Genre analysis is a method for studying model texts to understand how specific types of writing are constructed. It is similar to reverse engineering—you take a finished document and work backward to identify the patterns, features, and rhetorical moves that define its genre.
In conducting a genre analysis, the focus is not on what the author is saying, but on how they are saying it. What choices are being made at the sentence or structural level? How is the author signaling to the reader that this is a lab report, an op-ed, a research article, or another specific type of writing?
Engaging in genre analysis helped me recognize the underlying conventions that shape writing in different fields. It provided me with the tools to look beyond content and ask more strategic questions about audience, purpose, tone, and form—insights that are essential when learning to write effectively across disciplines.
