This genre analysis paper is based on ten letters to the editor from the New York Times from May 11th to May 18th, 2011. Choosing letters from the same newspaper creates an ideal chance to compare the trends in the structure, content, mechanics and styles used in the construction of these editorial genres. In addition, the New York Times is one of the widely known newspapers and therefore avoids wrong information that might be evident in other minor newspapers. All these letters focus on the key issues affecting American lifestyles. The issues range from politics and economics to social parameters. The ten letters to the editor that this genre analysis paper focuses on are “For Profit Colleges” by Antony Guida, “Power, Status and a Charge of Rape” by Yasmeen Hassan, “Republicans and Taxes” by Charles Knapp, “Annex the West bank? ” by Richard Larsen, “Treating Children Trauma” by Suzzane Marilley, “Nursing Home Workers” by Carol Regan, “Are we really better than vampire bats?” by Bruce Shames, “Romney and health care” by Neil Siegel, and “Supporting the Peace Corp” by Joseph Stimpfz. From the structure, organization, and content of these genres it is clear that they all respond to a newspaper article published in the same newspaper bearing a related topic. It is also evident that all these letters have been written by people that bear either titles or other credentials. The genre also make some assumption about their audience in that they do not extrapolate some ideas in that they believe that there audience already know about the things they are referring to. The genres are also very accurate in terms of their content for example they utilize statistical data and other numerical amounts. This is achieved through giving references to experts in the topic being addressed or other sources. The genres also tend to have almost the same length in terms of their word count. All these ten editorial letters do not exceed 150 words. Finally more than three quarters of these genres take a very liberal perspective. Constructive criticism is the building block for most of these genres. The purpose of this paper is to explore the common characteristics of these letters in depth.
First of all, all the letters have a purpose to why they were written. This purpose is achieved through referencing other articles that had been published in the same newspaper within a recent period. Most genres seek to address concerns and questions that might have arisen from an article that had been published in a recent period. One of the key roles that these letters is clarifying points that were not very clear to the audience who had received the information in the articles initially. In addition, others are a continuation of certain articles that had left hanging information due to events that had not yet unfolded. For example, the article entitled “Treating Childhood Trauma” by Suzzanne Marilley is a continuation of an article that had been in the New York Times entitled “Post-Traumatic Childhood” by Bessel Van. In the latter article, there had been a drastic rise in the cases of children who had been experiencing the effects of a traumatized childhood due to harsh upbringing. Bessel Van was calling upon the government to step in to try and set aside funds towards the treatment of these children. After the Obama administration took a step by allocating funds to this project, Suzzane Marilley wrote another letter in order as a follow up of the proposal in order to create satisfaction among the audience.
Second, all the letters in these editorial pieces are written by people have titles and credentials. For example the letter entitled “For Profit Colleges” is written by Antony Guida who holds a senior position in Education Management Corporation. It is clear from these letters that many people prefer to write letters in topics that they feel more conversant with. By letting people do what they can do best, professionalism is exercised in the writing of these letters causing the quality of the work written to be high and credible among the audience.
Third, writers of letters tend to assume that their audiences already have some information and burning questions regarding the topic that the author of the letters is addressing. The writers do not feel the urge to expand on some ideas in that they feel that some of the information is unnecessary. For example in the letter entitled “Romney and Health Care” by Neil Siegel assumes that the targeted audience who are mostly American are conversant with the Fourteenth Amendment that gives the provisions of individual liberty. This is a clear indication that authors in most genres expect that their audience is up-to-date in terms of current events. Some of this information is not presented to the audience since the writers believe that the audiences have different interpretations of some issues like the constitution.
Fourth, all the letters tend to be accurate to a large extent. A lot of research is put in place before putting the information to paper. There is a lot of consulting and direct quotes that are used in order to make sure that things like statistical and other numerical data is accurate. Some letters even move an extra mile to give their audiences the source of the information they publish. For example, in the letter entitled “Nursing Home Workers” by Carol Regan, explains that “According to P.H.I.’s latest analysis, the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act could provide coverage to an additional 370,000 of these direct-care workers”(Regan 3). Carol Regan does not get the figure “370,000” from the top of her head. Instead she uses P.H.I.'s most recent analysis so as to avoid error as much as possible in that P.H.I. is a dependable source for this kind of data. In case any errors go away un-noticed, they are correction sections in papers to address this problem.
Fifth, the length of the letters seems to be equal. Each genre letter uses approximately a total of 150 words. This is very helpful in that it helps the authors to be very concise at the same time drive their points home. Long pieces of literature tend to bore many audiences and therefore the more concise their literature pieces are, the more attention they are likely to get.
Finally, most letters tend to be written by very liberal thinkers who structure their arguments in such a way that they criticize information that is already in existence. General criticism seems to be a key tool in making articles to be accepted for publishing. Liberal thinkers tend to be more original than conservative writers in that many people would love to hear arguments from the other side of the coin, even though they don't necessarily agree with it, rather than hearing what they would always expect to hear. A good example of general criticism is in the letter entitled “Are we nicer that Vampire bats” by Bruce Shames. In this letter, the author tends to argue that the “Bad guys” are at a better position in succeeding in life than the “good guys.” This is very interesting position to take in that conventionally many would have expected the opposite. This article is likely to attract more of an audience in that many people would love to see how this author would structure his argument. This is true in that many people are open to new ideas and perspectives pertaining a given issue.
In conclusion, it is clear that letters tend to respond to other letters in the same newspaper tackling the same topic or line of argument. Letters are written by people have substantial knowledge and information about a certain topic. Letters also tend to skip some ideas that the writers presume to be “common place among their audience. To large extent the information presented in letters is accurate. In addition letters tend to be the same length of approximately 150 words. Most letters are written by liberal thinkers who base their ideas on general criticism. Finally, it is worthwhile to note that letters that take a more social approach are more effective in conveying their messages in that they do not separate people in terms of things like the elites and those who are not. By handling general life issues, they are more attractive to many people. The fact that these genres are written in the third person and uses a present continuous makes it feel more current and audiences feel more connected it. The incorporation of present tense within social inclined letters makes readers gain the notion that what is being discussed a given moment more current is worthy of their attention. Since it is clear that letters give room for critical thinking and accuracy, it is worthwhile to conclude that letters bring in originality and rationality in the discourse in that authors can freely incorporate their ideas and thoughts within their works.
Works Cited
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