Analysis is a genre that breaks down a larger work into smaller parts in order to investigate and discuss the themes, conventions, contexts, among other elements, that give meaning and uniqueness to the work.
Analysis & A Few Words About Genre
The term genre is used in music, literature, and art to define works that share certain conventions or subject matter. For instance, film critics use genre terms, such as romance, horror, or drama, and narrower forms of genre–called subgenres–like romantic comedy, sci-fi thriller, or war drama.
Similarly, in writing, genres exist based on the context or situation. They may show up in a humanities, psychology, or biology course and range from a simple descriptive essay to a complex IMRAD science report. The humanities, and other fields, require forms of analysis, whether it be rhetorical analysis, cultural analysis, statistical analysis, or even a SWOT analysis.
In this assignment, you will perform an art analysis, where you will describe and analyze the content, form, and context of an image. The skills used here are transferable to many other acts of writing and communication. In fact, since so much of writing is situated–that is, the writer’s message is based on rhetorical elements such as audience, context, or conventions–writing in a variety of genres gives writers practice in adapting their message to the situation.