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Alberta Negri
Professor Vaughn
Honors English 2089
24 October 2016
Migrating Between Sources: An Analysis of Genres and Their Methods
Take a minute and pause. Reflect on who you are as an individual: a middle-aged woman
living in the Midwest? A teenage athlete from southern Sacramento? A first generation college
student? No matter our past, present, or future expeditions, we all expect to be given equitable
opportunities to succeed and to be treated as decent, hardworking members of society. And for
the majority of the American population, these expectations are met every day without fail.
Unfortunately, for a little less than 20% of the nation, this is not the case. Even in the 21st
century, an era that has progressed exponentially in terms of racial equality, many minorities are
still trudging through the residual racism that remains.
The discrimination against the Hispanic-American population has not been covered in the
limelight as extensively as other issues; however, there are still numerous activists who still labor
to bring attention to the disparity. These people can utilize several types of media to accomplish
this goal, whether it be through a cinematic presentation, a thundering speech for a live crowd, or
a professional discourse in a university auditorium. Additionally, by employing different
elements of persuasive styles, these advocates can cater their productions to convince certain
types of people of what they are arguing. Through a comparative analysis of the scholarly essay
An Analysis of the Correlates of Discrimination Facing Young Hispanic Job-Seekers, a popular
online media article Alabama's Shame: HB 56 and the War on Immigrants, and a David
Fitzsimmons cartoon about the effects of the Arizona Immigration Law on Hispanic families, it

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can be seen that genre choice and its respective rhetorical situation is immensely important in
regards to if and how a reader reacts. The authors of these three fountains of literature are able to
accomplish their respective purposes with distinctive audiences using specific manipulation of
language and appeals: although they are different genres, there is still some overlap of the
methods of persuasion that they use.
An authors main appeal technique is directly tied to which type of writing he or she
chooses to apply. For example, scholarly journal articles are typically loaded with logos: An
Analysis of the Correlates of Discrimination Facing Young Hispanic Job-Seekers is no different.
The sheer volume of all the data tables and statistical values would send a common reader far
away. Even in the meat of the paragraphs, the sentences are dense with mathematical lexis:
Pooling the data across pairs within each city leads to the rejection of the null hypothesis at the
1-percent level. The robustness of the interview outcomes comes from obtaining eight different
asymptotic estimates (Kenney & Wissoker 677). It mostly calls to intellectuals, and those
who have at least a basic background in understanding statistics. These individuals would
appreciate the hard data, and the appeal of logos is convincing enough for them to side with the
authors viewpoint. Considering that the article is discussing an economic form of discrimination
against Hispanics, it makes sense that the author was targeting an audience with a strong
educational background. It is more of a discussion for adults in the work force, not as much for,
say, teenage high schoolers. One thing, however, is that the discussion at the very end of this
report is all textual. The confusing array of numbers is gone: The results reported here, using
audit data that provide a clearly appropriate measure of differential hiring outcomes, show strong
evidence of differential treatment between Anglo and Hispanic entry-level job-seekers
(Kenney & Wissoker 682). This means that in the case where common readers did stumble upon

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the reading and scroll to the end, they would for the most part be able to take away the
conclusion that the Hispanics in the study are paid less than Anglo-Americans. Then, because
they most likely noticed the plethora of data shared earlier in the document, they are more likely
to blindly believe that the authors thesis is backed up by that research: even if they were not able
to go through and understand each chart and p-value, the fact that those are even present in the
report can give credit to the authors ethos in the readers eyes.
Contrary to the main appeal to logos in the scholarly article, Alabama's Shame: HB 56
and the War on Immigrants focuses its attention on an appeal to pathos, and the anti-Hispanic
sentiment surrounding the laws in Arizona. It includes an interview of a 27-year-old mother who
speaks about an occasion where she was verbally harassed for being Hispanic, and faced threats
that she should go back to Mexico because she was illegal, despite the fact that she and her entire
family had rightful American citizenship. It has affected everyone. Even my son came home
and asked if we are going back to Mexico. She did her best to comfort the children with her.
Youre allowed to be here, she told them. Youre supposed to be here. (The Southern Poverty
Law Center). The rest of the article presents information in a similar way, using personal
anecdotes from families. From this excerpt, you can affirm that the author wants the reader to
feel sympathetic. The pathos is clearly present as the author thrills the reader on an emotional
rollercoaster, presenting the facts in a fashion that make you want to comfort the victims.
Hearing the stories of the families works as a call to action, you realize the injustice and want it
to end! The audacity! Alabama's Shame: HB 56 and the War on Immigrants has evidence as
the scholarly article did, but at a much lower intensity. The evidence presented in a popular genre
is typically more anecdotal than statistical. Additionally, because these narratives are in the form
of directly quoted interviews, the credibility of the author is built up; the evidence is coming

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straight from the mouth of a primary victim as opposed to an omniscient seer who is speculating
from afar. Therefore, because the ethos is fortified, the effect of the pathos is intensified as we
fully commit to believing and sympathizing with the heartbreaks being shared.
The cartoons rhetorical appeal is similar to that of the popular genre piece by also
evoking an emotional response. Figure 1 shows a wide-eyed and innocent little girl and a
disappointed mother, both being eyed by a smug white male officer. The mother hangs her head
in defeat and calls her daughter baby and tells her that she will always be treated like an
outsider after doing nothing wrong. The image of a subdued parent having to deliver terminal
news to an eager child makes people uncomfortable. Nobody wants to see thatit feels wrong.
The author realizes this, and plays on these feelings to deliver his message. The scholarly article
from earlier stands in contrast. It does not spur immediate emotional responses, but simply
provides the arsenal for someone who wants to confront the system via statistical values. The
popular piece and visual are more of the spark to the cannon.

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Figure 1: David Fitzsimmons cartoon

about the effects of the 2011 Arizona
Immigration Law

However, the methodical selection of genre by the each of the authors isnt just so they
are able to apply a particular appeal technique: by choosing a certain category, the
writer/cartoonist is able to cater to a specific audience, which is directly tied to their purpose.
The scholarly article presents all of its data and methods first, and its conclusion does not appear
until the very last pages. Frontloading the presentation in this way appeals to a more mentally
resilient audience, those who wont get bored reading and give up early. The popular genre, in
contrast, has its thesis stated upfront in the opening paragraph, for an audience that isnt as
invested in what they are reading. A reader can scan the first few lines and get a synopsis of the
rest of the article without much effort. This allows the author to have an impact on a greater
portion of people since the take-away message is more accessible. Where to find these sources
also directly affects who the readers will be. The scholarly article is presented in an academic

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journal that is most commonly accessed by academically motivated adults. On the other side of
the spectrum, the cartoons medium is a state online newspaper, which is sent out to the masses
and thus needs to appeal to the masses. The popular sources location is very similar to that of the
cartoon, where it has to present its information in a particular fashion that will allow it to appeal
to people of all backgrounds and educational levels.
Continuing with the idea that the genre is tailored around specific target audiences, the
respective specificity of information and syntax presented in a scholarly, popular or visual source
affects what kind of reader will react. Consider the popular source: the introduction explains the
background of some of the issues around Alabamas Anti-Immigrant law, so it applies to a
universal audience. You would not need a lot of background knowledge on the topic to recognize
the point the author is trying to make. Anyone from any educational level that could read would
understand. The syntax is easier to swallow and is more conversational: There is no fixing this
law. It does not need to be re-written or tweaked at the margins, as some Alabama legislators
have suggested. It should be repealed (Southern Poverty Law Center). The sentence structure is
simple and short, making it easy on the reader to steadily follow. The visual source narrows its
target audience very slightly. Fitzsimmonss cartoon includes the charged word of illegal: this
gives an impression that the source appeals to those who have some background on
discrimination against Hispanics, who understand what the term illegal connotes. Fitzsimmons
is speaking to those who have at least a smidgen of previous information, those who can deduce
what is actually happening. An Analysis of the Correlates of Discrimination Facing Young
Hispanic Job-Seekers reflects the traditional format of a scholarly source of high specificity and
grueling syntax. Consider the following line from the article: The X2 statistic of 14.2, which is
significant at the 16-percent level, was obtained for a log-likelihood test comparing the model in

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Table 4 to a model in which all coefficients but the constant and the variable signifying who
initiated contact were constrained (Kenney & Wissoker 679). Only those who had significant
prior knowledge a specific area (in this case in statistics) would react to the information
presented. The long structure further filters through possible candidates who would be affected
by the information.
Taking these small differences in target audiences into account, you can determine the
authors overall purpose. The scholarly article is more to inform: it is directed at an educated
audience that is keen to learning and expanding their base of knowledge. On the other side, the
popular sources aim seems to be more of empowering its audience. It appeals to a very broad
audience: when you add in the heavy rhetorical appeal of pathos, your end product is a general
body of people who are motivated to push against discrimination. This is something that a
common person can fight against, so it makes sense that the author would try to appeal to the
average man using a popular genre source in order to advocate. The cartoons aim seems to be to
simply call attention to the issue, and give people a new mindset. The residents of Arizona who
pass the panel get a quick spit of information just by looking at an image; it happens so fast that
they are essentially forced to absorb the information. If they are unaware of the immigration law
that was passed in their state, they are quickly informed that it is significant issue at hand, one
that is even detrimental to innocent families.
Despite the fact that all three of these pieces are of different literary genres, they are still
comparable on a few facets. Each of them commands the use of appeals to either increase
credibility or prove his or her points about discrimination more powerfully. While the scholarly
report chiefly employs the use of logos, both the popular article and the cartoon panel heavily
employ pathos to convince the readers to agree with their arguments. Both the scholarly and

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popular pieces support their points with outside evidence, though the former has more numerical
proofs, while the latter uses anecdotal testimonies to persuade. Because of this, all three cater to
slightly distinct audiences; the target groups get more specific as the information in the literature
gets more specific. For instance, the technical lingo of the academic source fits it to a narrow
range of readers who simply seek information. Its appearance in only a certain academic journal,
as more scholarly pieces are, closes the range further. The cartoon only requires a small amount
of previous awareness, so it can attract a broader range of targets, mostly those of which have
some sort of relation to Hispanic issues. The popular piece, on the other hand, can be accessed,
absorbed, and accepted by almost anyone, and its effective influence on a readers emotions
allows it to rally the common man to fix a problem within his reach. Remember, however, that
despite the distinct target groups, each of them is swayed by the writers purposeful literary
techniques. So although the genres are different, all three sources are linked by their deliberate
selection to reach a specific audience to accomplish a specific goal by applying specific appeal
techniques.

Works Cited
Fitzsimmons, David. "Arizona Passes Immigration Law." Hispanic Nashville. N.p., n.d. Web. 03
Oct. 2016.
Kenney, Genevieve M., and Douglas A. Wissoker. "An Analysis of the Correlates of
Discrimination Facing Young Hispanic Job-Seekers." The American Economic Review
(1994): 674-83. JSTOR.org. Web. 03 Oct. 2016.
Southern Poverty Law Center. "Alabama's Shame: HB 56 and the War on Immigrants." Southern
Poverty Law Center. Southern Poverty Law Center, 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 03 Oct. 2016.

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