Genre Language and Community in Cycling Feature Articles

This thesis examines several aspects of nine feature articles I wrote about the road bicycling community in southeastern, Virginia from January 2005 to September 2006. Chapter II examines how my preconceived notions of the "cycling feature" genre were reinforced as well as compromised through the process of writing and publishing the articles. Chapter III discusses how the process of composing the articles exposed some of the language peculiarities within the cycling community and how cyclists' shared language is a defining aspect of cycling culture. Chapter IV addresses how the feature stories and cycling webblogs generate action and discourse in the cycling community. Finally, Chapter VI is a compilation of the articles in the form in which they were submitted to editors of various regional publications.