Lramirez Genre Analysis

Genre Analysis
Luis Ramirez
University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1302
Lramirez Genre Analysis

Genre Analysis
The future of E-sports is heading its way towards being able to compare to sports in terms

of viewership and sponsors. Now that E-sports has caught the attention of ESPN and other sports

channels the discussion on whether E-sports should be considered a sport has arised. Either side

has very different opinions on what they think about the community of E-sports should be

considered are explained in the Typography and Iconography both having the same topic but

different opinions. An article on BBC created by Borg DAnastasi goes into the details of the

differences and similarities they both have. On YouTube John Bain or better known as

TotalBiscuit makes a ten-minute video on the contrasting the differences in traditional sports and

E-sports. By comparing both of the genres characteristics the dilemma on consideration of E-

sports as an authentic sport can be effectively solved.

The typography was constructed by asking a question in the beginning to inform the

readers what they are going to talk about and to make their audience think about the E-sports

before they start reading or catch their attention. Then after their questions they give an outline of

what the article sub topics are going to talk about also they start by giving a simple

understanding of what the article is explaining. They progress by talking about the points both

sides have, for example Michal Blicharz an organizer for events mentions that There are

tournaments, you have to climb up a ladder to eventually compete with the best. In terms of

training you have to put in the same amount of hours, perhaps even more in esports. On the

Sports side, Tim Warwood, a retired professional snowboarder explains how he doesnt see

inactive people playing on a computer a sport. In the conclusion for the typography Borg gives

his opinion on the matter concluding that E-sports should be what it wants. The article was
Lramirez Genre Analysis

constructed in a way to catch the audiences attention and give them a simple summary about E-

sports which explains the argument to finally give an opinion on what the author thinks.

The Iconography is a YouTube video about E-sports on what the genre should be

considered created by TotalBiscuit. The thumbnail on the video is just the title in a black

background with bold red letters to catch a persons attention who will be scrolling through

YouTube to click on the video. The video starts off with TotalBiscuit talking about an article he

read about E-sports to give his opinion on the matter with his personal experience in E-sports.

After the videos introduction TotalBiscuit talks about what defines a sport and a quick definition

of what E-sports is, then starts to give his first point of why E-sports are not considered a sport

but a competition. The videos main argument on this issue is viewership explaining that

Television channels are going down while on demand content is going up. With his strongest

point, TotalBiscuit gives his opinion on the matter on what is going to happen in the future that

E-sports should be itself. After he talks about the viewership and how impactful it will affect the

E-sports community he then rambles about more of his opinions not giving any solid evidence.

The video was organized as an introduction then points of the argument into his final opinion

that people dont care if E-sports is considered itself as a sport.

Lramirez Genre Analysis

The audience for the typography and iconography is different by the way of words and

structure of information. In the typography, the audience is more forward to the public or a

reader of BBC because of the simple words that are being used to explain something that the

reader might not understand. Meanwhile, in iconography the audience is more towards the

channels subscribers by using references to his past videos or someone who already has

knowledge on the subject because the video does not describe all the terms he uses that are not

common knowledge. The purpose for both genres are to inform people about the situation on E-

sports giving them an understanding on what the authors think and the type of arguments they

make on a serious tone. The two discourse communities that are mainly involved are E-sports

fans and sports fans both having opinions on what they think is right. While the audience in the

typography is aimed towards the public, they try to catch anyones slightest interest on the topic

while on the iconography the video is aimed towards subscribers and members of the E-sports

discourse community.

With each of these genres having the same topic they both use different type of rhetorical

issues for example pathos. In the typography, they focus more on information and results to

convince their readers into believing what they are saying. The results that are being shown are

the 32 million viewers who watched the championship and 130 million dollars in revenue per

year then comparing those facts with the NBA and baseball league views. In the iconography, the

pathos shown is not as strong as the typography only giving summaries of facts without much

details. Unlike the typography, the iconography never gives the summary of discourse

community terms that are used in the video. The iconography does use a more general
Lramirez Genre Analysis

knowledge that the E-sports community knows about and are informed ignoring the logic that is

needed to be understood why he says twitter is not a reliable source of feedback. The typography

has a stronger pathos than the iconography because of the different methods being used to deliver

the targets they are aiming for.

Ethos is a strong role in what they are saying and why people will believe in what they

are saying. Borg DAnastasi and John Bain are both related to the E-sports community. Borg is

connected by being a host for events and while John is a professional player for E-sports games

and a popular YouTuber with 2.2 million subscribers. Having a connection to the E-sports world

and having experience playing for a professional team John has influence in what he says and

most people will consider what he is trying to explain. His word choice is simple and the tone he

uses for the video is assertive trying to show that he is confident. Borg has had less experience in

the E-sports scene than John but he has also been a writer for BBC having more experience in

writing articles. His word choice is more friendly using slang such as baddies a vocabulary that

attracts the younger audience more than the older audience. Both creators have experience in

their own way from the E-sports scene but also have reputations that isnt connected to the

discourse community like Borgs YouTube channel and Joshs BBC job.

Pathos is heavily used in both genres typography and iconography because of the authors

opinion leaning more towards being a sport. For the typography, they use interviews from other

people who are heavily one sided using emotional words as nerds which is a stereotype for

players in the E-sports scene. For the other interview, he uses a snowboarder who uses memories

of his younger days as an argument being completely opinion based with no facts on why it

shouldnt be a sport. The iconography is filled with emotion by the tone of his voice and the

frustration he shows in the video.

Lramirez Genre Analysis

Between both iconography and typography, they share the same question but use different

methods of expressing their answer. While the iconography maintained a more ethos path, the

typography maintained a logos area covering statistics rather than talking with your own

experience. While both had structure, the iconography maintained a simple format of reading

from an article then answering. The typography had a more complex structure of going into

detail of what is E-sports and gives a good comparison. Both genres had different methods but

the typography did a better job in explaining the topic and answers the question in multiple ways

while the iconography just gives you small facts but weaker set of wording and structure.
Lramirez Genre Analysis

References
Borg D'Anastasi, O. J. (n.d.). BBC iWonder - Is computer gaming really sport? Retrieved
February 09, 2017, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zygq2hv
T. (2015, April 28). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=3eD7zacG39I