Genres can be chalked up to how one is feeling, their mood. Producers and authors today know how to grab the audience's attention and how to get people to relate to the song, book or movie. Genre is determined based off the subject, setting and the plot being told in the story. I will define the actual term for genre, while giving my own definition; will then talk about what separates each type of genre, their style and meaning, as well as how some tie into one another. As well as discussing my preferences for movies, music, and videogames; what they mean to me and how I perceive them. I will be including into this essay, research that I have found, regarding genre. I will compare my own initial thoughts with what I find, as well as talking about the relationship to genre and art.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines genre as, "a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content" (Webster). I define it as a certain style and mood that the producer or author, wants the audience to feel. Even though people can perceive certain genres a different way, the overall arching theme is still relatively the same for everyone. I first came across the word back in early elementary school, when we were told to pick out what books we wanted to read for reading class. I always chose books about sports or whichever had the most pictures and less words. But as I got into middle school and we had to begin writing papers based off books we read, I finally began to understand what genre meant and how I perceived different styles. You must be careful though when examining genres and not getting them confused with styles.

There are many styles of genre that exist: horror, comedy, thriller, fiction, non-fiction, country, hip-hop, etc. Each genre has their own style, their own meaning and their own perception. The audience, however, can perceive the same genre in different ways. For those that wish to be scared or have that adrenaline rush, they tend to choose horror, thriller and usually fiction. When people wish to laugh or feel better, they tend to pick comedy and romance. People have different preferences of music, usually depending on where they grew up, who they idolize and their moods as well. But different styles of music can even intertwine with one another. There are many types of subgenres and only three main genres: poetry, prose and drama. Poetry deals with synonyms and rhyming, in an unusual stanza formation. Stanza, are known as blocks of lines, stories within a story (Terms). Prose, is everything that poetry is not, which would include novels, nonfiction, articles, etc. Drama written out is ideally for an audience (Terms).

When it comes to different types or artforms in genre, I can vary. With music I have a very wide range I listen to; it depends on my mood. If I am loving life and I am happy, I usually listen to country and hip-hop. When I am ready to get crazy with my friends and do something, I listen to hip-hop and classic rock. It also will depend on my surroundings and who I am with. With movies, I cannot handle horror movies like exorcism movies. I prefer action packed movies or comedies.

They tend to relate to how I live my life and what I am like as a person. I am a big sport fanatic so of course when it comes to videogames, I like to play sports. Also being the social-person that I am, I like to play action games with my friends, so we can communicate and talk to one another. Genre is movies consists of four things: story (action), setting, character and the plot (Terms). Each piece playing a role in defining the movies genre.

When it comes to defining genre, I like to use my own definition. I believe it is how people perceive different genres in the way they do, and how it relates to them. When it comes to movies, music and literature, genre can be defined and viewed differently, along with the style being portrayed. There are many styles with lots of differences and similarities throughout the different artforms. The commonly known genre can be summed down to what the stories plot, setting and subject is. As Rosemary Clement-Moore once said, "Good writing is good writing. In many ways, it's the audiences that define a genre" (Clement-Moore).