Pleasant 1

Jordan Pleasant
Ingram
UWRT 1103
23 April 2015
Multi-Genre Project Reflection
My audience for my multi-genre project is college-aged citizens (from about 18-26) that
are apathetic about voting. This is a very large group being that a strong majority of college-aged
individualsin fact, mostare apathetic about voting. I chose this audience because these
individuals are the rising voters in the country, and if anything can change, they are the people
that can create said change. They just have to be pressed to care and be willing to put forth some
effort.
The purpose of my project is to push college-aged citizens to a) vote period, and b) vote
for legislators that support tightening gun regulation and making background checks 100%
mandatory in purchase of guns. My argument is that if all gun purchasers are background
checked before being allowed to buy firearms, then the soaring rates of gun violence in the
United States would be lowered.
Since 2006, there have been more than 200 mass killings in the United States.1 This is a
very high number and much higher than most democratic countries. In a 2013 article for The
Atlantic online that compared gun homicides in US cities to some of the deadliest places in the
world, the authors created a map, below, that shows Atlanta has the same gun murder rate as
South Africa, Detroit as El Salvador, Phoenix equal to Mexicos gun homicide rate2 Most
people would never believe that US cities had homicide rates as high as some of the deadliest
places on earth. This shows just how deadly guns in America are. Some 9,960 people were
murdered with a firearm in the USA in 2010, a rate of 3.2 per 100,000 people. () On a global
1 "BEHIND THE BLOODSHED: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICA'S MASS KILLINGS."
USATODAY.COM. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.

2 "Visualizing Gun Deaths - Comparing the U.S. to Rest of the World." Humanosphere. 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 28
Apr. 2015.

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scale, this rate puts the US 26th in the world, behind Honduras, El Salvador and Jamaica,
according to UN data.3 A different news article shows the same information as the previous one;
the US has very high gun homicide rates, rates even higher, yet again, of some of the most
dangerous places on Earth. All of the sources that I used will be at the bottom of this reflection,
in a works cited page.
My first genre piece was a PowerPoint presentation. The presentation detailed mass killing
statistics, weapons used, frequency of gun massacres, the proportion of US massacres to the rest
of the western democracies, and six graphs showing different homicide rates and guns per capita
rates. The final two slides were on Switzerland gun laws and America gun laws. I chose this
particular genre because it is something that almost everyone in my audience has been in contact
with before. Its a very visual slide show, with graph information essentially growing out of the
axes and flags showing gun rates. The information presented is on more of a standard, easily
understandable level; its not too complicated and jargon-filled that the average person cant keep
interested in it. Its fairly short and gets the information across in a very clear way. This genre
could exist on the Internet, and could also likely exist in politics classes or in traveling guest
lecturers. Hopefully a slideshow like this could even be accessed in the federal legislature. The
same places that this genre exists in are where the audience gains access to them. The primary
communication mode that I used in this genre piece was visual. I used spatial and linguistic
modes as well. I believe that this piece appeals to ethos, because I used very reliable news
sources to get my information. This particular piece did not appeal strongly to pathos, except for
the slide with the national flags. This piece also appeals to logos because I use basic, inarguable
statistics to display my information and give my opinions. I feel like this is a good piece for this
point in time. The genre is one that almost everyone is familiar with. Now is a good time for this
3 "US Gun Debate: Guns in Numbers." BBC News. BBC, 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.

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piece to be seen because gun violence has been all over the news lately, and it helps to
understand some of the facts surrounding it. I think this would be a reasonably successful genre.
For people whose mind is already made up, they either wont care what the piece has to say, or it
will just strengthen their opinion that gun laws need to change. I think for someone who is on the
fence, this presentation could sway them towards the opinion that laws need to change.
The second genre piece was a tribute video to victims of American mass murders;
Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, Aurora, and Newtown. This genre would exist and would be accessible
in the same locations as my previous piece. The strongest communication mode used in this
video is visual, in the pictures of the settings and the victims of the shootings, with aural as the
secondary mode, via the sad music that plays throughout the video. I dont believe that ethos can
really be considered in this piece since it is simply pictures of victims and settings. It cannot be
discredited because it simply is what it is. Pathos was a huge appeal used in this video. Its really
the only appeal used. The video is absolutely heartbreaking and it directly affects emotions. It
makes you want to never have to see anything like it again. Logos was not used. I think this
piece is a very good piece for now for most of the reasons stated for the last piece. I think this
genre is a good way for the subject to be shown, because videos dont take a large amount of
effort. You just watch them. I feel that this would be an extremely successful genre. It absolutely
rips your heart out. Im getting depressed just writing about it. I think that this would make
anyone, no matter their opinion, stop and think about gun laws and if anything needs to be
changed.
My third and final piece was a screenshot of a text conversation between someone in a
library with a shooter and the persons brother. This genre would exist on a phone. The audience
would gain access to it by being the recipient of it, if, God forbid, this happened to them.
However, to prove a point about gun laws, this screenshot could also be posted to the internet for

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everyone to see as well as in lectures and presentations given via gun control advocates. The
main communication mode is linguistic, because it is a conversation. Its words. I suppose
another communication mode is visual because of the color, and spatial because of how each side
of the conversation is within its own bubble. This cant really appeal to ethos because if this was
a real genre, there would never be any way of knowing if this was real or just made up. It appeals
to pathos because it presents a terrible scenario in a way that practically every single member of
my audience understands and has direct experience with. Imagining that scenario breaks your
heart, in a similar way to my video. This is a great piece for now because it is the main way that
my audience communicates. It is absolutely the most relatable piece, and now is a good time to
show it because gun violence is happening every single day in America. I think this would be
fairly successful with my audience, because it is a) relatable and b) easy to understand what it is
all about. Similar to my video, I think it would make anyone, regardless of their views, stop and
think about gun violence.

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Works Cited
"BEHIND THE BLOODSHED: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICA'S MASS KILLINGS."
USATODAY.COM. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
Bachmann, Helena. "The Swiss Difference: A Gun Culture That Works | TIME.com." World The
Swiss Difference A Gun Culture That Works Comments. TIME, 20 Dec. 2012. Web. 28
Apr. 2015.
CTMarine87. "2nd Amendment Misunderstood." CNN IReport. CNN, 24 July 2012. Web. 28
Apr. 2015.
"Guns in Switzerland - Firearms, Gun Law and Gun Control." Gunpolicy.org. Web. 28 Apr.
2015.
Guttman, Robert. "Gun Control (Europe) vs. Out of Control (United States)." TransAtlantic
Magazine RSS. 28 Apr. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
"Number of Victims of Mass Shootings Worldwide 2012 | Statistic." Statista. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
Spitzer, Robert J. "Working Hard to Misconstrue the 2nd Amendment." History News Network.
15 Mar. 2007. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
"US Gun Debate: Guns in Numbers." BBC News. BBC, 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
"Visualizing Gun Deaths - Comparing the U.S. to Rest of the World." Humanosphere. 21 Mar.
2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.