Brittney Key

English 102

Dr. Wynne

17 February 2017

Genre Analysis: Mass Incarceration

Mass incarceration in the United States has been a prevalent issue for over fifty years.

Statistics have increased dramatically over the years, and now displays that one in three black

males are sent to prison. The book The New Jim Crow by Melissa Alexander and the political

cartoon U.S. Prison System by David G. Brown both show concern for the issue and use

different styles to send a message to the public.

The New Jim Crow by Melissa Alexander is a text that explains mass incarceration.

Alexander specifies in her preface that she has a specific audience in mind-- people that care

deeply about racial justice (Alexander xiii). The way that the author structured the text assists

in making the information easy to analyze. The New Jim Crow is organized into six chapters,

with a foreword, notes, and an index. Providing information in an organized manner, such as

chronological order, is useful for the reader and gets the points across better. Michelle Alexander

informed those of the issues at hand using formal language and statistics. The author used serif,

black font on white paper, which keeps the tone of the book serious. The audience will spend

more time with this genre because it is a longer read. Although this is a longer read, it would be

easier to interpret for some because Alexander uses straightforward facts backed up with

historical evidence and numerical data to explain the issue.

The second genre that informed others of mass incarceration is the political cartoon U.S.

Prison System by David G. Brown. In the picture, there is a can slightly peeled open, that
resembles a can of sardines. The can itself is light blue, but the inside of it is a drab, gray color.

Lying inside the can are men in prison uniforms, two of them with darker skin and textured hair,

and one that is white with long, straight brown hair. Written on the tin is U.S. Prison System,

Mass Incarceration, Worlds Largest Jailer!, and One in Three Black Males. For each

phrase the font is bolded. The serious terms U.S. Prison System and Mass Incarceration are

black and dont really stand out. However, the statements that are meant to appeal to viewers

look different. Worlds Largest Jailer! is displayed in a bright yellow spiked callout with red

Impact font and red border around the callout. One in Three Black Males is displayed on a red

background in black Impact font on a slant in the corner of the can. The cartoon was released to

newspaper readers. Although the piece uses informal language, viewers will spend some time to

interpret the visual, and still learn some new information.

Written genres and visual genres have many differences. The first one, obviously, is the

means of delivery. Written pieces have text and are delivered through books, magazines,

newspapers, etc. Visual pieces can be delivered through many different types of media, whether

it is moving pictures or a standard drawing or photograph. While the genres are different, they

also have their similarities. Both genres speak on the important issue of mass incarceration. Also,

they have some limitations when it comes to interpreting the piece. Depending on the person,

interpretation for a certain genre can be hard or easy. Nonfiction books provide a lot of unbiased

information that should be easy to understand, but reading levels vary within an audience, and

everyone has a different mindset when reading. With text, you cannot always get the thoughts

you want expressed put out correctly. Sometimes, words can be misunderstood and readers will

react negatively. With a visual, interpretation is also different. When viewing a piece of art, you

can have many different thoughts. Small details can easily be missed. However, the artist can
simply get all of their feelings out onto their medium and leave it up for discussion, because it is

usually easier to show, rather than tell. Additionally, both genres use rhetorical appeals. The New

Jim Crow uses all three appeals, ethos, logos, and pathos. Author Michelle Alexander establishes

ethos by utilizing real life examples and cited sources within her text. For example, in Chapter

five titled The New Jim Crow, Alexander featured information from both Ebony and Time

magazines and cited Boston College psychologist Rebekah Levine Coley. Also, in the beginning

of the book, there is a foreword that she uses to explain why she immersed herself into this issue.

The author described herself ten years prior to the publishing of this book as someone who does

not yet appreciate the magnitude of the crisis faced by communities of color as a result of mass

incarceration (Alexander xiii). Furthermore, in the authors biography, it is expressed that

Alexander devotes much of her time to supporting groups and organizations engaged in

movement-building to end mass incarceration (Alexander i). Next, Alexander creates logos

by using statistics and research in The New Jim Crow. Finally, she crafts pathos by evoking the

different emotions of rage, sadness, and by making others feel sympathy for those that have been

incarcerated. U.S. Prison System utilizes the appeal of pathos. The emotion that this picture

arouses is a serious one. The colors used in the picture are placed strategically. The words that

needed to stick out were in bright, attention-stealing colors yellow and red. The words that

people would overlook (Mass Incarceration and U.S. Prison System) were in all black font.

Also, the artist stayed true to the claim of 1 in 3 Black Men! by using color and drawing style

to depict two black men compared to the one white man.

In conclusion, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander and U.S. Prison System are

two forms of work that both touch on the subject of mass incarceration. While both genres have

obvious differences due to their respective genres, they both have their similarities as well. Both
used rhetorical appeals, and raised awareness for a prevalent situation in Americas current

society.
 Works Cited

Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New

York, NY: New, 2012. Print.

Brown, David G. U.S. Prison System. The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists,

143480 , Los Angeles Sentinel , 20 July 2015

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/143480/