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Running Head: GA






Mental Illness and Public Education: A Genre Analysis
Marina Oaxaca
The University of Texas at El Paso
Summer 2014
GA 2

Introduction


Manic depression affects two percent of the American population with the disease
often not developing until the ages of fifteen and twenty. Because of the nature of the
illness, most patients are students with jobs and children and responsibilities and are left
completely in the dark about their diagnoses for most of their academic careers. All the
same they are expected to turn in papers on time, take detailed notes and fight through the
symptoms of their conditions while sometimes dealing with the side effects of several
medications simultaneously. Most patients are prone to developing learning disabilities
early on and stunt their cognitive processing skills and elementary basics because they sat
in classrooms with teachers that neither understood them or how to harness their
potential. Are activities accessible to people living with mental health issues- then it
shouldnt be about how to deal with someone that has a bipolar diagnoses. It should be
about whether or not these activities are accessible to anyone. (Sussex, 2011)
This Genre Analyses will explore the controversial topic of mental health in
public education with the use of two different genres. The first being contextual evidence,
an online article published for the text Mental Health in Schools by authors Howard S.
Adelman and Linda Taylor; center for Mental Health in Schools Department of
Psychology at UCLA, Published by Corwin books. The Article is titled Mental Health in
Schools: An Overview and is a brief statement based on policy and practice analyses
reported in various Center Documents. The second genre explored will be the online
short film Being a Student in Mental: Normalizing Mental Health Issues, a short
interview style documentary on YouTube posted by the organization Aimhigher Sussex
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and funded by Action on Access. Both genres, though very different in construction,
deliver the same message and that is that some form of reform is necessary in public
education. Why and how it can be achieved are the main focus of these analyses.

Audience/Purpose:


First we will dissect the textual artifact by addressing the intended audience, the
appropriate discourse community and the purpose of the genre. This article is likely aimed at a
more mature viewing community, possibly academically inclined though not necessarily implied.
Those likely to stumble upon the article are most likely educators, professors and education or
psychology students searching for further research into mental illness in public education.
Adding to what school education staff do, there has been renewed emphasis over the past
twenty years in the health and social services arenas on increasing linkages between schools and
community service agencies to enhance the well-being of young people and their families.
(Adelman & Taylor, 2010) The article itself is about two to three pages long at length. One
would not spend more than ten to twenty minutes on this specific genre unless clicking on the
optional links at the bottom of the website. The language is very informative and formal, most
likely to academically persuade. Specialized vocabulary could include political jargon and
specified language meant for the intended discourse community. "The major player in the de
facto system of care was the education sector more than three-fourths of children receiving
mental health services were seen in the education sector, and for many this was the sole source of
care." (Adelman & Taylor, 2010)

As for the intended discourse community of the educational and visual artifact, this genre
seems to be aimed at public educators themselves but was presented in such a way that it could
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also be perceived as a public service announcement. A more mature audience was probably the
intention but it accessible by all that type, risk, classroom management and student behavior in
the search bar. The viewing audience, assumingly so, is probably aware of the existence of
mental illness to some extent or enough to lead them to this video in the first place. Those
coming across this video for other reasons other than curiosity or by accident, could be searching
for answers to public reform or educate themselves on the socio-political issues of mental health
in public school. The video is roughly six and a half minutes long from start to finish. A good
length to get a relatively short message across without losing the attention of the viewer. If one
can listen to three bad songs in a row on the radio then they can most likely get through this
video in one piece. The purpose was most likely to persuade since the testimonials were based on
real life patients that chose to be recognized anonymously and represented by actors. Not many
facts aside from the factual testimonials were given. The language is set at a casual and tone, not
too formal but no detection of slang is present neither. Most likely to keep the viewer in a
comfortable atmosphere and to reach a variety of different viewers while still maintaining a
serious attitude. Other than the actors English accents there is no real special vocabulary
detected. This video released by Aimhigher Sussex was most likely intended for a British
viewing community but since it was uploaded on YouTube, a worldwide multi-media sharing
network, it is available to more viewers than just the United Kingdom. The small slides in
between interviews provide some facts and appear like a public service announcement. The
video is concerned with, How to keep yourself well, how to cope and deal with pressure and
what to do if you cant cope. Its not completely to do with a label. (Sussex, 2011)




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Ethos, Pathos, Logos:


The Academic nature of the genre is appealing to the viewer through its logistics and
facts. Currently, there are about 90,000 public schools in about 15,000 districts. Thus, efforts to
advance mental health in schools also must adopt effective models and procedures for replication
and scale-up." (Adelman & Taylor, 2010) If any emotions are evoked in the process it would
be entirely up to the viewer and their personal stance on the matter. Whether or no they agree
with educational reform is beside the point of this article as it exists to educate and persuade the
viewer with facts, not emotional appeal. The evidence/research presented to the specific
discourse community was conducted by Dr. Adelman and Dr. Taylor, center for Mental Health
in Schools Department of Psychology at UCLA. The Viewer can be confident in that the
information provided is legitimate and true since the institution is credible enough on its own.

The nature of the visual artifact is almost entirely reaching out on an emotional
level to the viewers, in fact that is solely the hand this genre has played since it lacks any sort of
information other than emotional appeals, personal stories and the honesty of their testament.
The intent of this genre is most likely to invoke some sense of sympathy from the audience and
understanding. Though there is little evidence other than the views of the documentary it is most
likely very persuading, even more so to more classes than the afore mentioned textual artifact.



Structure and Delivery:

As for the structure of the textual piece, the information is organized in bullet points to
make the information easier to sift through for the viewer. This particular choice of genre could
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be perceived as dry and dull depending on the viewer and whether or not they possess college
level reading and writing cognitive capacities due to the article being meant for a more mature
audience. The information could possibly be perceived no more exciting than that in a text book
but just as close to the surface as other credible sources. That being said, it facilitates its purpose
and message appropriately.

The information in the visual artifact is organized in three different ways by three
different voices. The first being a girl who seems to have had a traumatic experience in school
and higher education, a young man who actively fights for the necessary reforms and
accommodations of mental illness but not as a crutch as more of a setting the overall bar of
success a reasonable position for people in general. The last interview being another girl with her
own testimonial of dealing with depression while being in school. The style and deliver of this
genre could come off as cheesy sometimes and may start to get a little preachy for those not well
read on topics of mental illness. It can also be seen as boring even for the short length of the
video. The limitations that would pose would most likely be of disinterest to the viewer and they
could lose focus rather quickly. However seeing a person speaking words rather than reading a
text has the opposite effect and could easily evoke emotions and more powerful response. In the
end, it is up the type of viewer of course.

Conclusion/Synthesis:

Both artifacts have their pros and cons. The textual being that it is a legitimate source of
information- true, credible, and well written and put together. The second visual artifact
is appealing to a wider range of viewers and emotes the same message, not necessarily
more clearly, but in a more accessible format than the textual article. In my opinion the
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article serves the better purpose in education the audience simply because nit provides the
facts the institution backing the article is credible. It was structured in an easy to
understand formula similar to that of the Cornell method of note taking with the subtopic
on the left hand corner and the content on the right hand. The material was nicely edited
and formally concluded and even alluded to the authors text book release for further
reading if the viewer wished to engage more on the topic. Both genres however have
effectively demonstrated the need for mental illness reform in the public school system. It
is a radically controversial topic with the information in psychiatry advancing at full
speed. The genres greatly demonstrate the need for the American education system to
catch up to modern psychiatry.





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References


Adelman, H. S., & Taylor, L. (2010). Mental Health in Schools: an overview. In H. S. Adelman,
& L. Taylor, Mental Health in Schools (p. 328). Corwin.
Sussex, A. (Director). (2011). Being a Student is Mental:normalising mental health issues
[Audio Visual].