vol. 23, No. 1, 3-27 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1050651908324376


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?