Preliminary Genre Analysis Political science is a multi disciplinary discipline.

It blends all social sciences to analyze people and situations. Political scientists are sometimes referred to as analysts, and as analysts they usually break down situations psychologically, sociologically, or historically. Sometimes analysts are able to use all three and maybe more. Through genres I can learn to communicate with other political scientists. In this discipline journals and journal articles are the main genre. Political Analysts share their analyses by publishing them in scholarly journals. It is the way political analysts participated and receive feedback in the field. Political scientists both read and write articles. Most analyses are built off other analyses by a new interpretation of the evidence presented in past articles, or a gap in the research of past articles. The political science field builds off the past, its an evolutionary field. As an aspiring political scientist, I can learn the ropes of this community through their genre (journals). Analyzing a genre would how a community works and communicates. Through genre I can learn to communicate with others political scientists. I have attempted to analyze the genres of the political science community by accessing articles from the UCF library databases. That website brought me multiple articles. For this assignment I chose three. They are written by Gordon H. McCormick; a Department of Defense analyst, James Petras; sociologist and political activist, and Humberto Fontova; a Cuban Exile and sociologist. The subject I am researching is the real Che Guevara and his politics in use today. Che Guevara was a key figure in the Cuban Revolution and the communist government afterwards. He is a legendary figure, a folk hero to the proletariat, and a highly controversial individual. Analyses on this man are highly skewed by ideological standing (right or left wing). In

researching this subject, I will attempt to remove the legendary aspect of Che and the polarization of his image. My goal is to use the research on Che Guevara to understand how my discourse community communicates. Setting The articles I obtained were from the UCF library databases. The database I used was Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Other articles in the same journals I retrieved my specific articles were all political analyses. They range from specific analysis to certain countries and events, or broad overviews of regions and events. My topic, which is the real Che Guevara and his politics/views in relation to todays world, has been thoroughly analyzed in this database. The database also provided broad overviews of Che Guevara. Two of the three articles were in depth analyses of Che. This shows that political analysts go deeper into subjects/topics more than the general public. Many who know of Che Guevara merely have an elementary understanding of this political figure. Political scientists/analysts are a specialist group that breaks down politics and people into smaller disciplines like psychology and sociology. Subject I have obtained three articles. They are written by Gordon H. McCormick, James Petras, and Humberto Fontova. The article by James Petras, Che Guevara and Contemporary Revolution put Che Guevara into perspective with contemporary revolutions, especially in Latin America. Latin America today is a refuge for far left ideologies, for example Venezuela and their leader Hugo Chavez; a far left politician. He is subjective to Che Guevara. For example, most analysts who are not subjective to Che refer to him as a murderer. Petras (1998) refers to him as a revolutionary. Petras has a left wing perspective on this subject. The book which my second article originated from by Humberto Fontova analyzes the true character of Che Guevara. He

attempts to remove the mystique and folk legend perspective of Che Guevara. For example; Fontova (2007) refers to Che Guevaras travels as a doctor as hoboing. He removes the romantic image of Che as a roaming doctor/rebel without a cause. Being a Cuban Exile almost automatically makes his analysis right winged. The image he creates of Che Guevara is that of a hippy living in Haight-Ashbury. Fontova brings about a conservative view of Che Guevara, but I do like how he tries to break down Che Guevara as a person, removing all the mystique from the man. The third article by Gordon H. McCormick is a broad overview of the legendary Che Guevara. It mainly contains a brief history as to why he is so revered by the world today. It would be something you can find on wikipedia or any basic source of knowledge. For example; McCormick (1997) explains how Ernesto Guevara became known as Che. You can find this piece of information in almost any article about Che Guevara. His article is quite elementary, only basic information is provided. The other two articles are more in depth. This reveals that my discourse community values in depth analysis. The world can know about Che, yet the political science community strives to fully understand the political figure. Participants The main audience of these articles is fellow political scientists and analysts. Not only do they read these articles, many write their own articles with their own analysis. For this topic, mainly political scientists and analysts with a specialty in revolutions will have much interest in these articles. It wasnt until after the 1960s academics took up studying revolution, especially in todays world where terrorism is widespread, and events like the Arab Spring occur. The authors are all analysts. Gordon H. McCormick is an analysts that has worked for the Department of Defense and other agencies with similar objectives. James Petras is a political scientist and sociologist, as well as an activist. Humberto Fontova is a Cuban Exile and a sociologist. Political

science is a blend of other social sciences, this is why two of the three authors are sociologists. This shows that the political science/analyst community breaks down politics and people into more disciplines. Fontova analyzes Che from a sociological perspective. This is so the people can have a full understanding of certain politics and people. Feautures The recurrent feature in these articles is Che Guevaras political ideology (Marxist Leninist). The difference between the three is the analysis. For example, Fontova (2007) removes the legend of Che from the individual and analyzes him as a person. Petras (1998) puts Che in contemporary revolution terms and how his ideology is in use today. For example, he mentions a clich about Che; he wrote along the lines of, Che would shoot the people who wear shirts and other memorabilia. McCormick actually keeps the legendary aspect of Che. His article is mainly about what made Che a legend, not necessarily as in depth of Che as an individual as the other two analyses. All the articles are written in sections. Each begin with a quick overview, and then jump into the analysis. For example, every article addresses Ches time as a revolutionary, and then go into their personal analysis. The voices are highly monotone, emotion is not a value to these writers. The information is basically presented to you, this isnt entertainment. Patterns The genre of these articles is for the political science crowd. In turn these are written in the APA format, or at least cited in this manner. The articles are written in sections, and each section is an elaboration/presentation of evidence for a certain argument or analysis. It shows the values these authors have. They value their perspective and present them to the reader in an upfront manner. The best way for the writers to convey their messages is in an upfront logical manner. These are used normally with research in liberal arts. For example in Comp 1, my class

was assigned to do ethnography. After the research was conducted of a certain discourse community, the data was written up in the APA format. This format is usual with social sciences like sociology and psychology, the primary components of the political science field. From these articles especially when doing extensive research allow the reader to gain a certain perspective. In time the reader can create his or her own perspective and analysis, then write of it. The attitude of the articles is generally biased. Che Guevara was a political figure, yet all politics is biased, they are a simply a theory like genres and genre analysis in writing. The writers attitude toward the world go from anti-imperialist to American conservative. Each authors article is usually skewed by the right or left wing in relation to the country and lifestyle they were raised in. Conclusion The political science major is a multi disciplinary disciple. Its purpose is the analyze people and situations using social sciences. From my articles most political scientists specialize in psychology, sociology, and history. Much of political science is theory. It is backed by evidence, but it relies on perception. The framing of evidence is key to proving a point. Personal prejudices also affect an analysts analyses. For example Humberto Fontova, as a Cuban exile, it is almost natural for him to have a disliking for Che Guevara. The political science field is so dynamic. Everything is based off of perception; one piece of evidence can be interpreted in so many different ways. In turn the communitys genre is dynamic, since genres are a reflection of the community. The political science field will always have a steady flow of articles and journals due to the dynamic nature of the field. Every contribution could be considered almost breakthrough. Each interpretation is highly valued for others to build off of. This is an evolving field.