Genre and tone

What is a genre convention?

The definition of genre is a style of art, music, or literature that helps to categorise media texts in a certain way. It is a way of grouping artistic works by their style, form, or content.

A genre convention is a set of standards or expectations that exist in a given genre. These often tell the reader

what to expect in terms of character archetypes, plots, and settings.

Types of genres include:

• Comedy

• Fantasy

• Dystopian

• Romance

• Sci-fi

• Action

• Horror

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Writing exercise - complete the sentence in 10 different ways

Aims: Conjure up a different place, setting, event, or situation in each one of the ten sentences.

''It was almost midnight...''

1. It was almost midnight, yet the piercing rays of sun attacked my eyes as I looked up. The concept of night-time was long gone.

2. It was almost midnight as I stared into the depths of my new-found lover's soul, content and blissful.

3. It was almost midnight. Midnight was the perfect time to hide a body.

4. It was almost midnight and the unknowing shrieking sound was as relentless as ever, despite no one being home.

5. It was almost midnight when he dug his glistening sword into the heart of the monster, freeing his people once and for all.

6. It was almost midnight in the trenches, but the pounding of guns and bombs were so familiar, that they sent me into a dreamless sleep.

7. It was almost midnight when the hailing boulders pounded to the floor. Mars was now destroyed

8. It was almost midnight and Jimmy had still not pulled up his trousers!

9. It was almost midnight. What could be lurking in the shadows this late at night?

10. It was almost midnight as she tucked her son into bed tightly, and the monster under the bed even tighter.

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Read and discuss - The Looking Glass by Michele Roberts

Extract link

What is the tone of this excerpt?

The tone of this extract immediately speaks to me as nostalgic, as the woman is reminiscing over past experiences of being by the sea. The tone also comes across as wistful and dreamy, predominantly through the use of language and sentence structure.

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How does the author portray the tone through the use of language and sentence structure?

The author portrays the tone through the use of language by beginning with a strong description of small details she can remember, which conveys the idea that she is so nostalgic about her experiences in this place that she can pinpoint every minor detail and describe it with great depth.

The use of long, dragged-out sentences portrays her longing for something, perhaps her longing for the past. The author also uses many literary techniques throughout the piece which contribute to the wistful tone throughout, for example, 'the smell of salt and seaweed' uses sibilance, which sounds as if the words are being spoken back and forth, much like waves splashing back and forth. This sibilance also creates a sense of movement within the piece, which links back to the running theme of water.

The constant repetition of the phrase 'I miss' uses repetition to highlight the intense longing for past memories and emphasises how much she does indeed miss these memories. The colour blue is also mentioned numerous times in relation to the ocean, however, could also be a way of portraying sadness, as blue is often the colour associated with feeling low.

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Writing task

• Imagine a scene that includes water.

• Choose two different genres of writing and write the opening paragraph of each of your choices

Genre 1 - Romance​

Blue. The colour which once invigorated a rampant spark in my heart, waves of lust splashing all over me. The topaz droplets surround me once more, yet instead of familiar comfort, I feel engulfed in the wrath of your wounding memories. Vigorous splashes of hurt pounded against my raw skin and salty droplets covered my face. Whilst I remain in this fluid state of heartbreak, you lay in a pool of infinite tranquillity, unaffected by the revenge of the ocean as it punishes me for my ignorance, my desire to trust someone whom I should have known could swim away with ease. Did the twin flame bruise paint you blue like the lapping waves we once danced in, or can it easily be washed off by another body of water, much gentler than my aggressive tide? Who would have thought that our romance on the sand would eventually lead to my lifeless soul sinking beneath the waves, unable to escape the tangled wrath of your love, once again, blue.

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Genre 2 - Horror

All Maria could see was the shape of a body. Whom the body belonged to was at this moment, unknown, however this didn't dull the overwhelming devastation Maria felt.

She worked at a morgue, she had seen over a thousand dead bodies in her lifetime, yet as she winced at the limp, swollen figure amongst the lake reeds, she felt different. Foul play must have been present. Sporadic, cautious ripples of water flowed back and forth over the body, grieving the loss of tranquillity in their water. Maria prepared herself to turn away, though she suddenly felt locked in place as if her bare feet had been glued to the mossy bank. An ill-lighted, gloomy figure had captured Maria's attention as it began to emerge within the unearthly murk of the river. Maria knew what this was from a mere second of seeing it, and knew that she would soon join the face-down figure in the water.

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Fear

Warm-up exercise - use the theme of fear to set a tone.

My ten personal fears:

1. Small spaces

2. Insects

3. Waking up during surgery

4. The dark

5. What happens after death

6. Losing my hearing or eyesight

7. Being abandoned

8. Escalators

9. The deep sea

10. Rats

Take one of these fears and free write on this theme/fear:​

The deep sea. As vulgar brine flows past my pruned skin, I desperately attempt to ignore the abominable abyss of darkness I seem to be drifting into, with no control over my moment, my head being the only thing emerging from the water. Eleven thousand meters below me. Eleven thousand meters of complete mystery, slowly and unknowingly pulling me into its horrors, preparing me to lie amongst thousands of putrid skeletons, unsolved cases that I would soon be a part of.

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Read and discuss these excerpts

Fear extracts link

- Extract from Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Throughout this extract, the writer depicts fear by creating a sense of uneasiness, including an ongoing tone of fear of the unknown by using non-specific language - referring to a person only using the singular word 'he'. The author also includes multiple references and connotations of hell and suffering, for example, words such as 'fire', 'devil', and 'torment'. This particular word choice creates an element of fear, especially fear of a particular memory involving the man she is talking about. This also extends into the fear of the unknown which is portrayed, as the writer gives the idea that the woman has an unconditional fear of her own mind, and how much she is thinking of something that truly terrifies her.

The quote 'We have conquered ours, or so we believe' adds to the unsure and ominous tone of the piece due to the hesitation of the comma, followed by 'or so we believe', which leaves questions in many readers' minds. The word choice also implies unfinished business in the story.

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A cream cracker under the setee by Alan Bennett

The description of fear in this extract manifests itself differently compared to the other extracts, as the character is fearing a loss of identity within themselves. The author's word choice includes bitter, angry language, which contributes to the tone of fear-based detest. The character's main emotion throughout this extract is fear, yet Bennett disguises this fear by making the character act as if they are above going to a nursing home, and they are capable of taking care of themselves. It comes across as a defense mechanism or a retaliation in response to the terror the character is experiencing when it comes to a big change in their life. This is achieved by the first person perspective from the character, it is as if they are telling a story to the reader, addressing the reader directly, which conveys the idea that they are talking about these stories and memories in order to convince the reader that they shouldn't be sent away. This use of perspective also helps to once again set the tone of fear and loss of identity directed towards an immense, sudden change.

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The Fall of The House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe

This extract portrays fear as having a more depressing tone and references the character's absence of happy emotions. The house that is described seems to appear as the key fearful element of the story and removes any joy from the character as he describes it in a particularly dreary way. Edgar Allan Poe also effectively intertwines the character's solemn emotions with his emotions towards the house, which places the house in an even more eerie light, due to the character's feelings being described as sad from the very beginning.​

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Horror and Supernatural

Horror genre conventions:

• Conventional Settings within fantastical worlds. Use of the familiar to ground the fantasy elements of the genre.

• Eerie Setting

• Inciting incident/attack

• Core event - victim at the mercy of the monster

• The monster can't be reasoned with - possessed by the spirit of evil and present to devour and annihilate.

• Isolation 

• Elements of survival

• Perpetual discomfort - The monster attacks randomly so that the audience cannot settle.

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Fear writing task

For this task, I decided to elaborate on one of my personal fears from the previous task we did, which is the idea of waking up from anaesthesia during surgery.

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Five minutes. She was only awake for five minutes. The first sixty seconds was nothing but a constant train of denial, looping through her groggy thoughts, unable to explain to her the severity of the situation. Time went on, however, and all of a sudden hushed murmurs of apparent medical staff transformed into a grotesque burning throughout every inch of her body, as if molten lava had made its way through every artery and vein of her limp figure.

The utter paralysation of her body had manifested every nerve ending, pain, and pleasure into the only lucid membrane of hope; the brain. Abominable smells of sterile devices infiltrated her nostrils, as she heard the word 'scalpel' bounced around the room. Scalpel. She knew what that meant. None of the repetitive beeping's of machines and monitors could disguise that one fateful word. A single tear managed to escape the frantic and darting eyes of the woman, desperately attempting to convey a sign of awareness, though no hope came from this as nurses hummed and surgeons tapped their feet on the sterile floor of despair.

Five seconds felt like five years of utterly agonising butchering as soon as the scalpel made contact with her mapped-out flesh.

One. The first incision. The first layer of skin had been opened, releasing the smell of fresh blood.

Two. Not a single soul in the room could hear her screams of relentless torment, no matter how much she strained for mercy.

Three. The first time she had ever smelled burning flesh. It resembled the scent of burnt, heat-damaged hair. She thought she would throw up, in fact, she wished she would.

Four. Nothing but complete torture. She felt as if thousands of instruments were moving around her body, like menacing insects lacerating her once-untouched skin. No amount of imagined screaming could dull this hell-like situation.

Five. She prayed to a God she had never once believed in. Begged for mercy and pleaded hollow promises. Anything for this to stop.

Five minutes. A simple surgery, with a slight mishap. A five-minute mishap. The surgery was a success, with no complications and a minimal scar to prove it. Stacey Gardener was her name. As this name was ticked off from the scheduled operations, the same name was sorrowfully carved into a headstone two weeks later. Five minutes was all it took to cause such devastation, such peril, that a person could never come back from. The small scar said she was fine, yet the rope-inflicted bruises around her neck said otherwise.

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Crime extracts task

Extract link

Hemmingway: 'Gunmen's Wild Political War in Chicago'

This extract is an ongoing feature piece from a newspaper in 1921, detailing an organised crime in Chicago. The tone that I have gathered from this extract has a sense of mystery, due to the investigative questions being asked directed towards the reader. There is also an ominous tone throughout, especially portrayed during the last line of the piece which quotes; 'There are many answers'. Regarding the context of the story as a whole, this quote builds a sense of intrigue, due to the short, blunt wording and directly addressing the reader, spiking their interest and inspiring them to keep up to date with the case.

Structure in the piece is also used to push further the narrative that this is a story worth reading, and Hemmingway achieves this by jumping straight into the story; he immediately shows the situation at hand, then progressively gives more detail, and goes back in time to the incident. He begins the piece by telling a story - using descriptive language to set the tone and make the reader feel as if they are in the situation themselves, therefore surfacing emotion within his audience. This particular technique of writing is effective as it is a true story, with elements of fantasy and fiction amongst it, which makes it an interesting read and stands out as a feature piece. 

Word choice and language additionally help set the tone, as Hemmingway uses tense, morbid, and violent word choice. An example of this includes the quote 'body riddled with bullets', which includes the use of alliteration to exaggerate the dramatic and gruesome detail of the sentence.

Overall, Hemmingway effectively sets the tone in this piece by incorporating suitable language, structure, and word choice techniques.

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Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep

Extract link

This extract is from a crime novel, describing a detective's encounter with a girl. The tone of the extract initially comes across as suspicious, as the detective goes into detail about everything around him, which lets the readers know he is extremely observant and will not dismiss any minor detail. This is our first introduction to the tone in this piece of writing, especially shown as the detective is described to have a sequence of paying close attention to the paintings in the house - ultimately foreshadowing his encounter with the girl. Raymond Chandler effectively conveys this tone by portraying it through the character of the detective. He appears to be ahead of the game in everything he comes across and doesn't fall for the romantic manipulation of the young girl he encounters, and although he slightly plays along with the seductive nature of the situation he is in, he is still highly on guard and aware of anything that may help him regarding his case. The use of the first person in the extract is an effective method of engaging the reader, as it puts them in the perspective of the character, adding a more personal feel to the story. 

The rhythm of the extract also contributes to setting the tone, due to the author's use of literary devices, including syntax, which is included during the description of the house and unusual decorations and paintings.

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Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

Extract link

This extract is a non-fiction novel, detailing the 1959 murders of four members of the Herbert Clutter family in Kansas, which initially sets a sinister tone, due to the tragic nature of the incident at hand. Capote conveys the tone of this piece through multiple different means, one of which includes dialogue, which highlights the dynamic between the two murderers, whilst furthermore expanding on the brutal tone, as the dialogue shows the nonchalant attitude of the two men, and how they don't seem to be phased by their horrific crimes. The use of dialogue is heavily effective in a piece of writing like this, as it doesn't directly tell the reader how they should read something, but instead, when written well, the reader should know exactly what the writer is trying to express through the dialogue alone. The conflict and prose throughout the dialogue help to involve the readers in the story and cause strong emotion by making them feel like they are living the story themselves. 

Capote creates a lens that focuses on the reality and darkness of the characters, including an unremorseful attitude regarding their crimes, constantly giving a reminder of the eerie tone in the story, portrayed in the quote: 'It was a hundred yards long - quite enough for twelve.'

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Opening to a Crime Story

By 1 p.m., an unfortunate fate had made its way into the systems of the entirety of Melrose Police Station. All but one policeman had avoided the inevitable demise of the killings, yet the safety of this man had become a ticking time bomb, and he had little time to solve this heinous spree before the bomb went off and blew him to pieces.

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The poisonings were not random, that much was evident. An abnormally precise dose of arsenic was infiltrated within ten cups of coffee, the cups which came across as a heartfelt gesture at first glance. Three Hundred milligrams of inorganic arsenic, enough to take out a grown man in mere hours.

Chief Detective Miller was the first to go. ''Can we get moving please?'' he shouted before striding away with a huff, a noticeable lack of enthusiasm in his orders, an attitude to be fixed by the warmth of a fresh cup of coffee.

''For all your hard work'', the label read. Miller smirked at the clumsily written message and reached out for a cup without second thought, before ordering the receptionist to deliver the rest to the police on duty that day. Sunday. The day of rest. Perhaps now to be renamed the day of death, thought many. The day in which 10 beverages were found sitting by the front door of the police station, a stepping stone in a case that had yet to become one of the most sinister crimes in history, and certainly something to remember when accepting drinks from strangers.

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Evaluation

During this week of lessons, we focused on the idea of different genres and tones and how they can positively impact our writing when we incorporate these aspects effectively. I found this to be helpful, as I often find myself writing within the same genre, so understanding different genre conventions and how to write them helped me to branch out and expand my writing techniques. I found the exercise in which we had to complete the beginning of a sentence to be helpful, as it challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and begin to think about the many genre conventions of a story and express them within only one sentence. Learning about the presence of tone within a story was also something that interested me as it helped me to realise the importance of having a clear element of tone in my writing in order to convey emotions and carry the plot. I liked analysing and identifying the tone in other writer's work, then applying it to my own writing. Overall, this week has been important when it comes to building and improving my writing by incorporating elements that I wouldn't have thought to use in the past.

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