Reflection on the Multi-Genre Project

This multi-genre presentation is an excellent study in how different genres can create different effects on the reader. Using multiples genres allows the creator to create multiple effects for the reader, enhancing the overall argument. This means that we could use emotional appeals, with genres like the news articles and political ad, alongside pieces like the initial essay, which are meant to inform the reader in a logical and straight forward manner.
Several of the genres in our project help to give the feeling of timeliness. The news articles and political ads all focus on the recent 2008 Presidential Campaign, highlighting the issues that our project addresses in light of these current events. This shows how the issues are relevant to readers today, not just as some vague abstract idea about politics. I think that this is an important point; it brings the argument home for the reader, and shows them how the argument is relevant to them personally.
The emotional appeal in our paper comes largely from the satire, political cartoon, and political ad. The satire uses humor to open the audience up to the ideas presented in the piece. Humor serves to cause the reader to let down their guard, and makes them more receptive to the new ideas. The political cartoon uses humor for a similar effect, in this case reinforcing the arguments that have already been given. It is also used to break up the more lengthy genres, and give the reader a reprieve from simply reading text. The political ad appeals to the readers emotions by showing the sort of subtle hints that are used in real political ads. It is meant to give an example of just how politicians use the religious tendencies within the voters to manipulate their opinions.
The more logical appeals are realized primarily in the main essay and the op-en piece. The main essay sets up the argument, giving scientific evidence and research supporting the fact that religion is integral to our decision making. This makes the reader think about the topic logically. The op-ed piece does a very similar thing with respect to the topic of political campaigns; it presents a more logical argument about the necessity of being Christian to being elected president. This works well in tandem with the political ad; the op-ed piece gets the reader thinking about it logically, and then the political ad gets their emotional side involved in the process. This duality is very effective in pulling in the reader and getting their whole thought process involved in the argument.