Genre Analysis
Media Influence on Youth
The media entertainment has been a part of our lives for many years now. Most people fail to realize how much it influences our everyday lives simply because we become so involved in what is happening. Many would argue that television does not change their way of thought about certain things when in reality media could influence the way you think about your figure, your health, your personality, your music, etc. One of the articles that will be discussed throughout this analysis is “Media Influence on Youth” it is an article in which was retrieved from a database called crisisconnection.org. This article will be introduced throughout the analysis to inform the reader about the media influencing teenagers.This article gives several facts about different types of body images that are perceived because of television as well as, sex, and violence. The second genre “How the Media Affects Teens & Young Adults” is a website that discusses different ways that media can influence teenagers and young adults. This website will also help the reader understand why it is important to know about media influence. It was published in October of 2013 and was written by Julia Ransohoff. At the end of this analysis the reader will be able to understand the purpose of each genre and will attain a little more knowledge about the topic itself.
Audience and Purpose
The intended audience and discourse community for the first genre, “Media Influence on Youth” would be teenagers that are researching about the topic itself for a class assignment as well as teenagers who are interested in the topic because they know of someone who might be suffering from a given situation regarding the topic. Reason why these discourse communities are the intended audience is because teenagers are the most affected by the media and are the main target that will help make a change in the media influencing them. For example in this genre the publisher is explaining how 27% of girls believe they should have a perfect body because of shows like Victoria Secret. This is important because there have been many cases in the past that discuss young teenage girls suffering from leukemia and are not well informed about the topic. The purpose for this particular article is to inform others about the different ways that media influences someone’s life. This article talks about five different ways the media influences young adult’s lives. In each paragraph the publisher talks about a different way that teenagers are influenced and gives informative information to catch people’s attention and try to spread the word about the topic. The audience ties into the purpose because parents do not realize they expose their own children to these things when they purchase electronic devices to keep them from misbehaving. The audience is likely to know the basic media influences on teenagers in this article like the ones that talk about girls suffering from depression because they want to have a perfect body. This article is not trying to encourage general awareness it is simply giving facts about ways that young teenagers fall into these different beliefs due to the amount of television they watch. The estimated time that the reader will spend reading this article could take up to no more than fifteen minutes because everything is presented in order and really depends on how much interest the audience will really have for this topic. The language itself is presented in a very formal manner because throughout the article each paragraph is separated in bold letters and is discussed in detail. Throughout the article you will see letters in blue meaning you can click on the word and it will navigate you to a website similar to the topic helping the audience gain more knowledge about the topic. There are really no specialized vocabulary words throughout the article other than the bullet points about body image, violence, and sex.
The second genre’s “How the Media Affects Teens & Young Adults” audience and discourse community are also people who are interested in the topic but the main reason why this website was published was because it is actually an organization that gives information regarding the topic and gives the audience ideas on how to spread the word and persuade others to learn more about the topic. This website has a variety of ways that the media could influence your life such as advertising commercials, violence, obesity, school and stereotypes. The purpose of this specific genre is to inform different discourse communities about the issues that are happening today. This genre gives more information about the different ways children are influenced by the media and works to persuade others to inform more people about the topic in order to reduce the amount of cases that are happening today thanks to the media. One way that the audience could tie in with this website is knowing someone that is going through a particular issue and learning about the issue itself and helping the other person overcome their frustration. The audience is likely to know little information about the topic such as ways that young kids pick up on violence, sex, etc. Although the audience is not well informed about topic, the website gives a lot of information on this issue and the reader will want to know more about the topic to persuade others to get well informed about the topic. With this particular website the audience could take up twenty minutes reading the information due to the fact that it has many tabs talking about different types of media influences. This website has very formal language and vocabulary that will bring the attention of well-educated people helping them understand the topic correctly.
Despite the fact that both of these genres talk about the same topic they are different because the article, “Media Influence on Youth” gives a small amount of facts regarding the topic when the website, “How the Media Affects Teens & Young Adults” was published by an organization names, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, that would like to inform others about the topic as well as persuade them to spread the word about to help others.
Pathos
The article “Media Influence on Youth” evokes a small to no amount of emotion when stating facts about the topic simply because it does not go into depth about the topic and stating examples on how young adults fall into this influence. The small amount of emotion does influence in the purpose of the article because it just states facts and is informing the audience about the topic, it is not trying to persuade the audience to think differently or to make a move to make a difference in these kids’ lives. The website “How the Media Affects Teens & Young Adults” in the other hand does evoke emotion to the audience because not only is it informing the audience about the topic but it also gives cases and consequences on the way that media influences children’s everyday life.
Ethos
The article “Media Influence on Youth” establishes information about the topic and could be questioned because it does not cite where the information or quotes were retrieved from. Meaning, the website does not provide an author or publisher and does not provide any sort of date in which the website was published on. The information talked about does achieve the purpose about informing others about the topic because of the small facts that the article does provide. Missing this type of information could affect the purpose of the genre simply because it does not allot the audience to gain full knowledge about the topic. The organization in which published the website, “How the Media Affects Teens & Young Adults” does give information about the topic that is cited and gives general examples in order to help the audience understand the topic and persuades the audience to help others as well as to inform them about the topic. Because of this the purpose of this genre is achieved.
Logos
The article “Media Influence on Youth” does not provide evidence regarding the claims of the information discussed because it only states facts about the topic, it does not provide credible sites. This is why it is not appropriate for the purpose of the article because the article itself is used to inform other about the basic idea of the issue. The website “How the Media Affects Teens & Young Adults” gives credible information because the website itself not only talks about the topic it also gives the audience proof by discussing different ways that these young adults are affected by media.
Comparison/Contrast
The only similarities about the genres’ is that they both talk about the same topic and give the audience information in order for the audience to understand the topic correctly. The differences between the genres’ is that the article does not really give the audience a change to feel like they have to change the way they think when the website gives rea life situations making it easier for the audience to understand the topic well and persuade other to get involved with the topic as well.
Structure and Delivery
Both genres are set up the same, through the internet in which makes it easier for the audience to find information regarding the topic and is set up in paragraphs in order to help the audience understand each type of influence by the media. These elements contribute to the purpose of each genre by making the audience feel organized in the information they are reading, making it easier for the reader to understand the information.
Conclusion/Synthesis
The website “How the Media Affects Teens & Young Adults” is more effective in conveying its message because of the way the organization set up the website. Not only does the layout help the reader feel organized but it also gives examples of the situations that go on every single day that not a lot of people are aware of. This helps the purpose of the genre because now the audience will feel a connection with the topic and will want to inform other about the topic.
References
Ransohoff, J. (2013, October). How the Media Affects Teens & Young Adults. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from Palo Alto Medical Foundation website: http://www.pamf.org/teen/life/bodyimage/media.html
2. Media Influence on Youth. Retrieved October 3, 2014, from Crisis Connection website: http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/teens/media_influence_on_youth.htm











