Running head: GENRE ANALYSIS 1

Student Athletes Getting Paid

Yoseph Hernandez

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1302

February 11, 2018

GENRE ANALYSIS 2

Abstract

The problem that is under investigation is why genre analysis is important to

comprehend. The participants’ focus of this paper are on student athletes getting paid. The

research they do is gathering information statistically by surveying so that people can understand

what is going on and on how it can benefit and influence the situation. The definition of genre is

a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form,

style, or subject matter. Genre Analysis is important to understand because each genre

encountered is different from one another by its structure, language, and to what kind of

discourse community it is being addressed. Also, it is used to evaluate the messages of each

genre to have a better understanding of what is being discussed and what is the argument already

taking place.
GENRE ANALYSIS 3

Introduction

The two main genres that will be discussed in the paper are a typography (news article)

and an iconography (YouTube video). These genres are different in many ways that will be

discussed later in the paper. The two genres that are being discussed are on the issue of whether

student athletes should be paid for what they do in sports. Lemmons (2017) claims that these

athletes bring massive amounts of revenue to the school they attend and to the National

Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Most of the student athletes that participate in sports

for their college are African Americans (para. 1). This paper will talk about the pros, cons, and

what is being done to fix this problem of student athletes getting paid for what they do. The

research gives the audience a sense of fixability on how the NCAA is going to manage this issue

of student athletes asking to be paid to play a sport they love. The main subject that is being

addressed all over the county with 347 D1 colleges is talked about in these two genres. The first

genre is from an article by Malcolm Lemmons (contributor to Huffington Post) title, College

Athletes Getting Paid? Here Are Some Pros and Cons (March 29, 2017). This article talks about

what the NCAA has gone through and is still going through to figure out this problem. It also

gives a list of pros and cons if student athletes were to get paid. The second genre is a YouTube

video of a “Conversation with NCAA President Mark Emmert” (September 8, 2016). This video

is over an hour long, and they talk about what the NCAA is doing in different parts. However,

about 52 minutes is when they talk about the issue of student’s athletes getting paid. After that, it

turns to a Q and A regarding various issues. The two genres will be discussed thoroughly in

detail through the paper to better understand genre analysis.

Audience and purpose

GENRE ANALYSIS 4

The two types of genres have a audience and purpose. These genres both talk about the

issue of student athletes getting paid. In each genre, the audiences differ on how the problem is

being taken care of if student athletes should get paid. The intended purpose of these genres is to

inform the audience. The genres do this by providing statistics to prove a claim and to also

support what is being told to them. By providing this to the audience, this gives reasoning to the

audience and a sense of purpose to say whether student athletes should get paid.

In College Athletes Getting Paid? Here Are Some Pros And Cons, Lemmons explains the

issues of the NCAA, as well as to inform us with statistics of the pros and cons of student

athletes getting paid. There is a percentage in the article that address the opinion that most people

prefer that student athletes should get paid and that is mostly black American. By figuring out if

student athletes should get paid, Lemmons informed the pros and cons of the issues so that

people can see if it is a good idea. He explains with an example of a Black American giving his

opinion on what he feels about the issue. This article really gives the audience to see both sides

of the story about whether student athletes should be paid.

When watching the other genre, Conversation with NCAA President Mark Emmert,

Emmert was giving a message on the relationship of sports and society, as well as the difficulty

addressing the subject of college sports and the financial stand point on college athletics. In the

video, Emmert says that there are three important things that the NCAA need to do for student

athletes to be successful: 1.) to help those students with their educational experience; 2.) the

health and wellbeing of student athletes; and 3.), the fundamental value and notion of fairness.

The audience for this genre is mainly for the people that are interested in what the NCAA does

and what they plan to do in the future with the issue of student athletes getting paid.

Rhetorical Appeals
GENRE ANALYSIS 5

The news article and the YouTube video establish a sense of rhetorical appeals of ethos,

pathos, and logos. These appeals are in both genres so that the audience can have a certain

response on the different genres, and they can interest the audience on this topic.

Ethos

Covino and Jolliffe (1995) remind us that ethos, the second cannon of rhetorical appeals,

is the good character and the consequent credibility of the rhetor (p. 336). Ethos is the ethical

truth on the text, and it forms whether or not the text is believable. In the article, Lemmons

(2017) displays this rhetorical appeal of ethos because he supports it with the facts on what the

NCAA does. He gives prior examples on a situation, for example, the Ed O’Bannon case. He

does this to make a valid point in the statement, and so he can have support. The YouTube video

is a conversation with the president of the NCAA Mark Emmert that talks about what he wants

to enforce and help those student athletes in any way possible. The audience believes he is telling

the truth and have an ethical approach to what he says is his word. This appeal is important

because this is what engages the audience to be involved in the topic.

Pathos

Downs (2017) states emotion is the body’s way of expressing the most deeply held values

and desires by the author, and it can be exhibited as emotion portrayed as tear-jerking or

emotionally manipulative claims (p. 472). Lemmons quoted Shabazz Napier, “We do have

hungry nights that we don’t have enough money to get food in. Sometimes money is needed. I

don’t think you should stretch it out to hundreds of thousands of dollars for playing, because a lot

of times guys don’t know how to handle themselves with money. I feel like a student athlete.

Sometimes, there’s hungry nights where I’m not able to eat, but I still got to play up to my

capabilities” (para.6). This displays an example of pathos because of the sense that some student
GENRE ANALYSIS 6

athletes do not have enough to eat a full five meals a day, but they are still able to perform to

their very best. The YouTube video did display some pathos, although not very much of it. It did

show they talked about how they fund research and help the student athletes with education and

in their health. It showed they were giving when they helped and cared for their people (time

5:00).

Logos

Covino and Jolliffe (1995) claim that logos is an appeal to the patterns, conventions, and

the modes of reasoning that the audience can find convincing and persuasive. Logos is the

logical aspect that the rhetor wants you to think just like him or her (p. 336). Both genres do

display logos in their pieces, even if they are two different types of genres. In the article,

Lemmons claims that there is some pros and cons to student athletes getting paid. However, here

are one of each if the NCAA were going to do this. One pro is that the “student athletes can have

this money to support their families (para. 8)”. One con is that it “removes athlete’s competitive

nature and passion for the game (para. 15)”. In the video, Mark Emmert (2016) claims the

“universities can and should provide pay to a student athlete. The NCAA cannot allow or

prohibit a school from providing a student athlete with anything that is legitimately tied to their

educational needs (time 52:10)”. Both genres provide evidence for their respective arguments on

whether student athletes should get paid.

Structure and Delivery

The two genres presented both structure and delivery as they both provided a clear

process for their audience, even though they were different. The first one was an article that was

well spoken; and it had a clear claim with evidence that was provided to the argument. The

second genre, a YouTube video, was a Q and A with the president of the NCAA. It was clear to
GENRE ANALYSIS 7

the audience watching and the people that were there in person. Both genres were straight

forward with their argument, and their delivery was perfect.

Conclusion

These genres did an amazing job in providing their messages to their respective

audiences about why student athletes being paid. They both had their differences in how they

addressed their audience; and they both did the correct thing on informing their reader and

visual. While this is a difficult topic to discuss and to have a solution, people have had an impact

on making student athletes getting paid a reality.

GENRE ANALYSIS 8

Reference

Covino W. and Jolliffe, D. (1995). What is rhetoric? Rhetoric: Concepts, Definitions,

Boundaries. 3-26. https://blackboardlearn.utep.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2314019-dt-content-

rid-

51093803_1/courses/15875.201910/Covino%20%26%20Joliffe%202014%20What%20is

%20Rhetoric.pdf

Downs, D., Wardle, E. (2017). Rhetoric: How is meaning constructed in context? Writing about

writing: A college reader (3rd ed., pp. 447-456). Boston, New York: Bedford/St.

Martin's.

Lemmons. M. (2017, March 29). College Athletes Getting Paid? Here Are Some Pros and Cons.

Huffington Post https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/college-athletes-getting-paid-

here-are-some-pros-cons_us_58cfcee0e4b07112b6472f9a

Salomon. J. (Director). (2016, September 8). The History Behind the Debate Over Paying NCAA

Athletes [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJWa9gX-40