Hector Mejia

80541940
1/26/16
Genre Analysis Outline Assignment Sheet
Rhetoric and Writing Studies 1302
Carefully and closely read the entirety of the Genre Analysis
assignment guidelines in your Student Guide to Undergraduate
Rhetoric and Writing Studies. Make sure you understand the
assignment and its deliverables. When conducting each step of a
particular project it is important you have a bigger picture of the
project in mind.
This particular assignment activity the Genre Analysis Outline is
meant to be a first step, or draft, in organizing your Genre Analysis. To
receive full credit for this assignment, you must follow all of the
prompts below when composing your outline.
Remember that an effective rhetorical analysis of any text is not firstly
about what the text says, but rather more specifically about how and
why the text is composed, structured, and delivered the way it is. As
always in academic writing, the effectiveness of your text will depend
on the use of specific, supporting details culled from the source texts
to support your analysis.
Part One
Write down the two genres you have chosen (include titles, who or
where they come from, and what genres they are), and answer the
questions that follow:
Genre 1: Newspaper (The El Paso Times)
Genre 2: Website ( Texasmonthly.com)
1. What is your topic of inquiry? Governmental Corruption.
2. Why did you select these two specific genres? The reason for my
choosing these two genres is due to the amount of information one
can obtain on a situation as public as corruption, therefore I need fresh
and outspoken information.
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3. How does each genre communicate about your topic of inquiry? The
newspaper communicates itself through columns and information on
the topic at hand. Websites on the other hand perform more of a
report and interview with the people involved and tends to be as
opinionated as a newspaper.
Part Two
Answer each of the following prompts for both genres as a way of
organizing the content of your Genre Analysis assignment.
Audience and Purpose
1. Who is/are the intended audience(s) and discourse community(ies)?
The intended audience is mainly the public and reaches the discourse
communities such as the family and schools.
2. What does the audience already know and what do they want to
know? The audience is already aware of the corruption in El Pasos
leaders yet they want to know exactly what drove them to commit
such actions.
3. How much time will the audience spend with each genre? From 20
to 30 minutes depending on the comprehensive and reading ability of
each individual.
4. What was the purpose (inform, persuade, and/or entertain)? The
purpose solely rides on informing the public on the situation at hand.
5. How formal/informal is the language? The language is formal in
newspaper and yet on websites the language can sometimes turn to
be a bit informal.
6. What specialized vocabulary is used? There is no special vocabulary,
only the day to day language except when it comes to a governmental
term.
7. What other language features do you notice (text, type, font, color,
visuals, etc)? The text is bold yet small, the typing is press New York
times, the color is a bold dark and both genres contain visuals
although they depend on the article one is reading.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos, Logos
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1. How does this genre establish (or attempt to establish) Its credibility
with the audience? Both genres establish their credibility with cold
hard facts and with sources such as the perpetrators themselves,
people involved or on by lookers.
2. What emotions is the genre attempting to evoke from its audience?
The main emotion that both genres are trying to pry open are anger
and rage when concerning governmental affairs.
3. What types of evidence are used to support claims? Is it
valid/reliable? If there is no evidence, what is used to help support the
information presented? The evidence procured through the newspaper
and websites are normally valid except for a few rare exceptions. The
evidence used is typically information obtained by their P.I.s or
personal informants. Such as video, audio recordings, pictures, etc.
Structure and Delivery
1. How is the information organized to covey its message?
The information is laid out strategically. Normally they place an
explosive headliner that immediately attracts the attention of
the public, then they follow with the facts and information on
said article or news piece respectively.
2. Are there limitations placed on the information because of the
genre? Does it have more freed to express what it needs to because of
the genre?
There are no clear limitations except for the fact that they cant place
lies on their articles because if the newspaper or online articles begin
to lie their credibility will be shot and wont be trusted. The advantage
however is the freedom to express what they want to express from the
most mundane to the most controversial topic.
3. How does the structure facilitate its purpose?
The structure is simple and laid out in a way that the headliner catches
the audience attention then proceeds with a few paragraphs of facts
and information and followed up by images or political cartoons and
closing remarks.