Running Head: Genre Analysis

Genre Analysis on a Scholarly Article and News Report: Do cell phones cause cancer?
Manuel Saucedo
University of Texas at El Paso

Running Head: Genre Analysis

Introduction
In a generation where automobiles turn on with a single button, maps are replaced with a
navigation system, and the internet becomes our every-day-necessity, comes the existence of the
popular cell phones. Technology has made a great impact in this world by making life easier.
Sure technology has its perks, but it comes along with cons that society should keep in mind and
take proper precautions. Cell phones have been part of our every-day-routine. Their technology
has advanced immensely in the span of around 3 decades; from the early brick mobile phone to
the latest smart phone. Although their popularity hit until the early 2000s, who wouldve thought
that mobile phones are capable of holding so much technology; almost as much as a computer.
With this been said, since theres so much the user can do, cell phone usage has increased in an
exaggerated manner. Therefore, cell phones have been suspect to medical research. There are
genres that talk about this issue in dept. Two genres: a scholarly article, and a news report, talk
about the dangers of excessive cell phone usage to the owners. Both express their messages in a
unique manner. The scholarly article, Mobile Phone Radiation- Is it safe?, uses text and
numerical facts to present the issue. While the news report from CNN, Cell Phones Cause
Cancer, provides visual and audio footage in the form of a video. Comparing and contrasting
these two genres will help determine how they will convey their message since they share similar
points, as well as to how they will make it rhetorically.

Scholarly Article: Audience and Purpose

The intended audiences of the scholarly article, Mobile Phone Radiation- Is it safe?, are
parents and anyone else that owns a cell phone. The parents are the target audience in this article
by using logos and pathos to convey the harm a cellphone can cause to not only them but their

Running Head: Genre Analysis

children as well. The amount of radiation absorbed by children is up to ten times higher in
children than adults; cell phones are mainly owned by teenagers and adults(1). The author tries
to defile an aura of necessary attention to the parents by mentioning children. The article
provides research from various groups but mainly from the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC).
The purpose of this scholarly article is to inform the users of cell phones, and the
negative effects they have on their health. According to L. Lloyd Morgan, Senior Research
Fellow of the US-based Environmental Health Trust, the studys own data show that subjects
who have used a mobile phone for more than 2.8 years had more than double the risk of brain
tumors (1).
Rhetorical Appeal:
The use of rhetorical appeals is crucial in the presentation of the scholarly article.
Although the article is not equally distributed with ethos, logos, and pathos, the author could
successfully create a good and transferable message. Each one of these appeals serve a different
purpose to convey a certain message. Depending who their intended audience is, determines the
emphasis on a certain appeal. McLean defines her work with the use of logos throughout most of
the article. Logos is defined as the appeal to a persons logic and information provided to support
an idea; it can be done through reasoning, facts, and data. McLean developed an article to show
that cellphones are a danger to our health, and logos were used to support her idea. The logos
allowed McLean to sound educated. She provides dates and numerical analysis of the research
given by the researchers. The logos used in this article reflect the dedication the author put into it
to express her idea. She sought out answers to questions of researchs conclusions and interviews
with scientists, experts in the area. The fact that McLean put in dedication to this article by

Running Head: Genre Analysis

providing a large amount of references, leads her to some sort of credibility in her article. In
other words, she used ethos to convey some sort of credibility since the research she provided
wasnt hers. Ethos is the credibility of the argument presented, author, facts Her references are
works of scientists and their discoveries of cellphone usage and its dangers, which is what the
author is trying to send out to the reader. There must be a sentimental issue or connection that
will allow the reader to connect with the article. McLean made some comparisons in her article,
but the comparison that stood out the most was the adult-children comparison. The author was
smart by using this comparison, because she developed a rhetorical approach of pathos
throughout her work. Pathos is the appeal to a persons emotions, usually evoking some kind of
reaction after the message is conveyed. Her thought of using an adult-children comparison
allowed her to catch parents attention; a mature and understanding audience that is more likely
to spread her idea and point of view. By mentioning that the exposure [of phone radiation] to
children and young people who seem to be most at risk from head tumors (1), the author used
pathos to reach out to a parental audience. Parents look after their kids, so by injecting an alarm
of awareness into their mind, the author made a great use of sentimentalism (pathos).
Structure and Delivery:
Lyn McLean portrays a responsible and strong message throughout the entire article. The
fact that more than enough evidence was collected to write a single message: cellphones contain
a relationship with cancerous tumors. The ideal structure of this article involved the consistency
of a research promoted by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The author
transferred herself into a scientist by coming up with one research and connecting it to others,
leading to different conclusions and a relationship on all. McLeans article maintained an

Running Head: Genre Analysis

informative point of view throughout, allowing the reader the acceptance and credibility towards
the author. The author delivers the message not with personal experiences, but with credible
source of data and powerful references such as research projects.
News Report: Audience and Purpose
The intended audience is similar to that of the scholarly article. Anybody who owns a cell
phone and uses them on a daily basis and or excessively. Studies show that people who used
their cell phones for an approximate amount of 10 years doubled the levels of glioma ( a type of
brain tumor) (2)
The Purpose of this video was to inform the people about the dangers of cell phones. This
video has quite a bit of research background. Throughout the entire video, there is footage going
on about the procedure taken in account for cell phone radiation. A scientist performed an
experiment to test how much radiation goes into the human brain. He used water and soap to
represent the human brain and placed a cell phone next to the head model. Then, he proved that
there was an increased in the brain activity due to the radiation emitted from the cell phone.
When using iPhone near your body for voice calls or for wireless data transmission over a
cellular network, keep iPhone at least 15 mm (5/8 inch) away from the body)
Rhetorical Appeal:
Similar to the scholarly article, the use of rhetorical appeals is highly important in the
presentation of the news report. Ethos, pathos, and logos are used to help deliver the message to
the audience. Ethos is used in the news report, because of the news name image (CNN). News
tend to be credible to the audience, therefore the reporter already counts with the audience
credibility. Logos are being used by using an informative approach towards the audience. Finally,

Running Head: Genre Analysis

the reporter introduced pathos by including a personal experience from a person whos suffering
of a tumor due to the abusive use of the cellphone. The news report shows the personal life of the
man and giving it a sad and serious atmosphere.
Structure and Delivery:
The news report has a unique structure. It uses visual and audio, but it also uses text and
effects. The structure helps the delivery by making it easier and more enjoyable to the viewer.
There isnt much reading involved in this genre. The viewer can just sit back and listen to the
scientists and the doctor, making it easier for the speaker to receive an audience. Also, the
footage of the live transmitted research, helps the viewer understand what is going on through
the process. They perform a simulation of a human talking on the cell phone. After that, they
measure the radioactivity on the human brain which was represented by a human size head and
for the brain, water and soap. The levels of brain cell activity did increase proving that there is a
connection between cancer and cell phones. They also mentioned that some cell phone
companies provide warnings.
Compare and Contrast:
Both genres, the scholarly article, Mobile Phone Radiation- Is it safe?, and CNN News
Report, Cell Phones Cause Cancer, had the same goal. Which was to inform the audience about
the dangers of radiation emitted from cell phones. The scholarly article used plain text and one
image to convey its message. On the other hand, the CNN news report used audio and visual.
Along with lots of animations and written quotes to aid distribute its message.
Conclusion:
In order to convey a strong message, there must be a strong connection between the
audience and the representative of the message. Whether it is through sentimentalism (pathos),

Running Head: Genre Analysis

credibility (ethos), or information (logos), the audience must connect with either one. That being
said, rhetorical approach is necessary to properly send out a message and Cell Phones Cause
Cancer, a news report by CNN and Mobile Phone Radiation- Is it safe?, an article by Lyn
Mclean, successfully sent out an awareness of cellphones relationship to cancer tumors.
Cellphones have its perks, but they can also create severe harm in our health. Technology is
being abused by simply relaying to it every single day, and every addiction is dangerous;
cellphones do in fact alter the risk of cancer in technology abusers. In conclusion, cellphones are
useful in the 21st century, but we must take precaution in the way we use it and why we use it.

Running Head: Genre Analysis

McLean, L. (2011). Australasian Faculty of Occupational & Environmental

Medicine Posters. Internal Medicine Journal, 41, 32-32. Retrieved from http://0web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=1ec78e5b-c9c0-4230808e-2463bd1f03b4@sessionmgr114&vid=11&hid=109
Dr. Samjay Gupta (2013). Cell Phones Cause Cancer. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL2ncKs9K8o