PB2A

When an author is forming his or her argument, they must form it in a way that can be understood by the intended audience, but it also needs to convince, and convincing the reader that the argument is realistic and purposeful through organization, content, tone, etc…

The scholarly articles being discussed are a SCIgen article from the genre generating website and an article observing cultural effects of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by Steven C. Dubin published in the African Arts magazine and found in the "Newspapers" guide of the list of UCSB's discipline catalogues.

The two authors build their argument’s pathos by writing to their audiences’ expectations for the publications. In a scientific theater, the author has to use technical terms, proper organizational structure, credit all who assisted in the research, among an endless list of other norms associated with any given genre. The soccer article, published in a journalistic publication, is presented in a way so that it belongs in the journal. It’s formatting is what one would expect when someone is reading a magazine, providing the reader with a sense of familiarity with the topic before it is even read. This sense of familiarity stems from reading other pieces within a genre, and when the reader jumps from one source to another, he or she will see similarities that group the sources under a single umbrella, but also will be presented with differences that make every work its own.

Both writers present their arguments so that they are tailored to the readers, so both are written using scholarly vocabulary. The structure of the two pieces develop strong senses of ethos by offering reliable sources presented in an organized fashion. This helps build an aura of reliability around the author and his or her writing that makes their argument far more appealing to its audience. In the SCIgen scholarly source generator, the organization is formally separated into subsections. In contrast, Dubin’s article is formatted much like a newspaper article, with paragraphs serving the primary and lone-standing function for categorizing thoughts within the authors’ arguments. As for more technical conventions, the SCIgen scholarly publication cites its sources with footnotes leading to an extensive, fourty-three-source works cited pages, while the soccer piece credited its quotes and/or evidence in text, with parenthetical citations listing the author of the quote followed by the year it was said or written, proper APA format. The SCIgen article, by citing other papers, which seem to be other research discoveries based on title and layout of listing on the work cited page, gives the reader a sense that this essay has been peer-reviewed by fellow scholars. Peer-review is preached and enforced by the research community allowing a sort of approval system for proposed research or new findings (De Piero). These formats are deeply related to the pieces’ forms, as the research essay follows a very academic layout; likewise, the news-like article follows a strict set of professional patterns, but seems a bit more casual.

Both writers are able to create their texts’ logos by including their claim followed by reliable evidence, capped off with the authors’ input and analysis. In order to support the purpose and claim in the “Introduction” of the SCIgen article, the author provides graphs, scientific discoveries, and general explanations of the findings and their importance. By gathering a multitude of sources into one research essay, the writer creates a clear message of what they are actually saying. Similarly, Dubin argues the cultural importance of the 2010 World Cup for South Africa by offering several professional observations of the culture of the even, then linking them back to his claim that “the World Cup generated a profusion of cultural expression.” Providing sound evidence in an order that makes sense to the audience builds the writer’s argument by offering the reader a sense of comfort with the subject material and the logic that moves the argument along.

Building an argument lies in building credibility and reliability in the reader’s eyes. By providing good textual, presentational support, a work becomes more attractive to read and understanding the purpose and argument becomes easier.