Genre Analysis Sean Nessl ENC1102-0M05

Genre has multiple accepted meanings in the academic world. Most people accept genre as a form of writing in which the story line follows a general theme or genre. In the sense of Discourse Communities there is a very specific definition of genre. According to Amy J. Devitt, genre connects to purpose, participants, and themes derived from the notion of genre as a response to recurring rhetorical situations (Devitt). In slightly simpler terms genre is a form of writing that members of a discourse community use constantly in order to connect and communicate with each other. Each specific discourse community has a genre that is well understood by each member. This paper will explore the genre of the discourse community of Finance and Accounting through explanation of the traits of a financial statement. The genre most commonly used by members of the finance and accounting community would be financial statements. Each fiscal year and/or quarter, publically traded companies are required by the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) to release financial statements on the corporation. Investors and creditors review these statements in order to have truthful knowledge on the company so that they are able to decide whether to invest or not invest. The definition of genre states there should be a rhetorical situation that the genre responds to. In the genre of financial statements there is a need from investors to understand the past business success or failure so that they can decide whether to invest in that company and if a company will be profitable.

These financial statements are not only in response to a need by the investors or creditors but also the need by the corporation for capitol to start up their business. This is why the financial statements are regulated because when false information is given they may, for false reasons, gain more investors, which obviously is the goal of the corporation. In some situations these financial statements can create a separate rhetorical situation. Depending how the investor or creditor reads the financial statement they may or may not invest in that company. There are actually around four statements that each give different information on the financial standings of the corporation. The main statement that tells the overall success of the company would be the income statement. This statement is strictly revenues and expenses, which shows whether the company has a net income or a net loss. Other statements would be a statement of cash flow, statement of stockholders equity, and a balance sheet. Each of these used properly together can depict how the company will do in the future. To analyze the genre of the discourse community of Finance I will compare three separate income statements. Each statement was found through the SECs online file view and may be referred to in the Appendix section. The three income statements are annual earning reports from A1: Home Depot Inc., A2: Nike Inc., and A3: Apple Inc (EDGAR). If one does not know what to look for, these statements will have no meaning or value to them. To a member of the Finance community or, investors and creditors, there are specific traits that make this a useful genre. The structure of the Income statements is based on labeling. Each statement has the title of the statement and the date of the period that was recorded. Notice that Home

Depots income statement is labeled Consolidated Statements of Earnings, Nikes is labeled Statements of Income, and Apples is labeled Statement of Operations (Appendix). While each title is labeled differently each statements shows the companys record of revenues and expenses that lead to a net income or net loss. The same goes for each account within the income statement. On Home Depots income statement there is an account named NET SALES, on Nikes income statement the same account is labeled, Revenues instead. Also, members of the finance community know to note the claimer within every financial statement title, which tells the true value of each amount. For example, all three sample income statements present their data in millions. So Nikes revenue reads $25,313, which in millions, the true value, is twenty-five billion dollars. There is a common breakdown of data throughout the three income statements; Revenues and expenses. A companies revenues minus their expenses equals the companies net income or loss for that period. This is the reason the revenues or sales appear first then the expenses are recorded so that it can be subtracted from the revenue section to result with the net income, hence the income statement. These separate sections are sometimes started with a account name starting with revenues and then the expenses. Another finance specific trait that is usually only understood by members are the use of parentheses. On any financial statement the use of parentheses indicates a loss or a negative amount whereas a number with no parentheses is positive. The last crucial piece of information needed for the income statement to have value is the date of the period that the revenues and expenses match up with. Without the date the data becomes irrelevant to how the company is currently standing.

Financial statements are based on the transactions preformed and recorded by the company. The data is very straightforward while the account titles may sound vague. The data is the information that can be read by the elite members of the finance community and powered toward decision making in investing. A strong appeal to the statements would be a logos appeal. It is clear that logos appeals to these statements because they are based strictly off the numbers. There is also an appeal to ethos. As previously stated the SEC, through independent auditors, regulates these statements so they can be trusted and are fairly creditable. Every financial aspect is important and helpful to make correct financial decisions on a company. Overall, companies need investors to start up their company and financial statements are the genre that tells the truthful past and present financial status of that company. While there is room for fraud most financial statements are truthful due to the SEC. The statement title and labeling of accounts are a main contribution to the genre of Finance.

Work Cited Devitt, Amy J. "Generalizing about Genre: New Conceptions of an Old Concept." College Composition and Communication 44.4 (1993): 573-86. Print. "EDGAR." SEC.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.

Appendix 1. Home Depot Inc.

sConsolidated Statements Of Earnings (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified NET SALES Cost of Sales GROSS PROFIT Operating Expenses: Selling, General and Administrative Depreciation and Amortization Total Operating Expenses OPERATING INCOME Interest and Other (Income) Expense: Interest and Investment Income Interest Expense Other Interest and Other, net EARNINGS BEFORE PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES Provision for Income Taxes NET EARNINGS Weighted Average Common Shares BASIC EARNINGS PER SHARE Diluted Weighted Average Common Shares DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE

Feb. 03, 2013 $ 74,754 48,912 25,842 16,508 1,568 18,076 7,766
[1] [1] [1]

Jan. 29, 2012 $ 70,395 46,133 24,262 16,028 1,573 17,601 6,661

[1] [1] [1] [1]

(20) 632 (67) 545 7,221 2,686 $ 4,535 1,499 $ 3.03 1,511 $ 3.00

[1] [1] [1] [1] [1]

(13) 606 0 593 6,068 2,185 $ 3,883 1,562 $ 2.49 1,570 $ 2.47

[1] [1] [1]

[1] [1]

[1]

2. Nike Inc.

Consolidated Statements Of Income (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified Revenues Cost of sales Gross profit Demand creation expense Operating overhead expense Total selling and administrative expense Interest (income) expense, net (Notes 6, 7 and 8) Other (income) expense, net (Note 17) Income before income taxes Income tax expense (Note 9) NET INCOME FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS NET INCOME (LOSS) FROM DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS NET INCOME Basic earnings per common share (Notes 1 and 12)(in dollars per share) Diluted earnings per common share (Notes 1 and 12)(in dollars per share) Basic earnings per common share (Notes 1 and 12)(in dollars per share) Diluted earnings per common share (Notes 1 and 12)(in dollars per share) Dividends declared per common share (in dollars per share)

12 Months Ended May 31, 2013 $ 25,313 14,279 11,034 2,745 5,035 7,780 (3) (15) 3,272 808 2,464 21 $ 2,485 $ 2.75 $ 2.69 $ 0.02 $ 0.02 $ 0.81 May 31, 2012 $ 23,331 13,183 10,148 2,607 4,458 7,065 4 54 3,025 756 2,269 (46) $ 2,223 $ 2.47 $ 2.42 $ (0.05) $ (0.05) $ 0.70 May 31, 2011 $ 20,117 10,915 9,202 2,344 4,017 6,361 4 (25) 2,862 690 2,172 (39) $ 2,133 $ 2.28 $ 2.24 $ (0.04) $ (0.04) $ 0.60

3. Apple Inc.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (USD $) In Millions, except Share data in Thousands, unless otherwise specified Net sales Cost of sales Gross margin Operating expenses: Research and development Selling, general and administrative Total operating expenses Operating income Other income/(expense), net Income before provision for income taxes Provision for income taxes Net income Earnings per share: Basic Diluted Shares used in computing earnings per share: Basic Diluted Cash dividends declared per common share

12 Months Ended Sep. 29, 2012 $ 156,508 87,846 68,662 3,381 10,040 13,421 55,241 522 55,763 14,030 $ 41,733 $ 44.64 $ 44.15 Sep. 24, 2011 $ 108,249 64,431 43,818 2,429 7,599 10,028 33,790 415 34,205 8,283 $ 25,922 $ 28.05 $ 27.68 Sep. 25, 2010 $ 65,225 39,541 25,684 1,782 5,517 7,299 18,385 155 18,540 4,527 $ 14,013 $ 15.41 $ 15.15

934,818 945,355 $ 2.65

924,258 936,645 $ 0.00

909,461 924,712 $ 0.00

Sean Nessl

9/23/13

You have a good grasp on what genre means, we actually used the same definition but yours is more specific. With your theses statement, I would add more to it; what are you going to look for with theses financial statements? Your second paragraph (who uses financial statements) is very detailed and good, maybe you can add on to this paragraph by mentioning how confusing these statements are to people outside of the community. I would also suggest adding more examples throughout the paper in order to emphasize your point. All in all youre on the right track, just make sure to add a closing paragraph that summarizes your analysis and the paper will be great.

Jasmine Prieto