Running head: GENRE ANALYSIS 1

Genre Analysis

Monograph vs. Documentary

Dania Ma. Bueno

University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1302

Dr. Vierra

July 16th, 2018

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Monograph vs. Documentary

Genres create expectations. When we talk about genres usually a “type” of film or music

comes into our minds. We tend to classify them as “romance, action, comedy” because we

expect certain familiarity from the theme. Nevertheless, genres are not only a type of

entertainment but also categories that apply as academic sources. A monograph (book with only

one author) and a documentary are examples of this. In this essay, we’ll discuss the similarities

and differences between a monograph called Architecture by John Gloag (1963), and a

documentary named Castles in the Air: A Brief History of the Architectural Heritage of UTEP

and its Future by Joshua R. Smith (2014). By the end of this paper, we will learn that it is very

important to choose and evaluate the way information is released and how we can take advantage

from two sources at the same time, depending on your need.

Audience

The genre of my monograph and documentary differ in only one thing: minority; the

monograph was written (no need for internet) for scholars interested in history, research, and

architectural majors while the video, with the need of internet, is directed only for UTEP

students looking into the same topics. Both genres’ purpose is to inform and convey the

audience, with a little twist of the documentary by being entertaining as well (if you are into

history). The reader and the viewer need to be interested in architecture to fully grasp the

intentions as both speak about the beauty and history of buildings. The only difference is the

theme the person is looking for: architecture in general around the world with the monograph or

only UTEP architecture with the video. Both genres appeal and give important information. It all

depends on what the audience is researching and the advantage they want to take. In the
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documentary, we could also add anyone who’s interested to know more about the historical and

Bhutanese buildings at UTEP.

Structure

When it comes to structure a monograph and video differ in a lot of aspects: a monograph

is a written book that is divided into chapters, and needs almost a week to finish reading it; while

the documentary is a filmed video with recorded information ready to be released by listening,

watching and taking 8 minutes of our life to “get” what the director is telling us. Organization is

a big discrepancy between them: the monograph has a specific order with numbered pages and

chapters to follow, while the documentary does not. It doesn’t follow a step-by-step instruction;

it leads from a picture to an interview and from a video to different picture. Another distinction is

color: the book counts with only two colored-picture (pgs. 71 and 149), and the video is full of

them. One similarity that is found is the vocabulary. Though both genres are specified in

architecture, their formal language is not hard to understand if you are not familiar with the

subject.

Rhetorical Issues

The rhetorical issues from both genres differ in a great manner: in the monograph ethos is

very strong compared to the documentary while pathos is the other way around, and logos, in

both of them, has almost the same heaviness but directed in a different position. The monograph

is full of facts, and the documentary has facts but also an interview that helps to validate. Before

we discuss it’s important to understand the meaning of the rhetorical issues. A simple definition

of them will be: credibility as ethos, emotional appeal as pathos and rationality as logos.

Let’s start by looking ethos in both genres. In the first written page of the monograph

(1963) is seen that the credibility of the author John is really wide as a list of eleven books he
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also wrote is shown; five of them with a title related to the field of architecture, history of

buildings, furniture and designs. He’s also known for writing science fiction novels. On the other

hand, the credibility of the director’s documentary video is very poor as there is no more

information about him or other videos he has been part of. It’s only known that he was a UTEP

student, and that gives him certain reliability as at the minimum his words spoke about a

structural world he knew by studying there.

The next persuasive issue and the easiest one to distinguish for connecting with the

senses is pathos, the emotional appeal. The evoking emotion that the monograph causes is

weaker than the documentary but still carries an important load of sympathetic information. In

the monograph a lot of big building pictures and construction sketches are found which make the

reader engage in the lecture by appreciating. Between all the old buildings, an urban tower is

seen and makes the readers connect in the “modern world” like letting them know that the author

also speaks on their “today language” (pg. 14). Drawings of constructions development give you

the feeling of really getting into the architectural terrene (pgs. 2 and 3). Even Gloag’s writing

style helps to the degree that sentences like “Architecture tells the story of civilization in all parts

of the world, the rise, maturity, decay and fall of peoples and powers, and the strength and

weakness of national character are revealed by buildings” incite the reader and the way he

changes buildings topics from the ruins of Greek to the towers of New York brings together

emotions from unknown to known that keeps you wanting more and more (pgs.1 and 2).

In the documentary, pathos is stronger because it requires the viewer’s full attention.

Since the beginning the non-stopping pictures and slow-motion videos from UTEP and Bhutan

the audience feels in familiar grounds. The interview part is also entertaining as the filmmaker

plays with the angles so it doesn’t get boring and keeps the person interested. The music chosen
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(Bhutanese and classical) and the tone of voice were well- performed. These two important

characteristics make connection between the viewer and the message deeper and easy to

understand. It gives the feeling of being part, too.

Last but not least, the hardest rhetorical issue to get but also the one very obvious is

logos. The monograph is full of facts. There is no page you can’t find information based on true

pieces as architecture needs a way to maintain buildings. In almost every page, there are several

additions on the sides that give reliable facts such as sketches showing application to a portico, a

post-and-lintel construction and overlapping courses in rings (pg. 2 and 3). These ads come with

the written method of how the structures were created and also there are other written facts that

speak about the physic theories (pg.8). On the other hand, the documentary is also full of

historical facts such as the demolition of John Muir Building in 2013, but the ones that stand the

most are the facts given by Dr. Max Grossman, educated in the Art History of UTEP and vice-

chair of El Paso County Historical Commission, in the interview part.

Conclusion

In conclusion, when we analyze the way genres information is conveyed and evaluate the

source is easy to take advantage from them. If we are looking for a big resourceful genre, a

monograph is often the best selection as it doesn’t explore another subject but specifies in one

with an approachable formal language, and usually a historical credibility from the author. It also

lets the reader get information whenever and wherever they like as the facts are shown and found

by just opening the book. On the other hand, if we are looking for something more meaningful

and impacting, the documentary will be the best option as the emotional appeal is a strong

feature we tend to follow with the music and images that make us travel in the video world. It is

also more approachable by not only helping specific audience but people who are a bit interested
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in the topic. Both, the monograph and the documentary, have a strong effect in the group of

people they are speaking to because it enrich them not only textually and mentally but verbally

and visibly, too.

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References

Gloag, J. (1963). Architecture. New York: Hawthorn Books, c1963; 1st. American ed.].

Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b106

0139&site=eds-live&scope=site

Castles in the air: A brief history of the architectural heritage of UTEP and its future. Joshua R.

Smith (Director). (2014).[Video/DVD] Youtube: Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lTsogtsqM8