RUNNING HEAD: GENRE ANALYSIS

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Genre Analysis: Of How-tos and Poets

Taylor Dodson
University of Texas at El Paso

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Introduction
Walt Whitmans poem O Captain! My Captain!, a poem detailing a fictional account of
soldiers returning form war, and the website School A To Zs Ten steps for Writing an Essay, an
instructive, step-by-step guide on how to write an essay, each have their own ways of
communicating their unique messages using rhetorical devices. In this genre analysis, we will
see exactly how this is accomplished for each.
Audience and Purpose
O Captain! My Captain! s targeted audience consists of several demographics. These
include English speakers (because it is written in English) and those of adolescent age and older
(because of use of higher level language like keel and trill). Poetry fans may also be
included because of its use of standard poetry conventions like rhyme and meter, as well as
United States citizens, for its reverence of military figures like Captains (evidenced by its
likening the Captain to a father) is shared by many American people; even government officials
are known to praise such figures often. Ten steps for writing a research paper, like Whitmans
work, has a target audience of English speakers between the ages of adolescence and older
adulthood because of high level English terms (e.g. lateral thinking). Unlike the poem,
however, it adds parents, teachers, and writers to the list, for it is focused on teaching students
writing techniques, a primary concern of all three; students wish to write better essays for better
grades, parents and teachers desire student success, and writers constantly seek ways to improve
their craft.

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The purpose of Ten Steps, as the title suggests, is to offer the reader helpful tips on
writing a quality essay, while the purpose of O Captain is to present an entertaining, emotional,
and thought-provoking story.

Ethos
O Captain! My Captain has credibility through the reputation of its author: it was, as
stated above, written by the late Walt Whitman, a poet of considerable renown. Having authored
many works of critical acclaim (most notably Leaves in The Grass) seeing his name on the
cover will likely make people more willing to read this work out of trust that it will be of
considerable quality, either because of personal familiarity with his writing or recommendation
by those of perceived good taste.
Ten steps for writing an essay, unlike O Captain, is credited to no specific author.
However, it is still given ethos by the address of the website; upon visiting the page, the first
thing browsers will notice is the .edu domain of the website upon which it is published. .edu
is a domain type that is well known to be shared by universities and educational institutions (e.g.
UTEP, Harvard, or Princeton). Because of this, the audience will assume that this article shares
their perceived dedication to advancing education and teaching students; it suggests that it is
unbiased, well-versed, and focused in the practice of guiding students in their academic
endeavors. Thus, any academic advice provided by its articles including Ten steps -- can be
trusted.
Pathos

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Whitmans poem makes use of emotionally charged language in order to allow the
readers to feel the sorrow of the narrator. This passage, found in the third and final stanza,
exemplifies this:
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm [. . .]
The phrase his lips are pale and still provides a powerful image of death, for both traits
are universally acknowledged to be associated with it. The reason for this is that cold, still
objects are usually inanimate -- like metal and, by extension, lifeless. Attributed to a living
person, this is an unnatural and tragic state of being; hence, readers are saddened and disturbed
by it. In addition, the narrator refers to the fallen captain as father, a familial bond that is very
common and strong in American society. Thus, readers can empathize with the speakers sorrow
at his death, for they recognize and understand the significance one attributed with the title
father in a persons life.
Ten steps for writing an essay does not use charged imagery like Whitman; instead, it
uses an actual photograph, placed at the top center of the page above the text. This image depicts
a young male student writing a paper of his own with the diligence and confidence the article
promises in this passage;
[. . .] read through these 10 points, get in some early preparation and have the self-belief
that they can do it.
By associating with this image, the article instills a desire in readers this being students
worrying about their essays -- to achieve the same level of contentment the character depicted
displays. This joyful atmosphere is created by bright colors (e.g. the white papers and the light

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brown sofa) usually associated with warmth (because of things like the sun and bright summer
days) and the students face, which, while the eyes are fixated on his paper, is adorned with a
smile (an expression of happiness).
Logos
O Captain, My Captain employs logic with its imagery; the reader can logically infer
that a tragedy has occurred of by the evidence given by the narrative through description. For
instance, the author need not explicitly state that the Captain is dead: the reader can deduce this
by noting that he is bleeding (O bleeding drops of red) and lying still and cold on the deck
(his lips are pale and still).
Ten steps, on the other hand, uses logos in the form of chronology: the steps are
supposed to be carried out in a specific order in order to achieve the desired result. Thus, they are
listed in this logical order; it is apparent, for instance, that the student must first read the essay
question (step 1) before gathering the research needed to properly respond to it (step 2), for they
must be aware of exactly what kind of information the question asks for before actually going to
search for said information.
Structure
Whitmans poem is structured as poems usually are in order to signal its status as poetry;
it is separated in to stanzas, indented in a special way (stanzas become narrower at refrains like
O Heart!), and each stanza is indicated by a line break (block paragraphing). In addition, every
line rhymes with the one before it, and the title and author are given first and foremost so that
they can be immediately identified and remembered.

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Ten steps to writing an essay, like Whitman, makes use of special formatting to make
its style (a list) and purpose (to inform) are clear at a glance .However, it is a step by step rather
than a narrative, so it is separated into major topics (the steps) that are numbered and bolded
rather than stanzas, with all relating sub topics organized into bullet points underneath them. In
addition, each step is given its own paragraph, and are listed from 1 to 10 in the order in which
they are meant to be read and carried out.
Conclusion
From this analysis, we can summarize several things about these genres. On the matter of
ethos, O Captain and Ten steps are very different: the poem establishes it with the perceived
skill of the individual behind it (Walt Whitmans renown as a poet) rather than the connotations
of a domain like Ten steps (this being the .edu suffix). Pathos is used in Whitmans poem
through strong descriptions and well-understood emotional buzzwords (cold and still to
describe a dead man and referring to him as father) while Ten steps instills a desire for what
it claims to offer (confidence and relaxation during essay writing process) with an actual image
depicting bright colors and a peaceful character. Logos is used through organization in Ten
steps (listing the steps in the order they would logically be completed) while in O Captain the
logic is contained within the narrative, using descriptions of scenes to prove the intended
meaning and tone of the story.
Overall, both do an acceptable job of communicating their message, and demonstrate
many helpful examples on effective ways to utilize rhetorical devices.

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References
Ten steps for writing an essay. (2013). Retrieved February 12, 2015.
Whitman, W. (n.d.). O Captain! My Captain! Retrieved February 11,
2015.