Blog 3

         Eulogies are a prime example of a text that represents exigence and also presents its own set of constraints. There is somewhat of an urgency to the creation of a eulogy, being that once someone passes, there is a certain time span in which one must be created and an issue being its need for creation and development to present to an audience. Eulogies vary (in content) based on cause of death, religion, relationship to the individual, method of delivery, the audience, the culture, location, and ultimately what the conveyer of the speech aims to evoke from the audience (which could vary if they decide to aim for making an otherwise sad situation, positive), which will all be crucial to the rhetoric of the eulogy. These factors are all constraints that cause there to be differences in the genre of “eulogy” or more specifically the scenario of (a) death. What characterizes this genre are elements that create the exigence of a eulogy. A death, a funeral, a wake, and a memorial service are all things that would have to occur in order for there to be a eulogy.
        A eulogy could be considered a convention to the genre of death or something involving a death, such as an event (like a funeral). Someone dies, and the response is based on societal cues. With the use of rhetoric, in order to create that environment in the audience’s mind, the author would have to (and I mean this solely in terms of a Westernized, first-world society) create that image to evoke the response. The mention of flowers and certain items that are typical to a funeral in America would seem apropos to a primary audience of Americans, and because of that relatability, would resonate with them more deeply, playing on the pathos and ethos of the audience.
        The design of a eulogy would go beyond that of what comes to mind (the physical), but we could assume in this case, design is structure. The foundation of a eulogy is a disussion of the deceased, and that maybe the only universality. The design will vary based on the deceased, method of delivery, and relationship of the speaker to the deceased. As an example, one could be preparing a eulogy for his or her boss. Personal anecdotes would definitely be appropriate, perhaps office jokes the deceased would tell then making a transition to a discussion of the deceased’s character and personality. Someone closer to the deceased may offer something a little more personally and emotional than that, because the opinion of a coworker heavily contrast the opinion of a family member.
        This analysis could be applied to an array of texts and their specific genres as they each vary by a variety of factors similar to those listed prior and a variety of circumstances that prompt them (a topic mentioned in Blog 2).