Running head: AN ANALYSIS OF GENRES

An Analysis of Genres
Kevin A. Rauvola
The University of Texas at El Paso

AN ANALYSIS OF GENRES

Introduction
One of the main concerns that our species has had for many thousands of years is how we are to
procure the things needed to maintain our life. Whole mythologies have been created to deal with the
issue of domesticating grain for example. Industry is so essential to the civilized human, that deities
were formed around weaving or blacksmithing in older times. For the purpose of this essay, I will
examine two contemporary critiques of industry.
One is a short documentary titled The Story of Stuff. It is created by filmmaker Annie
Leonard, who is an environmental activist with the group Greenpeace. The thesis of the documentary is
that the material goods economy used to provide humans with the things needed and desired for life is
linear and unsustainable. []
The other genre that I will be analyzing is a magazine article from Earth First! The Journal of
Ecological Resistance titled Blast From the Past: Strawberry Sabotage. The Earth First! collectives
are groups of radical and peaceful environmental activists who have been labeled terrorists by the F.B.I.
[] Their journal is published in print and online format, and features news bulletins, stories, poetry,
graphs, and other genres that all discuss environmental activism. This article's main thesis is that
genetically modifying living organisms is a threat to all life, and should be forcibly stopped with nonviolent sabotage at the research stage before the modified organisms can be introduced to the wider
environment.

Audience and Purpose

According to Earth First!, the article Strawberry Sabotage was first published in a magazine
called Live Wild or Die! The magazine was written by Earth Fisrt!ers and other radicals and
anarchists... who's general purpose was to broaden the scope of resistance beyond environmental

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issues...at it's core, LWOD! Was an anti-civilization paper with big dreams... [Earth First!] This
magazine was not available for circulation to the general population. It was certainly not sold in store
shelves. The discourse community that this article caters to is a small, radicalized fringe element of the
environmentalism movement. In contrast, The Story of Stuff has been widely viewed.
One place where it is shown is on the video hosting website Youtube, where the video is touted
as having been watched over three million times. The video has been critiqued by a popular right-wing
commentator Glenn Beck, and has been shown in schools across the world. From these facts and from
the structure and delivery of the documentary, it is clear that the intended audience for this film is the
general public.
The disparity in the size of the intended target audiences helps to understand what the purpose
of each genre is. The Earth First! article and The Story of Stuff are both informative in nature, however
one is a news bulletin targeted towards people who already have a radically critical view of the
'material goods economy', while Leonard's Story of Stuff does not. According to Carl Pope, the
chairman of the Sierra Club, on The Story of Stuff: Others have tried to do what she's done including
us. But none have connected with the public as well.

The Role of Structure and Delivery in Establishing Rhetorical Credibility

There are stylistic elements of each genre that lend to the credibility of the information that is
described. An analysis of these genres shows that the font size and layout, word selection, and other
structural elements are as essential to an understanding of the credibility of the information presented
as the information itself.
For example, Annie Leonard breaks a number of conventions familiar to the 'documentary'
genre. Rather than filming actual locations, cartoons are used to display how the material goods
economy flows. Instead of creating different segmented scenes, there is a feeling of continuity as the

AN ANALYSIS OF GENRES

elements of this goods economy remain displayed on the screen behind her the entire time. The use of
animation in conjunction with lecture is a style of narration that mimics a teacher in front of a white
board. Also capitalizing on standard conventions used in education is the Strawberry Sabotage article.
If/Then flow charts are used in all levels of education, from elementary school up to and including
engineering models right here at UTEP. This article, while over two decades old, uses an If/Then
flowchart from the book Capitalism Must Die, referenced below.

This is a common element of many magazines. It allows the information to be presented in a

way that is easy for the audience to understand, but also in a fashion that in reminiscent of instruction.
Compare this image with the one below of Annie Leonard in the documentary. Notice her resemblance

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to an instructor gesturing to information on a white board.

Strawberry Sabotage and The Story of Stuff both seek to inform their audiences, but to different ends.
Strawberry Sabotage reaches an audience of sympathizers, and acts more like an investigative news
article. They are not writing about a large complex series of economic systems like Stuff does, but
rather a single concrete example of politically motivated sabotage. The article is a story about a group
of un-named saboteurs who called themselves Mindless Thugs Against Genetic Engineering.
As a piece of investigative journalism, this piece is extraordinary in that the authors managed to
get direct quotes from the people involved. In most cases of journalism that deal with criminal acts, the
journalists and the criminals do not meet up to discuss the particulars of how the crime was committed.
The fact that these Mindless Thugs sat down to give a detailed account of how they deliberately
destroyed a field of Strawberries is captivating in it's uniqueness.
A convention of the investigative news article genre is to present the story in parts. Strawberry
Sabotage follows this convention. It discusses the backstory first, then direct quotes from the saboteurs,

AN ANALYSIS OF GENRES

followed by the fallout of the destructive events, and one last parting thought from those responsible
for the crime. By following the common flow of a narrative, Strawberry does not break from
convention enough to lose credibility. By utilizing first hand sources and follow up reports, the article
seeks to balance the obvious connection between authors and perpetrators. The use of a newspaper
clipping showing the actual event lends not only to the credibility of the story, but also to the theme and
tone of 'newsworthiness.' The title of that clipping also supports the main thesis of the article, which is
that direct action and sabotage were necessary to prevent these experiments from happening. The flow
chart discussed earlier seeks to demonize the crops used in the experiment, and thus give a rationale for
the supportive tone of the authors in discussing the sabotage.

The newspaper article backing the title seeks to draw the eyes of the reader, and also to
introduce a tone of success into the story. The efforts have already been upset. This purported
success is never contested. A synopsis of the aftermath concluded that the company stated that because
of the sabotage they might have to go to Australia or Italy in order to continue the tests...at the present,
there is talk of AGS pulling out of Frostban research due to lack of support and funding.
While this might seem to break with the convention of keeping news articles objective and free
of bias, we find that bias towards sensationalism and the upholding of cultural values is the bias that

AN ANALYSIS OF GENRES

most news articles employ. In keeping with the cultural values of radical environmentalists, this article
can be seen as not breaking that convention.

Conclusion
As humans, we are drawn to light, sound, movement, and to things that are familiar. While
Strawberry Sabotage is a gripping tale, well presented, and re-finished with new diagrams and eyecatching typesetting, it is not as effective as The Story of Stuff at communicating a concern for the
environment in an effective way.
The audience of Strawberry Sabotage is much smaller. The format is much less eye catching. A
news article in a magazine cannot contain those elements of light, sound, and movement that are
inherent within the medium of film. The Story of Stuff successfully uses these elements, and a more
broad topic when conveying information to its audience, which is why the documentary has been
shown so widely, and in so many languages.

AN ANALYSIS OF GENRES

References
Anonymous. (2014) Earth First! The Journal of Ecological Resistance. Retrieved from:
http://issuu.com/earthfirstjournal/docs/ef_j_samhain_2015

Leonard, Annie (2007). The Story of Stuff. Retrieved from

http://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuff/