PB1A Genre Analysis Worksheet

Source #1 chosen “Depression and College Students”

A. Context and Function:

1. Provide an MLA style citation for the article

Depression and College Students /. Bethesda, Maryland: U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental
Health, 2011. Print.

2. Who are the participants? Who uses this genre? Who usually writes and reads this
genre?

Since the whole premise of this study was on the huge umbrella of depression for
college students, then the participants include only college students. They didn’t go into
depth on what type of college or what grade level of college but their goal remained the
same throughout the study, which was on college life.

3. When and why is this genre used? What purposes does it fulfill for those who use
it? What do readers and writers get out of it?

In this journal, the main focus throughout the whole entire text was depression
involving college students. I chose this article because I strongly believe that
depression isn’t a subject that is talked about enough in school. Just in UC Santa
Barbara alone there have been one too many student suicides that have been kept in the
dark for most students. Knowledge is power, and just knowing the right information at
any given time can save a life. That being said this study journal does exactly that, by
answering any questions imaginable involving depression, whether it is for yourself or
for someone else.
B. Textual Features:
4. Based on this article, what seems to “count” as evidence?
Surveying college students is what I count as evidence. I believe it is important for a
successful study to include this because it gives them good credibility. This is shown
when they surveyed college students at 2 years and 4 year schools nationwide and
discovered that “30 percent of college students reported feeling “so depressed that it
was difficult to function” at some time in the past year”. The last example of this is
when they uncovered in a survey that “6 percent of college students reported seriously
considering suicide, and about 1 percent reported attempting suicide in the previous
year”. Although incredibly scary statistics, it is important to include them because if a
target audience is reached then they won’t feel like they are going through these
emotions alone.

5. What rhetorical appeals are commonly used? How do writers attempt to persuade
readers?
The creators of this study used two main appeals, the first one being scientific proven
fact with ethos, the second one being correlation with logos. Evidence of scientifically
proven fact is simply when questions were answered with definitions, like when they
 answered what depression was “Depression is a common but serious mental illness
typically marked by sad or anxious feelings” throughout the study, this is easily
observed. Other examples of that could be found when they answer the different types
of depression that include “Major depressive disorder, Dysthymic disorder, etc.” and
what they were. The last example used was when they covered how depression could
be treated which includes, “antidepressants and psychotherapy”. The second
methodology used was a correlation, in which they correlated all their findings on
depression into a college students’ life. They focused on how depression takes a toll on
students and the negative impacts it could have in the long run. Apart from students
feeling unmotivated to do anything because of their depressive state, their academic
performance shrinks and they have a higher chance of making bad decisions like doing
drugs and drinking. Further proving my point on their mass efforts to relate this only to
college student life, and the consequences that aren’t spoken about enough. This could
also be seen when signs and symptoms of depression are talked about in this study.
They include signs and symptoms only a student would catch, like feeling anxious
about homework and losing interest in school activities. I am a huge fan of this
methodology because it put more compassion into their work, and it makes anyone who
is experiencing any of the things listed more comfortable to speak out on it and get the
help they need. It gives the study a more welcoming feel, where they won’t be judged
for things, they always thought was wrong.
6. How are texts in this genre organized and structured?
I am very convinced by the reported findings because they used correct vocabulary
when dealing with depression since it is such a sensitive topic. The creators of this
study made sure to use the correct terminology to not offend anyone or be insensitive.
What I gathered from that is that they cared enough to do further research, and that
gains my trust in the study. Nothing was rushed, especially since it was filled with so
much information in only 8 pages.
7. What do you notice about word choice and voice of the author? Is there a type of
jargon, slang, or specialized vocabulary?
What also made them more credible is that they cited everything they talked about, so
the reader can do further research if there are any doubts, a whole half-page was
dedicated to references and cited work.
C. Implied or Assumed Features
8. What do readers and writers have to know or believe to understand, appreciate,
or participate in this genre?
As a college student myself I found this article to be very important, and honestly
should be broadcasted around the school. All the information needed in a total of 8
pages, is extremely important because it makes it very accessible and at the same time,
not hard to read. This study has the ability to open new doors of possibilities and
second chances, ones you thought you’d never have. Only good advice and help comes
from reading this, so I enjoyed learning more about it and myself.

9. What content or topics seem to be privileged in this genre? What content is

considered most important? What content (topics and/or details) is ignored or
dismissed?
Although everything does sound perfect, the reality of things is that there were details
that were left out that would have been incredibly useful for the study. One of them
includes not listing resources that could be used for people with no money and no
 insurance. Throughout the study, they kept implying how there were resources all
around, as long as you had health insurance that can cover. Of course, not everyone is
as lucky to have half the privilege of health insurance, so there should have been a
conversation about that. The reason why that is important is that, if someone isn’t stable
enough to afford the help, they will be uninterested and unmotivated in seeking help.
They would be instantly scared away thinking there is no other option for them, which
there is. Another thing that I believe should have been brought to light was evidence
comparing the 2 year and 4-year institutions. Since depression is such an important
topic, then I strongly believe schools shouldn’t have been mixed and instead had
separate evidence from both to dissect the issues and get help from one another. If one
institution is thriving more in a certain area than the other when dealing with teen
depression, then the schools must be aware of it so they can learn from one another.
10. What is the writer’s attitude toward the reader? What is the writer assuming
about the reader?
The questions that tend to be ignored and overlooked were answered for the students,
therefore giving them the ability to save a life. While reading it, it makes you ponder
your life and see yourself from a different perspective. It sympathized with you, instead
of making you feel bad for losing yourself and everything that made you, you.
D. Assignment Specific Questions
11. What are the most important parts of this piece to make sure survive the process of
translation? Why?
I plan to change this scholarly journal into a scary story. In order to do that I must
exaggerate things and add more twist to really spoke the audience. That being said
There is a lot of important things I must keep the same to not jeopardize the integrity of
this journal. Some of those things include, signs of depression, what depression is, it’s
effect on everyday life, and treatments. Since evidence is so important for these
journals I also want to make sure I keep the surveys in my story.
12. What problems or issues do you foresee in attempting to translate this piece to a
new, very different genre?
I want to take these serious topics about death and suicide and add a darker feel to it. I
am excited to see how it turns out, however I am a bit scared in forgetting to add
important details from the journal into my changed genre. There is a lot of information
each scholar journal contains so it is my job to real dissect the source I end up
choosing. Also, a bit of a downside to choosing these sources, is that I must always
remain respectful and use correct terminology because the last thing I want to do it
offend someone.

Source #2 chosen “A Survey of Fetal Deaths as Reported to a Medical Examiner's Office

A. Context and Function:

1. Provide an MLA style citation for the article.
Sandoval, Alicia, , and David Winston. "A Survey of Fetal Deaths as Reported
to a Medical Examiner's Office". The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and
 Pathology, vol. Publish Ahead of Print, November 5, 2021, doi:
10.1097/PAF.0000000000000726.

2. Who are the participants? Who uses this genre? Who usually writes and reads this
genre?
The unfortunate participants for these scholarly journals were fetuses under 10 days old
and The Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME) who funded and
proceeded with this study. “The database was searched for all deaths of persons
younger than10 days between January 2000 and May 2020”. There goal here was to
uncover the biggest cause for infant deaths and try to work towards fixing that issue, by
acknowledging and bringing awareness to this problem. Scientist, or to go further in
detail, pathologist is who these genres are used by. This study is a medical study, so
everything is formatted with medical terms. Other pathologist would read this,
especially ones from the area this study was taken from, the reason for why they would,
is so that they could take everything mention into consideration, next time they
examine a body. Mothers who are barley starting their pregnancies, are another
audience to this study. They would read everything careful and make sure they don’t do
what is never advised, so they don’t lose their baby young.
3. When and why is this genre used? What purposes does it fulfill for those who use
it? What do readers and writers get out of it?
This genre is used to be taken seriously, since it is written by other pathologists, there
vocabulary is like no other. That being said when someone is reading this, it should
come naturally to take this study serious since they are also talking about deceased
infants. The purpose for writing a study under this genre is so the readers never take
this lightly and trust what is being said to them, since it is other doctors writing it not
just random people. Both the reader and writer have the ability to save a life. As a
writer, you could influence a mother to take the right paths during pregnancy and save
the baby. As a reader you have the chance to save your own baby staying away from
the #1 cause of infant deaths as listed in this study, drugs. Not only that, they have the
ability to pass along this article to any known mother as well.

B. Textual Features:
4. Based on this article, what seems to “count” as evidence?
Based on this article what seems to “count” as evidence is the fact, they actually pulled
this information out of the forensic database, then proceeded to use the findings to
establish their goal on what was the leading cause of infant deaths. They were
extremely precise with their intel and made sure that “The fetal cases referred to
PCOME for investigation were those that occurred under unusual or suspicious
circumstances”. Furthermore, they made sure to exclude some of the deaths for not
relating to this study which makes this study incredibly reliable. Out of the 362 infants’
deaths they uncovered they made sure to ”172 were eliminated because they were
entered into the database as “cremation reviews,” meaning the case was only referred to
PCOME because the fetus was scheduled to be cremated”. This continues by them
eliminating other deaths from their study for being storage cases, for not falling under
jurisdiction, and for being older then 10 days. To conclude instead using the 362 deaths
they ended up only using 172 after reviewing every single death. Their evidence used
was very well reviewed, and they made sure to make it unbiased and controlled a
possible.
 5. What rhetorical appeals are commonly used? How do writers attempt to persuade
readers?
One of the primary reasons why I chose this study was because as I read, I felt like
every single rhetorical appeal was used throughout it. Therefore, making it a great
article to change the genre because so much was already provided for me. For starters
they appeal to ethos because they appeal to credibility. Throughout their work it is clear
how credible they are for using real life examinations and citing every single piece of
their work from doctors. They obtain almost half a page of references they used, so we
could further continue the research if we’d like. This study also appeals to pathos
because there is definitely empathy towards these infants who suffered and faced
consequences from their own mothers who chose to make bad decisions or nature’s
own fault for taking a child away from a very stable mother due to other complications.
Lastly it appeals to logos as well, but this one is mostly directed to the reader itself.
While reading this and the main causes one will start to feel angry towards the fact that
many mothers allowed their infant babies to be surround by drugs to begin with, It
makes you wonder what is wrong with this world, where a mother is suppose to be the
one protecting their children are instead causing the harm.
6. How are texts in this genre organized and structured?
The text in this genre is mostly organized as numbers. They constantly bring up
numbers since we are taking actual evidence from real deaths. Since it is a scientifically
study, the numbers never stop because it is what makes their work more serious and
real. Even when the actual 9 causes of infant deaths are mentioned percentages are
what they use. An example of this would be, “9 overall categories: con-genital
abnormalities (n = 4 [3.5%]), drugs (n = 25 [21.7%]), pre-maturity (n = 17 [14.8%]),
placental abruption (n = 14 [12.2%]), infection (n = 23 [20.0%]), trauma (n = 17
[14.8%]), cord accidents (n = 3 [2.6%]), intrauterine fetal demise of undetermined
etiology (n = 36 [31.3%]), and other (n = 5 [4.3%])”. Having evidence provided to you
in percentages makes the reading more understanding, and if that is not enough, they
continue to turn these findings into a map. Since the number one cause of these infant
deaths was drugs, they went a far as to list the top drugs causing these deaths which
shows it was cocaine, and meth.
7. What do you notice about word choice and voice of the author? Is there a type of
jargon, slang, or specialized vocabulary?
Their word choice throughout the article is very obvious in the fact that it was written
by someone related to the medical practice. The reason why I feel so strongly towards
that statement is because there is evidence everywhere in the words they chose to use
like infant, mortality, maternal, gestational age. These words are specialized by other
doctors in the practice, especially since it is written in a serious tone. Another big
reason why I believe it was written by some with a medical background, is because
they were able to obtain very serious information, that not anyone could simply request
and receive.

C. Implied or Assumed Features

8. What do readers and writers have to know or believe to understand, appreciate,
or participate in this genre?
Readers need to know and believe, that this is a serious problem in our society today.
That as we read this, although it is not applied to where we live, the same results could
 be seen. Therefore, every single word mentioned should not be taken lightly since we
could be near mothers who allow this to happen. What this article does is open the eyes
of many to see the world for what it truly is. A place where nothing is perfect and
mothers who put their children in harms way should be taken accountable. Drugs
should never be the top reason for anyone to die, especially infants. The highest number
of fatal babies, are the ones that could be prevented the most. As for the writer, they
must understand that some mothers who read this could have possibly lost a child not
due to there fault but another tragic complications or accidents. They do a good job
understanding that for not using insensitive wording and just keeping it professional.
9. What content or topics seem to be privileged in this genre? What content is
considered most important? What content (topics and/or details) is ignored or
dismissed?
The content that I see being privileged in this study is the top cause for infants being
drugs, infection, and maternal and fetal trauma. Although it is extremely important, and
should be the main focus, I still believe that the other 6 causes should have been
mentions a little more also. We go a paragraph for each top 3 cause and only a
statement for the other 6 that contained, con-genital abnormalities, prematurity,
placental abruption, core accidents and more. I’d like to know a little more about the
others and compare them all to how the mother felt.

10. What is the writer’s attitude toward the reader? What is the writer assuming
about the reader?
The writers’ attitude towards the reader is to serve as the informative. Not to judge
anyone or anything in particular, but to list all the important facts and information for
this study and let the audience take control of the rest. The writers clearly assume the
reader cares about what they are reading and will spread awareness. Due to the fact that
its an informative study, the writer doesn’t expect anyone to just read it for fun, they
expect that only for people who care to read.

D. Assignment Specific Questions

11. What are the most important parts of this piece to make sure survive the process
of translation? Why?
The most important part of this piece that I have to make sure to include and keep the
same is the top cause of the infant death being drugs. I will also make sure to keep all
the information about that talks about how drugs are the main cause the same since it is
something important to me to spread that awareness. I will change the genre from an
informative work into a children’s book. I chose to proceed with that since the whole
topic of this study is infants. I want to appeal to the emotions of everyone including
mothers who harmed their children this way.
12. What problems or issues do you foresee in attempting to translate this piece to a
new, very different genre?
Like I stated before, the biggest issue I believe I will run into is trying to fit so much
information into a child’s story. Especially all the numbers and percentages, no child
would want to be read just a bunch of numbers and scientific terms. Due to that I will
have to not only change the genre but the wording into vocabulary that a baby would
understand.