genres

A genre is a “type of argument.” There are many types of genres that can be used for persuasion such as personal correspondence, letters to the editor, newspaper editorials and op-ed columns, public affairs or niche magazine articles, scholarly journals, organizational white papers, proposals, legal briefs and court decisions, public affairs advocacy advertisements, advocacy websites, blogs and informal electronic postings, visual arguments, and speeches. On page 24 of “Writing Arguments”, there is an example of a public affairs advocacy advertisement, and on page 1, there is an example of a visual argument. Both of these arguments are political, but the others have gone about presenting them in a different genre.
On page 24, they are telling us how genetically engineered foods are bad for health, and how they are dangerous for the environment and for society. Like most public affair advocacy advertisements, this advertisement has “an explicit bias”, and it ignores the complexity of the issue, and only focuses on one point of view without explaining how another point of view could be acceptable too. This advertisement is making fun of companies who make processed food. The advertiser is only stating one side of the facts, which makes her argument extremely biased. Although biased, her argument is extremely affective. Even though there is another opposing side to her argument, I’m more interested in this argument because it shows the possible dangers. This genre is very affective, as long as your argument isn’t so biased that it’s unbelievable.
On page 1, they are giving an example of a visual argument. Visual arguments tend to “make strong emotional appeals, often reducing complex issues to one powerful perspective.” This political cartoon does exactly that. I don’t, personally, find the cartoon very appealing or humorous, however I am biased due to my natural beliefs. Like visual arguments typically do, I believe they have reduced this issue a bit too much. This is a very sensitive and complex issue, and I believe they’ve simplified the argument too much to make any sort of point other than to make a little laugh at hippies.
How you present your argument (genres) can make a large impact on how the argument is perceived. What genre you use, depends on the audience, and what sort of point you are trying to get across. For example, I believe that the last visual argument was not an effective genre for that large of a political issue. I believe that argument would have better in a speech genre or in a magazine or newspaper article. Visual arguments and cartoons can be both funny and affective when used properly, but when not used properly, they have the opposite affect. However, the article on page 24 had a very affective persuasion genre that worked very well for the argument. What genre you should use, depends on the depth of your argument and what you want to convey.