RUNNING HEAD: PARIS ATTACKS

Paris Attacks Genre Analysis

Emma Diaz
University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1302 Tuesday

Introduction

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Last month, Paris had to confront a really controversial issue, which was the killing of
twelve people at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo editorial, on January 7, 2015. Everyone around
the world has had different opinions; some believe that the killing of those people is
unjustifiable, and that the attackers had no right to act the way they did, while others believe that
the Charlie Hebdo magazine are the ones to blame because of the offensive images about
Muhammad that they had drawn.
Thanks to the media, many people around the world have been informed of such events,
thus giving them an opportunity to make up their own opinions. Also, thanks to the media one
can learn about the perspectives from different people, and even read or hear their testimonies.
Whether or not it was fair, this issue is causing chaos in the city of Paris because many people
feel frightened that another similar event will happen. This genre analysis will examine two
different sources of different genre. One of them is an article from BBC News called Paris
attacks: I am not Charlie by Patrick Jackson, and the other one is a video from The New York
Times called The Tense Mood in Paris by Quynhanh Do and Stefania Rousselle. Both of these
sources are made to inform the community about the same topic but this genre analysis will
compare them to identify which one is more effective on giving its message.
Audience and Purpose
The audience for both of these genres can be anyone that has access to a computer and
the internet, but most importantly people who are interested in knowing the different
perspectives of the Paris attacks. Although, the audience of the two different sources can be from
different places; BBC News is from England, and The New York Times is from the United
States. It is more likely that people from England will prefer to use BBC News, and people from

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the U.S will use The New York Times, however here in the U.S one is able to access to both
sources. As for a purpose both of these sources are similar, because they are trying to inform the
community and make them knowledgeable of the different opinions that people have about the
current event. The audience and purpose of both genres is linked because the audience must have
the desire to be informed, which is the main purpose of these two genres. Neither the article nor
the video is trying to convince the audience to agree with their ideas; nonetheless they are only
giving them feedback of the occurring event. Each of the genres uses different ways to present
the information, for example the video may work better for individuals that prefer audio and
visuals, and the article may be better for a person who prefers reading written pieces. Even if
they use different techniques, at the end both genres achieve their purpose to inform.
Most people around the world are knowledgeable about the Paris attacks because they
watch TV or listen to the radio, thus most of the information that they know comes from those
two sources. Although, other people who may have a deeper interest in the topic are going to
want to make a greater research and may want to look at the article and the video that are being
evaluated in this genre analysis. The time spent on the video may be less than the time spent on
the article because the video is only close to two minutes, and the article is a bit lengthy. As for
the language both genres are different, because the article is written in English and the video is in
French, and it only has subtitles in English. Thus the video may work better for French speaking
individuals and the article may work better for English readers. Fortunately, English speakers are
able to understand the information of the video because of the subtitles. Finally these two genres
have quite a few differences such as form and language, but they also have the same purpose of
informing individuals about the same topic.
Rhetorical Issues

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The credibility for both genres is strong, because both the article and the video include
testimonies from French people and from Muslim individuals. Although, the article focuses more
in the opinion of Muslims and the video focuses on French people. Because of the use of the
individuals opinions, both genres can accomplish their purpose of informing people about the
issue with good evidence. On the other side, the video is the genre where one can see more
pathos, because one can actually see the expressions of the people giving their opinion. While in
the article one can only read their opinions, and cannot see their actual feelings through the text.
As for the logos, both genres are well organized and have good supporting details that help them
convey their message. Both genres are similar in the way they have good credibility and a good
organization, but one can see that the video uses more emotional appeals than the article.
Structure and Delivery
Both of these genres have various freedoms and limitations. For example, the article has a
freedom of length; it can be as long as the writer wants it to be. The article also has a limitation
of time because if the article is too long the reader may not be able to have time to read it at the
time. The video has two limitations; time and audience. The time in the video cannot be very
long because not all individuals can sit down to see a very long video. As for the audience, the
video is in French and only has subtitles in English. Thus the only people that can understand
their information are French speakers and English readers. The organization in the article is well
done because the information is divided into different sections, and one can also see some
images in between the text. As for the video, it is also well organized because the authors put one
testimony at a time and they also include their personal information when they appear on the
video. In both genres, visuals and text are well done and organized. In the article the text has a
good font and size and the images are also in good size and color. In the video one is able to see

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the people recorded and read their personal information, because the text has an appropriate font
and size, and the people recorder can be easily seen thanks to the good quality of the video. All
these features contribute in the purpose of both genres, because if a genre has good organization,
good visuals and appropriate text the audience will be better informed with the material. Of
course the video serves as a more visual source than the article because the article only has text
and the video has both visuals and text. Although at the end both genres can accomplish their
purpose due to their use of different features and techniques.
Conclusion
The genre that was more effective in conveying its message is the video A Tense Mood
in Paris. The video has the three rhetorical appeals: ethos, logos, and pathos, good organization
of the information, appropriate text and visuals, plus audio. Also in the video one can hear and
read the opinions of different individuals, even if the video is in French English readers can still
understand the information. The opportunity to see the actual expressions of the people being
recorded also helps the genre convey its message in a more effective way.
Finally, in order to have good knowledge of a topic, it is important to make research of
different genres. It is also important for an audience to analyze the different genres found in a
research. Since analyzing two or more genres can help an audiences decide which sources and
genres give a message in a more useful way. At the end, when the different genres have been
analyzed the audience can decide which genre is better to use for a good research.

References

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Jackson, P. (2015, January 13). Paris Attacks: I am not Charlie. BBC News.
Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe
Do, Q., Rousselle, S. (2015, January 7). A Tense Mood in Paris. The New York Times.
Video retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com