Veganism Deficiencies

Genre Analysis

Sean Carnahan

University of Texas at El Paso

Veganism Deficiencies

Introduction

We are in a world where access to information is not hard to come by, we can have

details on a subject within minutes, even seconds of typing it in on Google, yet even with this,

there is still mass confusion about the vegan lifestyle. Here in this genre analysis I will be

comparing and contrasting two different genres in their ability to present the information relating

to deficiencies in a vegan diet, one from a bodybuilder who disagrees with the vegan diet, and

the other from a prominent YouTube figure in the vegan community. The first genre is a

typography, an article written by Alex Fergus called “8 Proven Reasons Why Vegan and

Vegetarian Diets Easily Ruin Your Body”. The central argument in this article, is that veganism

and vegetarianism in general will destroy your body due to incomplete nutrient absorption, or

little availability of nutrients in these diets. The second genre is an iconography, in the form of a

YouTube video that was made by Mic the Vegan, called “How to Prevent Deficiencies on a

Vegan Diet”. The central point/argument in this video is that a vegan diet is easily sustainable as

long as you are eating enough calories and are taking proper measures to maintain your health.

Structure and Delivery

An important key when presenting and delivering information is to keep your bias set

aside. Both genres are biased in their own way due to different perspectives that they have on the

subject matter and their approach to the topic. Fergus has a bodybuilder background, which

shows through the various points he makes, such as mentioning nutrients that are not normally

found in a normal omnivore diet but are more specialized for bodybuilding. Along with this, the

references included are leaning towards one way and do not show the entire picture. Mic in his

video has an emotional bias as well mentioning “dead fish carcass” (Mic the Vegan, 5:45), and
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similar terms to deter appeal to an omnivore diet. Mic also shows sources that lean towards one

way but some of the sources pertain directly with the subject.

Convincing arguments have structure and organization so the flow of information

is easy to understand. Both authors have a level of organization that helps the information flow

smoothly, but Fergus’ article is structured and labeled more appropriately. Fergus begins his

argument with a quick explanation of what veganism is, and then goes on to his main points.

Fergus’ points are labeled and are orderly in their position in the article, but he does not pull

quotes from his cited sources, making it difficult for his audience to understand his argument. On

the other hand, Mic starts his argument with general studies showing how a vegan diet can be

easily sustainable, but then doesn’t carry out his point with good structure. Mic often times hops

from one nutrient to the next, which may be hard to follow and understand. Although, Mic is

more efficient with presenting sources pertaining to his point easily due to this genre format.

Typographies are more advantageous for organization for this topic, since there are many

scientific aspects behind it which may be hard to grasp through the first view of a video, while

you may reread a sentence you don’t grasp the first time.

Main points may be lost with an audience if the vocabulary of the speaker does not reflect

the importance of the topic. The topic of vegan diets and how to eat properly is an especially

important topic since it revolves around your lifestyle and health. Both genres used a higher level

of vocabulary, speaking more technically with Fergus mentioning various acronyms and

nutrients that you wouldn’t normally be aware of. Mic also used a higher level of vocabulary

using technical and medical terms, properly relating them to the various nutrients that he was

mentioning. Mic also was consistently mentioning medical journals and studies done by

nutritionists, which involved a large amount of higher vocabulary. Both genres did a good job of
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including vocabulary that was properly fit with the current topic for they both used language that

related to nutrients and medical studies to back their information.

One of the most important aspects to enhance an argument is the use of visuals. The use

of visuals helps tells the story or point that you are trying to tell, since it brings a different

dimension to an argument and can be more effective at keeping your audience inclined to read or

watch more. Both genres utilized the use of visuals, but in different ways. Mic changed visuals

quite a bit to explain and show what he was focusing on. He was able to transition between

visuals nicely and did not waste them, for some of the visuals presented were conducted studies

as well as graphs that supported his points. Other visuals that were brought were, the current

nutrient he was talking about, different foods and people he mentioned, and the default screen,

which was him talking to the audience. Fergus utilized some visuals but could have included

more. Fergus’ genre is not as much as visually inclining compared to an iconography, but the

author tried utilizing visuals throughout the article. The author used different pictures of

nutrients, different foods in most of his points, and also a picture of himself so the audience is

familiar with the author. The overall website was visually engaging but did lack some of the

color that Mic had that made his argument more inclining.

Ethos

Establishing ethos can be a hard thing to do if the argument is not presented on

the proper genre. A typography can be much more efficient at establishing credibility for the fact

that sources can be easily documented, mentioned, and cited. Typographies can be more

scientific because it doesn’t have as much of a creative aspect attached to it compared to

iconographies. Iconographies, especially YouTube videos are much more creative, utilizing

pictures, transitions, and also sounds. YouTube videos are not always the most credible of
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sources because of the content that revolves around the platform. The most popular videos are

not scientific journals presented as a video, they are normally funny, creative and personal,

which loses credibility for an argument such as this.

The presented information for each genre established credibility at different levels,

mainly contributing to the help of the type of genre used. Mic using an iconography developed

credibility through displaying charts and graphs of the certain studies that related to his point, but

to a point was somewhat lost through the presentation of the material. Mic presented the material

as if he was unboxing a TV, getting really excited about some aspects and changing the pitch of

his voice in different parts. The presentation using an iconography is very tricky when discussing

a serious topic such as this. While, Fergus’ typography was taken serious and established

credibility well through the use of sources and some of the vocabulary that was used. But some

of his credibility was lost to a point as well because he let bias sway his selection of sources and

the presentation of them. Fergus used outdated sources, and did not in particular, provide

relevant sources to his first point about how vegans do not get enough good quality protein.

Another credibility issue is that some information he states isn’t proven well, and contradicts

current studies, such as “it is extremely hard for the body to create the right kind of DHA from

plant sources” (Fergus, 2018), yet from Mic’s video “DHA levels can be reached by

supplementing with omega 3, or eating walnuts and flaxseed…1 and a half servings of chia seed

converts to optimal levels of DHA” (Mic the Vegan, 2017, 5:30).

Conclusion

Each genre made effective use of the various components that surround making a

convincing argument and conveying the information effectively. The purpose of each genre was

to provide more detail on their views of a vegan diet, which each one achieved successfully.
Veganism Deficiencies

Fergus and Mic conveyed their point in an orderly manner that made it easy to follow. However,

Mic utilized the iconography, which he used to be able to quickly explain a medical study while

relating it to his point more effectively, making the explanation and proof much easier to

understand than Fergus’. Fergus focused too much on what he personally knew rather than citing

specifically what the medical journal talks about and proves. Mic does a much better job at

explaining his point and then using nutritional research to back it up. So in the end, with the

accumulation of visuals, citations from experts, and the overall genre chosen, Mic’s argument

was much more well thought out, and orderly in proving his point.
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References

 Fergus, A. (2018). 8 Proven Reasons Why Vegan and Vegetarian Diets Easily Ruin Your

Body. Retrieved from https://www.alexfergus.com/blog/8-proven-reasons-why-vegan-

and-vegetarian-diets-easily-ruin-your-body#clickref

 Mic the Vegan. (2017, January 10). How to Prevent Deficiencies on a Vegan Diet.

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKwnMCEp3HM