Running Head: GIRLS ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Girls Access to Education Genre Analysis

Lauren Fenenbock
University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1302, M
February 15, 2015

RWS 1302
Girls Access to Education Genre Analysis
Introduction
Education affects all aspects of our daily lives. That is why education is often a

hot button issue in both industrialized and developing nations. Girls access to education
is extremely important in areas of the developing world, such as sub-Saharan Africa.
The issue of girls access to education in sub-Saharan Africa is discussed in two different
genre pieces. The first genre piece is an info graphic produced by the Women Deliver,
Inc. organization, titled Invest in girls education. The second genre piece is Jonathan
Alters Newsweek article; Its not just about the boys. Get girls into school. This genre
analysis will compare and contrast both documents to show that the Women Deliver
info graphic is more powerful than the Newsweek article.
Audience and Purpose
According to its website, Women Deliver, Inc. (2014) is a global advocacy
organization. Therefore, the intended audience for the Invest in girls education info
graphic consists of world leaders, policymakers, human rights advocates, and
philanthropists. The info graphics creators hope to motivate their audience to create
policies and/or donate money to help increase investment in girls education. This
specific audience most likely knows at least a little bit about the topic of girls education,
but the info graphic clearly shows the main points that Women Deliver wants to get
across.
By comparison, the Newsweek articles discourse community is made up of both
subscribers and casual readers of the magazine. This audience is interested in reading
about the latest news happening in the United States and the World. Other topics
regularly covered by the magazine include business, technology, science, culture, and

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sports. Readers of Newsweek probably know that education is important, however, they
might not know how important it is to girls from impoverished countries or other parts
of the world.
Both genre pieces are structured in ways that allow their respective audiences to
comprehend the knowledge presented to them in a brief amount of time. However, the
info graphic provides just enough information to spur the audience into looking for
more material on the subject of girls education while the Newsweek audience will most
likely just move onto the next article in the magazine. The design of the info graphic also
allows the audience to easily find specific facts to quickly reread. The purposes of both
genre pieces are to inform their audiences about the importance of girls education and
to persuade their audiences to do something to help increase worldwide accessibility to
education.
Since it is an info graphic, the Women Deliver genre piece uses language that is
very informal. It is easy to read and understand. Secondary and Tertiary are the only
examples of specialized vocabulary (Women Deliver, 2014). These terms are used to
describe the different levels of education. In contrast, the language used in the
Newsweek article is more formal. However, it is still easy enough for most readers to
understand. Specialized vocabulary, such as NGOs (Alter, 2008, para. 8), is sprinkled
throughout the piece.
Rhetorical Issues
Ethos
The Women Deliver info graphic establishes credibility with its audience by
listing the three organizations that participated in the Invest in girls education study.
The three organizations are Women Deliver, UNICEF, and Every Woman, Every Child.

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The cold hard numbers for the enrollment rates of girls versus boys in sub-Saharan
Africa go a long way in supporting the credibility of the organizations. For example,
when girls and boys first enter school, they have the same rates of enrollment. During
primary school, girls enrollment rates begin to decrease compared to boys enrollment
rates. This decrease steadily grows at each level of education. By the time students
attend tertiary school, there are 61 girls per 100 boys (Women Deliver, 2014).

Jonathan Alter wrote the Newsweek article when he was a senior editor at the magazine.
Alter establishes credibility with his audience through his journalistic credentials and by
citing several outside sources and experts. Gene Sperling, a top economic adviser and
author is quoted throughout the article (Alter, 2008, para. 3).
Pathos
The Women Deliver info graphic attempts to evoke sympathy and a call to action
from its audience. The tagline at the bottom of the info graphic, Who Wins?
Everybody. was most likely crafted in the hope that it would motivate the audience into
doing their part to help increase girls access to education (Women Deliver, 2014). The
Newsweek article attempts to evoke a shared sense of community and values that
translate across cultures. The article begins with a direct tug on the heartstrings of the
entire audience, Who wants more poor children around the world to go to school?
(Alter, 2008, para. 1). Although the Newsweek article plays on the readers emotions in
different ways than the info graphic, they both end on the same emotional note, if
education becomes of greater value to the developing world, well all win (Alter, 2008,
para. 9).
Logos

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Although the information is compelling, the Women Deliver info graphic does
not contain any direct citations for its findings. The audience would need to do more
research in order to find the facts behind the claimed statements. However, since the
three organizations behind the study are all reputable organizations, the audience may
assume that the information provided is accurate. In contrast, the Newsweek article

directly cites several facts and figures to support its claims. Both genres give examples of
the benefits to keeping girls in school as long as possible. For instance, girls are more
likely to marry later and have fewer, healthier children the longer they stay in school
(Alter, 2008, para. 4).
Structure and Delivery
The info graphic is an excellent example of its genre. The visual language used in
the info graphic is very clear and straightforward. The title, Invest in girls education,
and all of the subheadings are written in all capital letters and the font is in blocklettering style. Each subheading begins with a question, which is then answered by
several different facts and figures. The info graphic uses the following colors: white,
black, gray, yellow, blue, and various shades of green. These colors are extremely eyecatching and help to make the simple visuals pop. There is even a chalkboard visual,
which of course, nicely ties in with the topic of education. One need not even read all of
the written text in order to understand the messages that are being presented. The
entire design of the info graphic is clearly chosen to help illustrate the rhetoric of the
Women Deliver organization. However, it is also limited by the space and time that is
allowed when using this type of genre. Nonetheless, the info graphics structure clearly
facilitates a positive message for investing in girls education.

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The Newsweek articles message is also very clear from the start. The title says it
all, Its not just about the boys. Get girls into school. The online version of the article
states that the published version included both a graph and a color photo. The photo is
missing from the online version and the graphs information on primary school

enrollment is now displayed in a black and white chart. The limitations of the article are
that it is very brief and thus, cannot go into great detail. The structure allows the reader
to continue thinking about the importance of girls education long after reading the text.
Conclusion
While the Women Deliver info graphic relays heavily on visual text and the
Newsweek article relays on written text, they both use simple rhetoric to both inform
and persuade their individual audiences on the importance of girls access to education.
Both of these genre pieces are good jumping off points for anyone looking to begin
research on this important topic. Although neither genre gives an in-depth analysis of
the topic, they both use their respective genres to clearly articulate the importance of
girls access to education. Overall, the info graphic is more effective than the article
because of how it uses both visual text and written text to make potent rhetorical
appeals to its audience. Stating clear facts in simple formats often make the most
persuasive arguments.

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References
Alter, J. (2008). It's not just about the boys. Get girls into school. Newsweek,
152(13), 50. Retrieved from http://0search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=f5h&AN=34477127&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Women Deliver. (2014). [Info graphic designed from UNESCO (2013,
2012), Girls Not Brides (2013), and PMNCH (2013) source material.] Invest in
girls education. Retrieved from http://www.womendeliver.org/knowledgecenter/facts-figures/girls-education/

---. (2014). What we do. Retrieved from http://www.womendeliver.org/about/what-wedo/