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Jayla S. Fleming
Prof. Joy McDonald
English 102-13
February 8, 2016

Criminal Gun Violence: Genre Analysis of a Poster and a You-tube Video

Due to a rapid increase in gun related deaths, the United States government has sought to
reevaluate gun control law and amend the second amendment. The policies and laws revolving
around gun control are different around the world. In some countries, including the United
States, the gun laws are relatively minor but overall the gun violence in the United States has
grown rapidly over any other country.
Multiple genres are used to impart about gun violence. Two chosen genres that relates to
Criminal gun violence is a You-tube information video titled Gun Violence How the US
compares to the rest of the world uploaded by the creator Experience AJ+ which talks about the
gun violence around the world compared to other countries for example there are 90 guns per
100 Americans compared to Yemen that has 55 guns per person. The God Bless America
Brady Campaign poster illustrates the number of murdering rates in the world, for example there
were 48 people of Japan was killed last year due to hand guns compared to the United States
which had 10,728. Throughout both the genres of the poster and the YouTube video explains how
America has the highest crime rate over any other country. With the proper use of guns there will

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be much more world peace and a well put together country, but if our peers do not change their
gun control our world will soon be corrupted.
What is the purpose of the Genre?
The purpose of this genre is to raise awareness to the people of the world. By doing this it
compares our gun violence to others, showing how we are ruining our country. It also shows us
how violent our world is becoming. America is falling apart due to the fact we are killing each
other for no purpose. These genres are attempting to show deeper meanings to the audience of
the statistics of America.
Audience and Purpose
The intended audience for the YouTube video includes youth, teens, adults, parents, or elders
who are interested in learning whats going on in the country their living in. Learning about the
data of whats happening in the world will open the people of Americas eyes to what is going
on. The authors of the YouTube video and the poster is to encourage general awareness. The
audience is likely to of facts that are occurring but will want to know why this violence is
happening and what can be done to improve them to make America a better place. The
information of the two genres is very formal and straight to the point very easily understand, the
vocabulary used is very easily understood for the audience. The similarities between the two
genres are that the goal is to inform people of the gun violence in the Unites States of America
compared to others. The differences are that one is a poster and the other is a You-tube video, the
video has more information being that it is a five minute video.

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Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos and Logos:

In the YouTube video the information is put into section and bullet points comparing the
countries gun violence rate compared to other countries from greatest to least, explaining the
reasoning for the countries having the guns and what either actually being used for also showing
lots of pictures to enhance the understanding of gun violence. On the other hand in the poster the
gun violence rates are put order from the least amount of gun violence rates to the greatest. At
the bottom it says God bless America with a gun with the American flag printed on it, showing
that we need to get better as a country starting with gun violence. At the bottom of the poster
theres a slogan that say Stop handguns before they stop you implying that if gun violence
doesnt decrease America will only get worse. The video shows a lot more detail and great
credibility than the poster does because in the poster there isnt is has little proven facts shown.
These two types of genres evoke emotional responses from the audience in multiple ways.
The YouTube video provides a great emotional response in a positive way due to multiple
pictures, examples, and statistics to support gun violence and how its needs to change. The
choice of colors, brightness, and boldness of the font portray the importance of the information
and the pictures illustrate the horrible things that happen in the world, whereas on the poster the
emotional response is quite boring and neutral. This is because the poster has dull coloring, and
little detailing so therefore the poster lacks a sense of pathos due to the fact that it needs more
colorful animations to be more appealing to the eye of the viewer.
Both of the genres create credibility doe to the titles and facts. The facts are used to support
the topics being discussed, which makes it appropriate because it have been proven and
supported to a accurate fact.

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Structure
How the US compares to the rest of the world offers great and organized layout.
Throughout the slides of the video it will be easy for someone of any age to understand the
sequence of events being mentioned. The video organized the facts from least to the greatest
importance; slide by slide explain the importance of whats happening in the us compared to
other countries. It also consisted of great coloring of photos to go along with the words only
giving the audience a greater view of the points being made. If there was any miss
understanding at the end of the video there are more videos that can be viewed to gain a greater
knowledge of the topic in a different way.
In contrast the poster has limitations on the facts being supported being that its a poster and
there isnt much space to explain the point thats trying to be made. But the poster does have
great facts that support the topics and the ways it is structured on the poster shows that it has a
great importance of the topic.
Style/ Language
The creator of the YouTube video, How the US compares to the rest of the world, uses a formal
language throughout the video. Even though the language is informative genre it I very easy for
readers to have a clear understanding of the content being shown, even though some of the
language was a little complex the pictures that supported the context , you could easily use
context clues to understand what the speakers was talking about.

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On the other hand, the poster allows the readers to be informed in a bold way by the use of
colors and boldness of the words and the picturing used to describe the topic. The use of
vocabulary used on the poster was easy to understand which helped support the pictures and the
point of the poster.
Conclusion / Synthesis
Verification proves both of these genres as genuine and dependable. The first genre discussed
the YouTube video provides its onlookers with complete trustworthy information presented in a
formal language concerning the gun violence in America, the statistics, the pictures, and the
supporting details and captions. And also some important ways we can make a change to make
America a better society. The second genre, the poster provided spectators, in a casual and
informative tone with information regarding the statistics of the gun violence in the world with
great pictures to support it. Even though both of the genres provided great elements of ethos,
pathos and logos, the YouTube Video demonstrated to be the most effective in support the topics
thats being proven to the audience due to the detailed information provided along with the
pictures and captions to give a great understanding of the topic. It acknowledged a better
explanation of the statistics of the gun violence in America compared to other countries on why
its happening and how it can improved.

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Work Cited
"A History of Violence--Will the Shooting End?" Kyle Jantzen. 17 Dec. 2012. Web.
6 Feb. 2016. <https://kyletjantzen.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/a-history-of-violence-willthe-shooting-end/>.
How One Of The Most Dangerous Cities In America Reduced Gun Violence
A Confused War (Part 1). YouTube. AJ+, 12 May 2015. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
<https://youtu.be/36Ah_KXLcVM>.