Daniela Catarino

RWS 1302

February 24, 2017

Genre Analysis Final

The Wonder World of Mushrooms

The United States of America is controlled by the government and

the government is based on written documents where power is limited.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has regulations under the

Controlled Substances Act where all incoming drugs must undergo a

process where the substance is evaluated in order to acquire useful

knowledge on the potency and limitations each drug holds. Because

this regulation is quite picky when it comes to analyzation, various

drugs are not approved, one of them being Mushrooms. Slowly but

surely, there has been reports as to how this Fungi has improved the

health of many individuals suffering from diseases with no dependency

or addiction playing a role. Analyzing diverse genres will give the reader

perspectives depending on how the data is interpreted.

The book Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition,

Healing, and Culture conveys an analyzation of three specific fungi used

in Egypt and China for medical purposes. The structure used for this

writing was partially outlined for an easier reading view with paragraph

titles for specific search access. Data charts were included with ancient
recordings of the usage of Egyptian Mushrooms. The purpose of this

reading is to expand the knowledge as to what Mushrooms have done

for others and for one to have a critical opinion on the true basis of

Fungi after being introduced to the unspoken world of nature.

The book gives further scientific investigations based on organized

laboratory studies made on humans and animals when exposed to

certain mushrooms by analyzing cells. Fungi have been examined for

years due to their ability of survival upon moldy forest environments,

this implemented the idea of a self-protecting organism (Hobbs, 2002).

By expanding the information gathered about the anatomy of the

mushroom, one can conclude that fungi became a target for the medical

industry after such discovery.

The author writes about his personal experience of consuming,

collecting, and evaluating mushrooms for almost two decades. The

author starts off introducing the edible mushroom that most

individuals are familiar with because it is legal in the United States but

unworthy for medical purposes. He even states that this fungus can be

hazardous to human health considering all the pesticides that are

sprayed. After analyzing some mushrooms, the book provides a chart

with all the combinations consumed with specific fungi and the type of
issue every individual was suffering from, furthermore; the dosage was

included for safety purposes.

Now, focusing on the clinical trials conducted by professionals,

the Reishi and Ling Zhi shrooms became known to stabilize many

disorders. Some recorded examples are as follows: Dizziness, insomnia,

mental disease caused by stress, Alzheimers, diabetes, hepatitis,

anorexia symptoms, and high-altitude sickness (Hobbs, 2002). This

book describes the usage of an enormous variety of mushrooms,

however; an important chart was implemented as a guide for the ill.

What this chart provided was classification of diverse pain symptoms,

the exact mushroom amount one should consume, how many times a

day it should be used, the fungi type, and what it should be soaked in.

By instructing such data, an individual would be able to generate home-

made natural medications.

Overall, this book was quite exquisite and very interesting.

Critically analyzing the context, one can infer that ethos and logos were

utilized given all the data interpreted. Additionally, all the given graphs

made it easier to understand how the Mushrooms functions without

having to read the whole chapters. If the author was trying to spread

awareness as to why Mushrooms are useful in the Medicinal industry, it

will more than likely be accepted by the reader.

 The picture documentary Medicinal Mushrooms truly describes

the historical background of how the Mushrooms came to be studied. It

seems, according to this video, that the discovery of mushrooms began

in China and Japan. The myths and traditions used by Asia is what led

motivation for further profound research upon these phenomenon fungi.

The first Mushroom being investigated falls under the Reishi

category (also mentioned in the book analysis), where a picture is

introduced along with the benefits it offers. This fungus is anticancer,

antitumor, and anti-inflammatory; It also has the power to spring

energy, increase endurance, and reach optimal weigh (Jackson, 2014).

Moreover, Reishi Mushrooms are edible but their chemical compounds

can be extracted for other purposes. By mentioning this specific

mushroom, the author proves a point that emphasizes the benefits of

these fungi to be more credible.

Famous Hippocrates of Greece and Pliny the Elder, mentioned the

use of mushrooms around 500 B.C. Dioscorides even made a whole

book of the Mushrooms judgement claiming they were all poisonous

with the exception of one. As the video continues; more fungi are

mentioned and described as to what chemicals they contain. Pictures

are provided for the sake of understanding the detailed process of what

elements are being released to ones brain under the influence. The
most important part was a chart with diverse categorized mushrooms

where one could identify what mushroom to consume depending on

their personal symptoms.

Concluding the analysis of this genre, the video contained

historical background and the benefits Mushrooms provide to the world.

Although it was a short documentary, not enough information was

mentioned due to the cycle of repetitiveness. The charts that were

included are what stood out because the data was overall what the

makers of the video were trying to explain. This genre also used ethos

and logos in order to spread a message utilizing recorded information.

Summarizing this examination, the book transported the primary

message of Medicinal Mushrooms. Not only was the book average-level

read, it also pointed out instructions on how to safely consume

mushrooms and the purpose of the most popular ones being used in

the medical industry. The video was supposed to focus the audiences

attention on graphics and pictures rather than the words, it seemed as

if it were a Power Point containing detailed backgrounds behind all the

typed information which made the source useless.

References
Hobbs, C. (2002). Medical mushrooms: an exploration of tradition, healing,
and culture. Book Publishing Company. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=1dXwCAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT6&dq=mushroom+an
d+mental+disease&ots=bW4t2dtgPA&sig=GBJlYRNYQe99kFtcad1uO
AirTBY#v=onepage&q=mushroom%20and%20mental
%20disease&f=false
Jackson, E. (Director). (2014). Medical mushrooms [Motion Picture].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8KiwSs8VyE