Genre in Foster Care Activism

In our readings this week, we read about genre and the ways it guides different aspects of activism. Specifically, in class we have been looking at the genres in fundraising and the four main categories found in a genre: the situational elements, substantive characteristics, stylistic characteristics, and organizing principles. In the case of a fundraising page, the situational elements (situations) tend to revolve around some form of tragedy or a situation that necessitates that a person or group of people obtain money from others. The substantive characteristics (content) is usually comprised of a touching picture(s), a body of text that has a humble and beseeching tone, and a way to see how much money has already been donated. The form of the fundraising page and the way it is organized is based off of the site used to create it. Gofundme and Kickstarter have distinct placements for each element of the genre.

I have found that many Foster Care fundraising sites that follow this pattern. Additionally, many of the texts in these fundraising pages contain heartfelt testimonies from Foster parents or kids in an attempt to show the true nature of the issue. Often, links to other companion websites or photos can be found in or around the text portion of these pages.