Writing Project Two

Analyzing and Evaluating Genres Across Scholarly and Non-Academic Contexts

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Gun safety is, for some reason, a very controversial subject in the United States that begs hours of debate every year. To supply those who would dissent, and those that would affirm, gun safety regulation, there exists a swath of information, biased and leveled. Because this matter will eventually either save lives or doom others, the information used must be accurate, articulate, and available. For those that make it their job to inform others, organizing the information they have created, either through studies or by other means, for the appropriate audience becomes a very important task. To target audiences at different intellectual tiers, from the uppity academic to the challenged layman, a person reporting on gun safety will use different means and moves to reach the desired readers, as can be seen by the two contrasting pieces “ ‘Is There a Gun in the Home?’ Assessing the Risks of Gun Ownership in Older Adults” by Ellen M. Pinholt, MD, Joshua D. Mitchell, MD,  Jane H. Butler, RN, and Harjinder Kumar, MD and “Firearms Safety -- 10 Rules of Safe Gun Ownership” on the National Shooting Sports Foundation website.

Both pieces have the same objective in mind, to inform the reader of the dangers of owning a gun, but do so through different means. The reader that would be searching for information on the subject may be affected equally by both pieces, as they come to the same conclusion. Spoiler alert, guns are dangerous. The reader will choose one piece over the other due to the genre the authors have chosen to format their articles in. Ellen M. Pinholt, MD and all those included chose to organize their information using the style of the scholarly article. By doing so the authors have gained the highest level of legitimacy possible adding weight to the validity of their paper. This sort of elitist style attracts those within the academic community, professors, scientists, researchers, etc. who have an understanding of the jargon, prose, and format. While the rigorous standards of a peer reviewed scholarly paper are preferred in the academic community,  a layman may feel overwhelmed by the academic jargon and may choose something akin to  “Firearms Safety -- 10 Rules of Safe Gun Ownership.” The genre used by the National Shooting Sports Foundation is an informative list that is both interactive and informative, and along with the language of the paper, it is an easier approach for the reader.

The genres of both articles are at opposite ends of the intellectual spectrum and as such the actual devices used are much different. The most stunning contrast between both articles is the use of pictures. The National Shooting Sports Foundation attempts to humanize guns by adding dozens of pictures of people handling guns while wearing safety equipment. A reader using this website for information may be inclined to believe that guns are safe if the correct precautions are used by falling victim to a bandwagon approach. Often the characters in the pictures are seen in confident poses, which would influence a reader’s judgment on the use of guns making them believe they too can achieve confidence by handling weapons. The academic paper does not depend on pictures to convince the reader to handle guns. Instead, it’s use of illustrations falls short of the dozens of pictures on the website, opting for two pictures which prove to be informative rather than propaganda-ish. The pictures demonstrate a weapon with a trigger lock and another weapon with a cable lock. The pictures prove to be completely objective unlike the pictures from the website that  carry an objective. The use of pictures in each article is very different and demonstrates the tone of their article.

The direction of both articles, due to the genre chosen by their authors and the audience it is directed towards, have different tones. Naturally, the academic paper would carry a tone of objectivity because it must abide to the academic genre, after all, “The words you choose for an argument help define its style - and yours”(Style and Presentation in Arguments, 310). The academic genre utilizes the objective tone to hide any biases the researches may hold. The tone must be objective at all times, including when the authors give their opinion,”Older adults owning firearms are a public health concern. There are no easy answers, but there are “red flags” that move senior gun ownership out of the abstract and into daily practice in the clinic and certainly home health.” (Is There a Gun in the Home?” Assessing the Risks of Gun Ownership in Older Adults). The quote is completely objective as it lacks any sign of personal intervention. There are no “I”s or “we”s which demonstrates a reliance on facts rather than opinions. The website carries a more conversational tone which is a manner of reaching the layman. The jargon is not a comprehensive, it refers to the audience specifically,”You must assume the serious responsibility of using only the correct ammunition for your firearm. Read and heed all warnings.”  This conversational tone was used to make the article more engaging for a reader and more relatable. It does not speak in the manners of high society. This manner of writing makes the author seem more relatable, creating ethos, and establishes a connection with the reader. Because the author of the website article utilizes a very non-specific genre, he is able to choose the tone of his article, allowing him to be relatable. The academic piece does not have that luxury and must abide by the strict code of academic papers and the tone of logical objectivity. Both have their advantages when aiming for an  audience.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation organizes itself in a manner that is both interactive and simplistic, a list. The manner in which it was written allows the reader to search for the information that is deemed most important for their purpose which may create bias. As Dana Lynn Driscoll, a critic in writing style, mentions, “There is little point in collecting data...if you already know the answer”(Driscoll, 156) meaning bias only affirms beliefs, not challenge them. The fashion in which it was formatted is non-academic, which facilitates a readers search for enlightenment on the issue. On the other hand, the academic article is not allowed the simplicity the website is allowed because the website is dedicated to the subject of guns and the need for safety. Therefore, it does not need to cite the information it gives as it is an deemed an established leader in the subject. The academic paper must cite everything in order to abide by its conventions. The manner in which it is organized follows a very parallel format throughout, having rhetorical questions as headings,”Is the Operator Feeling “LOW?””,”Are LITTLE Children Present?”(Is There a Gun in the Home?” Assessing the Risks of Gun Ownership in Older Adults), etc, followed by case reports. These headings become the basis for their recommendations that are summarized towards the end of the article. While both articles carry a heading followed by a paragraph about the heading, they both use the format differently. The academic article uses them as a way of questioning the reader to better inform them while the website uses the headings as a way to give the reader a quick summary of what the rest of the article is about like, “Firearms Should Be Unloaded When Not Actually In Use”. Although it is simple to read, it seems that a person may lose information if the reader is allowed to read what ever that person deemed most important.

The academic paper does something the website does not and that is bring two personal accounts. The personal accounts establish legitimacy for the article as it is a way to display the need for cautions for gun safety. The article also brings in statistics which also help ferment the article into a very logical piece that is also held by relatable accounts, “The suicide rate for men aged 80 and older from 2005 to 2010 was 41.11 per 100,000 (80% using a firearm), more than double the national average.”(Is There a Gun in the Home?” Assessing the Risks of Gun Ownership in Older Adults). The authors utilized a logos and ethos approach in this way, something that was not done by the website. Because the website is already deemed an expert on the subject of gun safety, it is not completely necessary for the article to establish the relations the academic piece created. The name of the website carries a lot of the legitimizing that the academic piece had to site information for. The website does not use any cases because it attempts to convince others using guns is safe. A case where someone was injured would be detrimental to that argument. In this case, the academic paper gives the best account of what occurs when using guns and is the most reliable source. The lack of bias is a necessary objective when informing an audience about the realities of dangerous weapons.

Both articles attempt to give a person information concerning gun safety and do so through different means. They both utilize moves specific to their genre or moves that they use themselves to convince the reader of what they say. The author’s formatting must be tasteful to the audience, but because the author can not create an article to a general audience, the author must choose a specific set of readers. Moves are just as important to writers as they are to readers because they are used as a means of subliminal communication.

Works Cited

"Firearms Safety | 10 Rules of Safe Gun Handling." Firearms Safety | 10 Rules of Safe Gun Handling. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. .

Lowe, Charles, and Pavel Zemliansky. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor, 2010. Print.

"UC-eLinks Direct Link." UC-eLinks Direct Link. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. .