Genre analysis of Marine captivity

Viviana Hernandez
University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1302: Rhetoric & Composition 2

Introduction

Should marine life captivity standards stay the same or should it

be expanded upon for the marine life?
Captivityreferstotheconditionofbeingimprisonedand/orconfined.Therehasbeena
nonendingfeudbetweenpartiesthatareforthandagainstanimalcaptivity.Discovery
Newsor(DiscoveryNews)postedavideoonYouTubewithLaciGreencommentingon
thedocumentaryBlackfish,onhowcaptivityaffectskillerwhalesandwhatthe
outcomesofholdingthemcaptiveare.Anothergenreaddressingthisissue,thatholdsa
differentviewoncaptivity,wasanarticlefromCNNnewsbyNaomiA.Rose,titledA
winwinsolutionforcaptiveorcasandmarinethemeparks,thatmentionedhowthere
wasapossiblesolutionfortheconfinementoftheseanimals.

Overtime,peoplehavebeenobservingthebehaviorsofanimalsandwhatdrives
themtotheirbreakingpoint.Theorcaisagreatexampleofthebehaviorandoutcomesof
captivity.Nottolongago,DiscoveryNewsreiteratedwhatthedocumentaryBlackfish
wason;whichmainlyfocusedonorcacaptivityandtheirbehaviors.DiscoveryNews,
wantedtoshowuswhyitisn'tsafetokeepananimalcaptive.Thedocumentary

"Blackfish"sparkedseveralcontroversies,duetothedeathofatrainerat
SeaWorldknownas,DawnBrancheau.Officialssaid,thattheveterantrainerdrowned,
afterthe12,000poundwhalegrabbedherfoot,andpulledherdownintothetank.The
reportalsosaid,Theseanimalsareusedtoswimming100plusmilesaday,andbybeing

putinthesetinytanks,laterontaxestheirphysicalhealthanddrivesthewhalesmadwith
frustration.Bythereportedactionsandcasestudies,wecanseethatbothpathosand
logosarepresent.Ethosisalsoclearlypresent,duetothedocumentary(Blackfish).
Documentariesareinformationalpieceswitchholdpowerfulstorytellingtechniques
witchcreatessolidunderstandingandthuscreatingasortofsympathywitchthen
convertsintoaction.

ThearticleonCNNNewsbyNaomiA.Rose,hadpreviouslymentionedhow
therecouldbeapossible"Winwinsolution"totheanimalcaptivityissue,pertainingto
theorcawhales.Thisarticlemainlyfocusesongivingusasolutionthatwouldguaranty
bothtrainerandorcasafety,withouthavingtocompletelybanmarinethemeparksfrom
aroundtheworld.Firstandforemostthesolutiontothisissuewouldbetoofferthese
orcasasanctuary.Theirideaofasanctuaryisapenornettedoffbayorcovethatwould
formtheirnaturalhabitat,sinceitisinthesea.Theonlythingthatwouldbesubjectto
changewouldbetheorcasperformingroutines,whichwouldendupbeingcompletely
dismissed.Thetrainerswouldnothavetomakedirectcontactwiththewhales,thus
resultinginasolutiontodeathsbyorcas.

Thesanctuarieswouldbeopentothepubliconlyalimitedtime,andinteractions
withtheanimalwouldbecomeminimal.Thesesanctuarieswouldbecomeavisiting
centertooffereducation,realtimeviewingoftheanimals,andagiftshop.Thisaction
willbedirectlyintendedsothatmarinethemeparksdonotlosemoneybycancelingall

orcashows.

Audience and Purpose

Thisanalysisiscategorizedasaninformativepieceduetotheextensive
informationprovided.Bothgenrestargetyoungandolderaudiences.Thereisneveran
agelimitwhenitcomestotheanimalkingdom.Theaudiencethatwouldbemostly
interestedinthispieceofinformationwouldbeVeterinarians,MarineBiologists,Marine
trainers as well as other animal activists.Thisaudiencetiesinwiththepurpose
becausetheymaybeexposedtoadailyinteractionwithanimalsorjustloveanimals.

Rhetorical Issues
Ethos
The CNN article uses ethos because it has multiple articles that are
viewed worldwide, it is a reliable source that many use to gather
information. You would find college students or the common person
looking for information in this article because it is reliable due to facts
provided and news articles. The video on Discovery News uses ethos
when the video refers to the aquatic park (Sea World), not only the

park itself is a strong ethos, but orca whales as well that are part of our
animal kingdom.

Pathos
TheCNNarticledidnotreallyusepathos,itreallyjustgaveusfacts,butthese
typesofarticlesusuallyarelessinclinedtogiveusaviewonpathos.Thevideoon
DiscoveryNewsdidprovidepathos,itshowedushowwhalesarenothappyintheir
environmentbypointingoutthattheirfinusuallyispointingstraightup,wheninthis
caseitisntbecausetheyarelivinginhabitatsthatarenotsuitedforthem.Italsoshows
usfootageofhowthewhalesaremortifiedbybeingtrappedinsuchtinytanksthat
disablethemfromswimminglongdistances.

Logos
The CNN article used plenty of logos; it has an extensive
background of information on the whales. Usually articles have plenty
of information, facts and charts. The Discovery News video did not
provide us with sufficient information, it mainly showed us more of a
pathos and ethos side. Which made the video not such of a strong suit
of logos.

Structure and Delivery

Bothgenresgiveadifferentpointofviewonmarinecaptivitybecauseoneisan
articleandtheotheravideo.Thefirstarticle,whichistheCNNarticleisandinformative
andopinionpiecebecauseitusesfirstpersonpointofviewandthirdpersonpointof
view.ThesecondgenrewasavideoonDiscoveryNewsanditismainlyaninformational
piecebecauseithadallthreerhetoricalissues:Pathos,logos,andethos.Bothgenresgive
enoughinformationtothepointthatwecansitethemandusethemasareliablesourceof
information.
Style and Language
The CNN article used a formal tone, as it was presenting facts and not
so much of opinions. The video on Discovery News used more of an
informal tone because the broad castor that was presenting the
information was lacking structure/ethos.
Conclusion

Thesegenresprovidedthreerhetoricalissues,butwereallthroughoutdispersedin
bothgenres.ThesourcesprovidedwerereliableduetothefactthatCNNandDiscovery
Newsareviewedworldwide.TheDiscoveryNewsvideowasagoodsourceof
informationbecauseithasallthreerhetoricalissues,butitdidnotgiveasolutiontoany
oftheproblemspresentedonthevideo.WhichgivesusmoreofaLogossituation
becauseitshowsusfootageandimages.TheCNNarticlegiveusextensiveinformation
andalternativeoptionsaswellasmedicalinformation,whichmakesitthemosteffective
conveyingthemessagetousthatmarinecaptivityisinfactbadforbothushumansand

animals.

References

Rose,N.A.(Ed.).(2013,October28).Awinwinsolutionfor
captiveorcasandmarinethemeparks.
RetrievedfromCNNNewswebsite:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/24/opinion/
blackfishcaptiveorcassolutions/

News,D.(2013,October30).Blackfish:Howcaptivityaffects
killerwhales[Videofile].Retrieved
fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRGu5H69p3s