Genres help us decode texts by providing a framework by which to analyze and understand their content. It does this through two basic ways: by providing us with an expectation of what we are about to see, and allowing us to participate in our community through social interaction and community membership.

Genres are all subject to change because of outside evolutionary forces (i.e. social progression). The form remains the same in order to conform to the genre and meet our expectations, but the content is influenced by, and in turn, influences societal changes in a mutually symbiotic relationship. Because society is in a constant flux of change, discourse adapts to changes in culture. Discourse in turn influences the content while still meeting the requirements of the form/genre.

Quote by Carol Berkenkotter and Thomas Huckin:
"Genre knowledge embraces both form and content, including a sense of what content is appropriate to a particular purpose in a particular situation at a particular point in time."

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