Has it ever happened to you that you are reading a story or watching a film, and after a few instances of absorbing the content, you have started predicting what’s going to happen next?
Obviously, after seeing the same kind of horror stories with suspenseful music or reading about the struggling journey of a protagonist miraculously succeeding in every sphere of life. It’s like a piece of cake because the generic conventions help you distinguish and predict the plot or what’s coming next in the movie.
Generic conventions refer to a certain group or style of artistic essay or story writing having an established setting, plot, characters, narrative style, themes, and many other elements across the works created. The presence of similar elements in different works conjoins them and places them under one umbrella, like tragedy, comedy, mystery, etc.
What are Generic Conventions?
In simple words, generic conventions are the features, themes, settings, and stylistic elements that are commonly associated with a genre. For example, if a novel is discussing a detective figure, it gives clues and red herrings, helping the audience move an inch closer to solving the mystery.
Then, you are most likely to get the genre of the prose that is written using elements of detective fiction because of the setting and narrative of the novel, like “Sherlock Holmes” stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.
The same is the case with visual media, series or movies like “Harry Potter” or J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” adaptations. The availability of elements related to magical realism can help you or anyone who’s familiar with the category in which metaphysical or magical elements fall mark both pieces into the magical realism genre.
What is the Definition of Genre Conventions?
Genre conventions are the specific elements, like themes, characters, plot, setting, narrative style, and tone, commonly found in the same type of writing or media. The availability of the same elements in a content makes it fall into a specific genre like science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, etc.
For example, if you are reading a humanities essay discussing a story, there are certain elements like dark settings presenting scenes of forests or graveyards, an unusual human being with a fearful appearance, inciting incidents, or supernatural elements.
Then, you can get to its genre in a second because all these are reflections of writings written according to the horror or gothic genre. When you are consuming similar kinds of content repeatedly, you can easily predict the coming scenes or even dialogues.
What are the Elements of Generic Conventions?
Any genre, whether it is tragicomedy, fantasy, horror, science fiction, historical fiction, etc, can’t evolve in isolation because it contains several elements as mentioned above and changes with time or when new writing styles are introduced.
Whenever you want to figure out the style or category of any short story or movie, simply point out the factors mentioned below, and you will get to know whether it is a thriller or romance based on your repeated exposure to similar kinds of works.
You can pick any persuasive essay topic and craft a story or film script falling in an established genre like historical fiction by incorporating all of its established elements.
1. Plot:
It refers to the sequences of events moving the story to the defined ending point. If you have ever read or watched “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles or “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, then you must already be aware how every next scene or dialogue makes the plot move to the final destination.
There are certain plot structures that are usually associated with different genres. For example, if the two individuals are meeting and facing barriers in their relationship building, leading to a reconciliation between their circumstances. Then, it is most likely associated with the romantic comedy genre.
“When Harry Met Sally”, released in 1989, is the perfect representation of romance/comedy because the whole plot revolves around the struggles of the protagonists.
2. Characters:
Characters are the individuals who are leading the story and performing actions, aligning with several themes or topics of a prose. Every genre has some specific characters associated with it, like an inciting character who encourages other people to perform wrong actions, which is usually a part of tragic works.
For example, the character of Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” is an epitome of evil because she incites her husband to murder King Duncan.
The same is the case with fantasy writings or even series like “Harry Potter”, in which the protagonist Harry Potter is facing unique challenges and doing heroic actions to meet archetypes of fantasy and adventure characters.
3. Setting:
Setting is not only the time and place in which the plot of any novel, poem, or movie is sketched. Instead, it includes the backdrop and even atmosphere of the work to influence the narrative’s mood and themes. For example, the famous prose of Emily Brontë, “Wuthering Heights”, is set on the isolated Yorkshire moors.
The use of abandoned castles creates a sense of dread, increasing the horror or haunting outlook of the prose. The combination of all these elements makes the setting strictly according to the horror or gothic literature genre.
When there are some futuristic places, fictional characters, or even supernatural elements present in a prose or movie, then it is undoubtedly from the science fiction genre conventions.
Professional Assignment Help!
From dissertation and essays to literature review and analysis, we can help you with all types of assignments.
- Original Work
- Grammar and Punctuation
- Precision and Clarity
- Zero Plagiarism
- Excellent Customer Service
4. Themes:
Themes are the central ideas discussed in a literary work or the craft of film and media to hit upon the emotions of humans, to preach morality or just for the sake of fun. The primary function of themes or topic ideas is to cover the whole plot from top to bottom, just to communicate deeper meanings.
Generic conventions are bound by specific themes associated with a particular genre. For example, the theme of good vs. evil is perfectly present in “The Lord of The Rings”, “Hamlet”, and “The Merchant of Venice” because their plot is all about the domination of goodness over bad spirits.
In visual media, Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” delves deep into the moral ambiguities of heroism and villainy to align with the themes. You can craft a custom coursework writing on any of your favourite themes for a class assignment.
5. Tone:
Don’t confuse the term tone of genre with literal meaning because it is something associated with the attitude of the author toward the subject matter of any media and literary work. It is usually conveyed through stylistic choices and narrative voices.
For example, William Shakespeare has used a melancholic tone to show the tragic nature of the play “Hamlet”. That’s why he used a grave tone to discuss the themes of revenge or mortality in the play, which means sad or tragic plots need to be narrated using a sombre tone, as it is an established generic convention.
The same is the case with “Dr. Strangelove”, a war comedy released in 1964 to critique the Cold War politics and nuclear threat using humour and irony to maintain a satirical tone, comedic in nature.
6. Narrative Voice:
The use of first-person narration or even second-person narration is part of the narrative voice structure opted for poem or screenplay writing by the writer. It is used to narrate the whole story from a linear point of view and influence how information is perceived by the audience.
For example, in “The Diary of Anne Frank”, the protagonist narrates the horrors of the Holocaust by using a first-person narrative to give real insights into the raw experiences to make the audience feel the pain.
On the other hand, omniscient narration is all about presenting the lives of different characters from a single perspective, as done by Leo Tolstoy in his famous work “War & Peace” to present a comprehensive view of the lives of people during the Napoleonic Wars.
7. Iconography:
Iconography is the use of visual symbols and imagery that are characteristics of a particular genre. For example, revolvers, cowboy hats, and horses are associated with masculine guys of Europe, not more than 200 years ago.
So if you want to depict the Germany or Poland of the 19th century in your craft, you need to include these items in the plot, as “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” did to match the Western genre identity.
In horror movies like “The Conjuring”, “Annabelle” or novels like “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, the inclusion of haunted houses, dark forests, and supernatural entities makes the craft perfect to be considered as horror works because these symbols or elements are categorised as the soul of fear.
8. Style:
Style is all about the unique use of language, sentence structure, and visual presentation elements like scene settings by an author or a director to showcase the best of their skills.
If we look back at literary history, then we’ll find out that a unique way of writing dialogues or verses called blank verse became the identity of the Earl of Surrey and William Shakespeare. Until today, whenever someone wants to use this style, they follow the established norms and generic conventions.
For example, the use of simple language, as Earnest Hemingway did in “The Old Man and the Sea”, presents minimalist literature. “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” uses distorted visuals to reflect psychological themes, which is a perfect representation of expressionist film because of the set conventions associated with it.
Literary Example of Generic Conventions
To help you understand or write perfect college assignments about the literary genres, we have brought some very famous generic conventions examples for you. Make sure to go through these examples and never miss judging the category of any drama or novel you read.
John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” is a perfect example of how generic conventions are employed in young adult fiction. That’s why we have presented a detailed analysis below to help you understand how generic conventions work.
Genre:
Young Adult Romance/Drama
Conventions Used
Teenage Protagonists: Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters navigate the complexities of adolescence and the grave sickness of cancer throughout the plot, resembling the elements of adult age issues in fiction.
First-Person Narration: Hazel’s raw perspectives about life provide an intimate reflection of her thoughts and emotions, changing from scene to scene like a teenager.
Themes of Love and Morality: The meaning or problems of losing someone close to the heart, making love even during an existential crisis, and moral ambiguities about whom to blame, either God or conditions, are perfectly presented in the novel.
Symbolism: The recurring phrase “Okay” in every second chapter of the prose presents the meaning of acceptance. Their utterance of “Okay” actually says we are ready to deal with the current and even coming issues, as well as there’s no way back.
Film & Media Example of Generic Conventions
Media is the most attractive art form where most people get engaged easily. That’s why the one movie enthusiast usually starts predicting the plot of the movie or series when you are binge-watching with them. You know how it happens, and their predictions are so accurate?
It’s because they are aware of the generic conventions available in the film industry. We can take the “Harry Potter” series, written by J.K. Rowling and directed by four people, including Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates.
If you have ever watched this series or even watched any part of the series or a similar movie, then it is more likely that you will easily point out the fantasy elements present in it.
Genre:
Fantasy/Adventure
Conventions Used
Magical Setting: The wizardry school Hogwarts itself and the supernatural actions of different characters, like flying on broomsticks and using spells to lift the broomstick, are a perfect reflection of the magical setting drawn by J.K. Rowling.
Heroic Journey: Transformation of protagonist Harry Potter from an ordinary boy to the saviour of not only the wizardry world but of mankind. Makes him an epitome of goodness, as it aligns with the classical heroic journey archetype.
Iconography: Iconography is the study and interpretation of visual elements used in a prose or film. For example, the wands of students, magic spells, and mythical creatures like Goblins, House-Elves, and dragons align with the iconography images of fantasy literature.
Themes of Good Vs. Evil: The ongoing battle between Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter constantly brings to light the dispute between good and evil. Fantasy movies or series usually revolve around the protagonist serving good purposes and the antagonists serving evil purposes.
What are Selective Constraints?
Selective constraints are the limitations of generic conventions to help writers or creators not exceed the set genre boundaries of a setting or themes, so that the audience and even the writer don’t get confused about judging the genre of a work.
To fill in the details of the plot around the characters, resulting in a perfect image of a genre. It helps the audience to anticipate defined elements that need to be present in a prose or films of a certain genre, which means deviating from established boundaries can lead to audience dissatisfaction.
Following selective constraints like setting, plot, themes, style, tone, etc, can make your work predictable and result in formulaic storytelling, which is good for new writers.
What are Enabling Constraints?
Enabling constraints are the events or characters that make the conflicts or preceding events possible for the protagonists to solve the problems, inciting incidents referring to inner or external conflicts of the play.
These are actually artistic elements that give the freedom to add or even remove some characters or elements defined by generic conventions to help the audience connect the dots. Use of catalysts or out-of-the-box circumstances to create cause-and-effect scenarios that the audience is expecting to see in a particular genre.
For example, the sudden loss of connection between two saviours, as it happens in “Avengers: Endgame”, a science fiction movie, causes the audience to expect the miraculous reconnection. You can experiment with enabling constraints to write a unique theatre assignment.
Conclusion
Setting norms or common elements of building a story presents the generic conventions as similar themes or settings in the same kind of literature or movies. Their similarity of construction binds them together and categorises them as works of one genre.
Whenever you see the same kind of characters, themes, or tone in a novel or series, you can understand that it is because of the common genre elements incorporated in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, two different genres can be fused together simultaneously, as William Shakespeare does by writing “The Tempest”, a representation of tragedy and comedy in the same plot.
Generic conventions evolve with cultural shifts, technological advancements, and audience preferences, as cyberpunk evolved from the genre of science fiction with advancements in technology over time.
It is not true with all genres, but some generic conventions of horror differ from culture to culture, as elements of horror are widely influenced by the local cultural or societal norms of any society.
