Genre of an Argument

The genre of certain arguments can greatly influence the message that the argument portrays. From the image on page 24 the reader gets the general idea that genetically modified foods are very possibly bad for you and can have harmful effects, which serves as a good warning to most readers. The cartoon, however, has a much more penetrating message because it shows what genetically modified food could do for us (help solve world hunger) and contrasts this even more with the idea of the starving little child who would give anything for food but is having the food withheld by a self righteous “reason resistant” person. This kind of contrasting makes the comic much more effective than the image on page 24 because people are constantly bombarded with advertisements like the one on 24 that tell them why something could be wrong or bad for them but that is all it does, is tell them in a boring way that many people become immune to. The comic, on the other hand, attracts the attention of the general viewer because many people enjoy comics and the image of the starving child draws their attention and makes them feel more sympathy, while the mockery of the “reason resistant” person helps to fuel the dislike the reader feels for that same group. These two images clearly show how the genre of an argument can determine how effective the argument is.