Institutional Rhetorical Genres

Abstract

This paper introduces the idea of rhetorical genre, drawing on previous research in rhetorical genre theory to explain how the genres used in institutions affect the personal and professional lives of people who use them, and how they naturalize certain ideologies in those institutional settings. The paper lays out how—while rhetorical genres serve many practical purposes—they also affect power relations within an institution and can compromise the identity of the individual using them. When assessing the efficacy of these genres, this paper remarks, it is important to question how they were constructed and for whom. To further explore this topic, the paper recounts the personal experience relayed in previous research by Anthony Paré, in which he taught a professional writing course to female Inuit social workers.