Running head: CONTROVERSY ON GUN CONTROL

Controversy Gun Control

Gilbert Lopez Jr.
University of Texas at El Paso

Running head: CONTROVERSY ON GUN CONTROL

Introduction:
The topic that I will be researching and explaining throughout the semester will be the issue
on gun control. I have chosen two different genres, a news article and billboard, which both
present similarities and differences but focus on the same topic. The CNN news article that I
have chosen is titled, American Sniper widow: Gun control wont protect us by Taya Kyle. In
the course of Kyles article she both refutes and supports gen control policies. The billboard does
not have a stated title but on the bottom of the billboard it informs its audience that it can be
referred to as, GUN REFORM by Kenneth Cole. These both genres may cause the audience to
change or clarify their own perspective of gun control. Because of social tensions, political
polices, and the quality of health for an individual have caused both authors to share their
opinions on the issue of gun control, I will further be analyzing their responses in an effort to
convey their message to their attended audiences.
Audience and Purpose Questions:
The intended audience that the CNN news article the American Sniper widow: Gun control
wont protect us reaches out to those who are for and against gun control. As for the billboard
GUN REFORM intended audience is more for those who are against gun control. With the
information that is given from both genres the purpose that is presented is to persuade and
inform. The purpose that the news article portrays is to inform the audience with perspectives
and opinions that are unbiased which encourages general awareness for the population. As for
the billboard the purpose that is given off is one of a biased opinion for those who are against
gun control. This genre does convince the audience to change their minds to agree and be
against. The knowledge that the audience already has is that gun control has had negative effects
within the country due to horrific tragedies such as the shooting in the movie theater in Colorado,

Running head: CONTROVERSY ON GUN CONTROL

the Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut and the college massacre in UT Austin. They
also know that as an American citizen they have rights to own and carry guns for the protection
of the public, their family and for their own safety. They might like to know what regulations the
government might imply in order for a citizen to attain a gun. The reason the audience would like
to know is for their awareness for the safety of themselves, their loved ones as well as for the
environment. The amount of time varies on both genres, the CNN News article will at least 15
minutes to read and understand the information that is given as for the billboard, it would not
take more than 5 minutes. The intended audience for the CNN article is a broad range of people,
but has a concentration that ranges from young adults to adults with those who are seeking
exposure to the policies that are in affect for gun control. Kyle uses informal lexis to help her
audience connect and understand the message she is trying to convey. In comparison to the
article, the billboard has higher exposure due to the fact it placed in the public to view for anyone
who passes may see it either driving or walking by. Coles third person perspective gives a third
party opinion that helps his audience connect on a level that he is on as well. The jargon used in
the billboard is not specialized at all in the sense so that the public may easily interpret the
information. In Kyles CNN article, she both supports and refutes the issue of gun control and
polices. Her opinion is neutral and also makes her view non biased and respectable to her
audience. The billboard created in response to Coles quote on gun control and mental illness is
argumentative because it only states one viewpoint on the issue.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos and Logos:
The article was produced on CNN which is a highly respected source for news in the United
States, and the coverage is reached to the public nationwide. Kyle was inspired to compose the
article because the movie premiere of American Sniper which depicted the life of her late

Running head: CONTROVERSY ON GUN CONTROL

husband Chris Kyle while he served in the military. Due to the credibility, it is effective by
achieving the purpose because it is a well-known individual giving her opinion and information
on an important public issue that has significant relevance to society. In comparison to the article
the billboard uses a quote by Kenneth Cole and gives the genre credibility because of his social
status in society which effects the purpose because the audience attention is more present. Kyles
genre evokes the audience emotionally to develop a sense of concern in addition also establishes
a sympathetic appeal due to her husbands tragic death. As for the billboard, it evokes the
audience emotionally in an empathetic appeal due to the structure of the quote. The author is
refuting a nationwide issue which questions the safety of open carry gun policy which implies
that not all people are treated for mental illnesses but all may carry a gun in public. Kyles first
person perspective is the main evidence that is used in this genre due to the death of her late
husband. The choice of the genres supported and gave both views of the topic as well as some
similarities but differences which made these two genres in their own way support the topic of
gun control. The main difference for these two genres would be the way the author portrays the
information such as Kyles informative and Coles persuasive perspective on their genres. They
differ in a way that Kyle can relate to this topic because of her personal experienced she lived
with through her husbands death which build up a lot of supportive information to get her
message across to the public. As for Cole, he is also a person well known in society as a fashion
designer, who is stating his biased information and sending his message out to the public in a
completely different way which will alert the public and react quicker. The two genres
differentiate also because as Kyle backs up her opinions on both sides of the issue, Cole only
analyzes one side of the issue. Kyle illustrates her personal opinions in support for the view of
both sides of the issue but also gives the realistic view on how the world has been affected by

Running head: CONTROVERSY ON GUN CONTROL

this public issue. The rhetorical issues that are present in the genres are used to convey different
messages with a contrasting intended audience. Since both the article and billboard successfully
depict their messages the authors did not leave out any components that would make the genre
unsuccessful.
Structure and Delivery:
Both genres have been shaped differently in a way to get their message across and impact
their audience the way they want them to react. Kyle reaches out to her audience through the use
of her own personal experiences then her opinions on both side of the issue but reaches out to her
audience in a very limited way making this genre unbiased because she is being neutral to send
her message across and so that the audience may gain the knowledge and really reflect and see
both points of view on the issue. Kyle does not have a limitation on the space, time and audience,
but she the structure of the layout was created in a way for the audience understand how she is
not just any ordinary author writing about this issue, she shows that she has personal knowledge
and experience in this issue. Cole on the other hand conveys his information in a biased way,
with his own opinion which is very free spirited. He does not make limitations to the audience,
but he does create a limitation in the structure of the layout and the time because his genre is a
billboard for that reason he creates his quote in a way to reach out to his audience in a quick way
so that it may impact the audience in that sudden moment that they view his quote. These genres
are also organized in a fashion where the audience may be impacted and affected by the strategic
layout, design, text and visual structure that the authors use to send their message out to the
public. Kyles strategic layout is first presented and structured to reach out to her audience by
stating her personal emotional life experience of her husbands tragic death, to impact her
audience to be emotionally interested to see her side but also to show her audience she is

Running head: CONTROVERSY ON GUN CONTROL

knowledgeable and the information she will be presented will be a real life experience that will
support her opinions. She also designs her genre in a way to reach out more to her audience by
adding three videos which is grab the audience attention and listen to what she has to say but
does not include visuals. As for Coles genre, the structure is organized to convey his message to
his audience, his layout is really simple in a way for his opinion, which is presented towards the
end is supported by statistics in the beginning. Due to this kind of genre, there is not much
organization with the information given because it is a small amount of information that needs to
be structured in a way to impact the audience eye as soon as they can visually come in contact
with it. Coles quote uses features such as fonts, and color to contribute the message. It consists
of bold capital letters, and his statement of just the important words in bold capital letters
followed by regular font words after. With this structure Coles quote impacts the audience more
than if it was just created with regular font size and no bold letters. Due to the organization and
features that is structured and added to the genre, it really does impact the audience visually in a
different way which gives the content a different outlook and the message is being transferred in
a different way.
Conclusion/Synthesis:
After analyzing both genres, the genre that was most effective which conveyed its
message was the CNN news article due to its unbiased point of view, and her personal
experience gave the genre lots of credibility. Kyles genre really has a lot of supportive
information that backs up her opinions in this genre that really impacts the audience to have them
thinking about both sides of the issue. Although Cole calls attention to the social strain that is
caused by the open carry gun policies that are in effect in modern-day society he fails by his
unwillingness to acknowledge both sides of the argument and because Kyle both supports and

Running head: CONTROVERSY ON GUN CONTROL

refutes the open carry gun policies based off her first person perspective gives her a higher sense
of credibility and makes her claims to her genre more successful then Coles.

Running head: CONTROVERSY ON GUN CONTROL

References:
Kyle, K. (2016, January 07). American Sniper Widow: Gun Control Wont Protect Us.
Retrieved January 07, 2016 from http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/opinions/taya-kyle-guncontrol/