{"id":1366,"date":"2017-03-29T01:36:43","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T06:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhetoric-of-food\/?p=1366"},"modified":"2017-03-29T01:40:05","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T06:40:05","slug":"hybrid-genre-conventions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhetoric-of-food\/2017\/03\/29\/hybrid-genre-conventions\/","title":{"rendered":"Hybrid Genre Conventions"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I am still needing to form my exact genre, I have an idea of doing a hybrid genre that is between an informal review and a best and worst list. My idea is to either pit different restaurants with similar cuisine genres against one another and see who is supreme and who falls short, or pick one type of cuisine genre, try different restaurants that serve this genre, and make a list that ranks them from best to worst. While I decide between these two genres\u2019, I have been researching different food writing topics that I think would help both of my options. I\u2019ve been mainly focusing on finding formal and informal reviews and articles that rank restaurants. I have also been wanting to find both positive and negative reviews.<\/span><\/p>\n

During my research, I found things that worked and did not work and have helped me get a clearer idea of what my topic should include. It seems that the best rankings and reviews keep the audience in suspense, meaning that they save the big reveal till the very end; whether this be through putting the best restaurant as the last slide like in the \u201cBest Seafood\u201d article, or giving your final opinion, and the whole point of the article, at the very end as seen in \u201cChipotle vs. Qdoba\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

I also discovered that shorter is sometimes better. As a typical person has a small attention span, the reviews need to be short. While the \u201cBest Seafood\u201d article does a good job of this, they seem to fall short on overall length as the audience has to click through 31 slides. The review on Montana\u2019s Trail House seems to achieve a nice balance of a formal review, written in a way that creates imagery in a reader\u2019s head while also providing a lot of information in a concise amount of space. I also enjoyed this review because it used more than one sense; I was able to conjure images and smells, albeit in an unfavorable way towards Montana\u2019s, thus creating a more interesting and powerful review.<\/span><\/p>\n

What should it contain?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Save the best for last<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 History of the restaurant<\/span><\/p>\n

Always:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Be aware of your audience and the length of your post<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Write with the senses in mind<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Write about what a reader would want to know: Ease of access, price, availability, location, food and service quality, and overall dining experience<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Visual Component: Actual images of the food served or the restaurant itself<\/span><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n