Running head: GENRE ANALYSIS

Genre Analysis
Fernando Garcia
Rhetoric & Composition 2
The University of Texas at El Paso
September 29, 2016

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2
Genre Analysis

Criminal justice has been created to bring order to our cities, and show how the
organization has changed over the last few decades. The question can only be answered by
looking into genres of sources. The two particular genres that we are going to be comparing are
the monograph and a digital video source. Third party policing written by Mazerolle, L.G. and
Ransley J. in 2005 is the monograph. The video source is Public safety, law and security.
Cambridge Education filmed by the Films for the Humanities & Sciences and Films Media
Group in 2009. Both of these genres of sources can be used for research, but the monograph is a
more reliable genre for research and building new knowledge. To prove this, we will be
explaining the differences between the two genres with regard to the following: accessibility to
the source and the form of source and if there are changes; the specific audience it was created
for; the claim for each source genre; and the structure and delivery for each source. By the end,
we will better understand why the monograph is the better genre for scholars.
No matter who the person is, whether a student, teacher, or professor, we know that at
some point in their academic career they will be put in a position where research is required. In
carrying out a research, the monograph is more suited for scholars than the other genre.
Monographs, which are hard covered books written by other scholars on a particular subject, are
available at your school or university library. Knowing this, all that any scholar needs is a library
card and they can check out the book to do their research. Third party policing is a good
product of monograph research. The book is physically in your hands with the cover and made of
paper. This book was never revised after it was published in 2005, meaning there are no changes
made in the material that is in the book and there is no need to get another one.

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The video source Public safety, law and security. Cambridge Education has a different
way of being obtained. This process is a bit more difficult as there are more steps, and needs
more necessities than just a library card. To have access to this genre source, the scholar will
need some form of technology, a computer, a laptop or even a smartphone. Internet access is also
necessary as thats where the source is. This video was from digital.films.com, a website from
the internet which means that its not a physical source like the monograph. You can still obtain
this video but as said before, this type of source is more difficult and this source is placed in
such a location from where it can be edited and changed as its an online source that was put
together and animated. Such example is in the video between (0:20-0:42) of the video, showing
the many different clips of the video and the animations that were put into the video to attract the
watchers attention. This point alone can make scholars not want to use this genre of a source,
and with possibility of this source being easily edited and refreshed, and shifted constantly in the
location on their website; all these can show that this source is not as reliable as the monograph.
Each genre is published, written or created for a specific audience. The audience could be
a specific group such as college students, PhDs or students at a certain age or level. Third Party
Policing has an audience of readers who read at a college level. The way this is determined is as
you read the book and you read words such as spatial, country, jurisdiction and neighborhood
on page 4 (Mazerolle and Ransley, 2005, p. 4). The use of this kind of vocabulary can be very
difficult to understand for any student who isnt at that level of education. Both authors of the
book are professors so the academic English they employ targets the educated audience.
The online video by the Films for the Humanities & Sciences and Films Media Group on
the other hand has a different audience. One point that is easily seen is there are no readers,
instead they are viewers watching a video. The video seems to be targeted for young students

GENRE ANALYSIS

since the narrator is speaking and showing different people involved in their careers. The careers
shown are firefighters, patrol officers and EMTs. Three different people are telling you what
career they are in, explaining what they do and what they did to achieve being in their career
(2:40-9:00) (2009). This videos intention is to persuade young people to pursue a career in
public service careers. This shows that the audience between the two genres are entirely different
from one another.
Now we will be looking at the claims of each genre. Monograph authors express their
claim in their writing which readers are able to see. For example, Third Party Policing has a
claim on policing and their major changes, and how they are going to change the institutions of
our government and how it will affect civil life on page 5(2005). This claim is expressed on the
changes and what the authors believe if there is any real change; they do this by doing their own
research. On page 5 the authors show a proof from another scholar, John Braithwaite (2001:222)
to back up their own claim on policing with the parties of the law. The claims that are made in
this genre in particular are claims from both of the authors as there was more than one voice
making their argument on the subjects that are in the book, and in the contents that will also be
evaluated later on.
Videos like the monograph also have their own claims. For instance, Public safety, law
and security. Cambridge Education has a narrator speaking throughout the entire video. At the
start of the video he claims to the audience that jobs in the criminal justice system will increase
due to the increase in population and other higher potential factors that contribute (0:20-1:20)
(2009). This claim is different than that of the other genre due to the fact that this video was
produced by an organization and professionals in the video are foregrounding their own claims

GENRE ANALYSIS

about their careers (2:40-9:00) (2009). Unlike the monograph, this source has a higher number of
claims that its proponents can argue about in the subjects that they are researching on.
The last point we will be looking into of the two genres are structure and delivery. Third
Party Policing is a book that must have been revised a number of times and reviewed by other
scholars on the organization of the book before it was published. The table of contents shows this
in the book as there are page numbers for each individual section of what the author is discussing
about on page xi to the first page of the book. Page x also extends out on the contents but there
are also tables in this monograph. The delivery for the different subjects the authors are talking
about are shown as they transition from one subject to the other. They follow the table on which
pages you can find a certain topic and there is the claim and their evidence they present on it, like
page 14 over the subject of Risks (Mazerolle and Ransley, 2005, P. 14).
The digital video does present structure in the beginning of the video when the narrator
talks about going into the different professions and they express their perspectives on their
careers (0:20-10:11) (2009). They are explained by the narrator in the same order he explains it.
The delivery part in this genre is very simple: the narrator talking to the viewer is the delivery
part, as he is the one who is telling the audience what is going on in the video and explaining
what they will be shown in the short films of the video through it all. This is different than
having to read what is happening like in a monograph. The digital source is better in the structure
and delivery due to the way it is organized as a video. And also with the narrator, it keeps the
audience right where he wants them, to keep watching the source and to maybe use it.
In conclusion monographs are easier to access than the digital source genre. Both genres
have different audiences, ones audience are college students or professors, the other are for
younger students. We have discussed the way each genre expresses their claims to their

GENRE ANALYSIS
audience. Lastly we have gotten into the way each one is structured, either in their book or their
video and how they expressed their message or claim by words or someone telling you what is
going on. The Monograph is better when it comes to accessibility for their target audience. The
digital source may beat the monograph on their number of claims, and structure and delivery
with the video showing different careers in a more structured way. However, on account of
permanence of its source, accountability and accessibility to the researcher, it definitely stands
ahead of the digital source.

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7
References

Public safety, law, and security. Cambridge Educational, Films for the Humanities & Sciences
and Films Media Group (Directors). (2009).[Video/DVD] New York, N.Y.: Films Media
Group. Retrieved from http://0-digital.films.com.lib.utep.edu/
PortalPlaylists.aspx?xtid=39265&aid=12400

Mazerolle, L. G., & Ransley, J. (2005). Third party policing. Cambridge, UK; New York:
Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/
ecip0512/2005012922.html