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For your first writing assignment,
you have been asked to write a genre analysis.
The basic assignment asks you to choose a topic,
and then select two different genres that discuss that topic.
What you want to analyze is how the change in genre
affects how the discourse is shaped.
From the assignment sheet,
there are four sections you will need to deal with:
audience and purpose,
rhetorical issues,
structure,
and style and language.
You will need to identify
who created these genres and where they come from.
So make sure to provide titles and authors and creators' names
when applicable.
In order to understand this better,
the following information
can help you with your analysis of your own genres.
For our purposes here,
we will use the topic of immigration
and show you how to be thinking about the analysis
using the genre of a street sign.
Some of the key analysis points to consider
is that this is the genre that has to shape its information
based on the size of the sign
and the fact that drivers are passing by it very quickly.
Let's start though with audience and purpose.
The audience will already view this genre
with prior knowledge.
They will be familiar with street-crossing signs of this nature
from places like school zones.
This genre is intended for two audiences:
American citizens who are driving
and illegal immigrants who may be crossing.
There is an assumption that these immigrants
are Mexican as well.
We can make this kind of specific distinction
because of the use of language
and who the English text is meant for
and who the Spanish text is meant for.
From this language,
we can even identify the audience's geographical location.
It wouldn't be found near the Canadian border, would it?
It will have to be in an area
where the majority of illegal immigrants
are assumed to be Mexican,
so the Southwest is probably where this would be located.
The purpose of the communication on the sign
is also twofold: to inform and persuade
by presenting a warning.
It is informing both audiences to be aware.
However, the persuasion is different for each audience.
One is "Be careful. Illegal immigrants cross here.
You might hit them."
And the other is a warning
that crossing without appropriate documentation
is illegal.
Now let's look at the rhetorical issues.
This sign has ethos or credibility,
because it's a government-created sign.
So there's authority behind it.
We can even say
that because the material of the sign is metal
that this goes in authority too
simply because it's meant to be a permanent, official fixture.
This wouldn't be the same if it had been made of cardboard.
In terms of pathos,
the emotions evoked will depend on the audience.
If you are an American driver,
it may be caution or concern.
And actually the same might be said
for those who may be crossing too.
One part of the audience may even find offense with the sign,
because of the connection of this sign
to the other familiar animal-crossing signs.
For logos or evidence,
the sign relies on the picture to convey the danger
of the family crossing.
There can't be much evidence of what the consequences might be.
The genre just doesn't allow it,
because of the space and time spent viewing it.
It has to rely on the audience's prior knowledge
regarding this.
Next, we can consider the structure of the genre
and its affect on communication.
As noted before, this genre is limited by space.
It can't have a lot of text
and has to be able to communicate effectively
based on its use of iconography.
The structure of the sign also facilitates its message.
It will be an appropriate size
so that the driver and the person crossing
would be aware of its presence
and also be able to understand its message.
That's a lot to do and it does it well.
Finally, we have style and language.
There's not a lot of language used,
but what is there is important.
As we noted before, it helps us to identify the audiences.
Beyond the text though,
we can also analyze the use of colors.
It's a bright color so that it can be seen at night
and a familiar color, orange,
that symbolizes caution.
The fact that the people in the image are colored in black
also serves to reiterate the importance of the message.
We associate the color black with death.
The use of the color grey and the word prohibido
is also important.
It is not distracting, meant to look official,
and perhaps subconsciously, this will even remind us of jail.
This has been an example
of what kind of analysis you need to do with this essay.
The difference is you need a second different genre
to also work with,
and you also need to start thinking comparatively.
Thank you for listening, and if you have questions,
don't hesitate to ask your professor.
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