Running Header: HOTEL DIEU

Hotel Dieu
Michelle Mendoza
University of Texas at El Paso
English 1302: Research and Critical Writing
September 14, 2015

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Hotel Dieu

In recent years El Paso has had a rapidly growing demand for nurses. With this demand
followed an increasing number of applicants to University of Texas at El Pasos School of
Nursing. What many may not know is that the nationally accredited program began in a small
two story building in El Paso by a group of nuns known as the Sisters of Charity first starting out
as El Pasos first hospital, and eventually evolving into the School of Nursing. The womens
drive and purpose is demonstrated in the two genres which display the womens selfless efforts
to care for the ill. Trish Longs, El Paso History- Tales from the Morgue, archive photographs
demonstrate the nuns determination from the roots of the establishment in a two-story building
to a hospital with two hundred ten beds. Elma Galentine Ramirezs thesis, A History of Hotel
Dieu, is to remind everyone of a great monument that was established by a group of nuns who
just wanted to serve the sick people of the El Paso community. Moving forward we will be
using the information to discuss the genres.
Audience and Purpose
Elma Galentine Ramirezs, A History of Hotel Dieu, was an essay that Ramirez wrote as
a fulfillment for the Masters of Art program at Texas Western College. According to Ramirez
she wrote the thesis as a memoir to a historical monument that was established by humility
(Ramirez Preface). In the second genre Trish Longs, El Paso History- Tales from the Morgue,
Long published nineteen archive photos from the beginning of the construction for the
monument to when it became an established hospital. The second genre was posted to the El
Paso Times media center as a mean of entertainment, and to enrich people on El Pasos first
hospital which was also the beginning to UTEPs nursing program.

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The audience for Ramirezs essay was the faculty of the graduate school, which are
highly educated, in most cases probably older individuals. From the audience in this genre one
can say that they were probably raised around the same time that the hospital began which would
mean they already know briefly about the monument. The photographs that were posted by
Long, were posted for the El Paso community, or moreover the general public, for anyone
around the world to view. Underneath the photographs was a small caption to explain the events
in the photo. With the audience being so broad we can imply that the photographs were posted as
means of entertainment, but also to give a brief description of the history. In Ramirezs essay the
audience is already familiar with Hotel Dieu, and what a triumphal history altering event it was
for the El Paso community only increasing their appreciation for such a great monument.
Opposed to Ramirez Long is posting the photographs to the world, to someone who may know
nothing about El Paso, so these photographs may help establish an appreciation for this great
establishment.
The amount of time that a person may want to spend on each of these genres may depend
on their intents and what they would like to get from the genre. A person may be interested as to
why a student would write a one hundred and twenty three page paper about this historical
monument, and spend a day or two reading, depending on how fast that person can read. The
photographs on the other hand, a person may skim thru them taking ten minutes, or so to view a
piece of history, but if they really want to analyze the events that took place they might take
more time viewing each picture and reading the captions. Longs genre are images which a
person may be more inclined to view this genre as opposed to reading Ramirezs essay since it
would be easier to interpret. It would not require as much time, also visuals keep a person more
engaged opposed to just viewing words.

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Both of the genres are meant to give a history of Hotel Dieu Ramirezs thesis has an
abundance of information with a lot of sources which can be used to determine the validity of the
material. The photographs are for entertainment purposes while they do give a brief caption the
load of information does not come close to the thesis by Ramirez. The genres both use
professional language which is clear and to the point. In the essay since it was meant as a
fulfillment for a Masters Program it has an academic and formal tone throughout. For example
when she stated , The need for trained nurses was of paramount importance since the early days
of the hospital(Ramirez 44).While the language in the captions is professional there is not
much text per picture since, it was just meant to tell the viewer briefly about the events taking
place in the photograph., Hotel Dieu administrator Sister Teresa turns over a shovel of Earth
signaling construction of the Hotel Dieu School of Nursing (Long 1).The terminology in both of
the genres is similar because they are both trying to inform the reader about the same monument.
Some of the vocabulary used is Sisters of Charity, University of Texas, Hotel Dieu, and nursing
just to name a few. The language of the thesis is very thorough with a tone of appreciation for the
events that lead to the beginning of this monument. In the photographs the language is quick to
get to the point to briefly inform the reader of what is going on in the picture they are viewing.
Both of the genres are presented in a clean legible manner. The thesis is typed with a typewriter
making it clean and legible with many sources cited throughout. The essay is broken up into
three chapters which the organization makes it easier to read since the author is not hopping back
and forth between events. There are also some photographs posted within the essay but they are
of very poor quality making them hard to interpret. Longs photographs are black and white of
high quality, making them easy to view and enjoy.

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Ethos

In the essay the writer has a variety of sources that range from books to newspapers; from
these sources is where she derives all the information compiled in her thesis. The writer validates
all her information by adding a bibliography at the end of her page which she sites all the
resources that she utilized. In the second genre there are no sources cited except that the
photographs came from archives at the El Paso times for this reason it is harder to give the
publisher credibility for the captions because we cannot verify if the captions are accurate.
Pathos
In Ramirezs essay there is an emotional approach to keep alive the memory of a great
monument that changed the city of El Paso. The author states in the beginning that she is a native
of the city and while recognizing that change is good would regret to see the building of the
monumental hospital demolished (Ramirez Preface). For this reason a reader might change their
feelings toward the monument. The photographs may spark a nostalgic emotion in someone
older that may have been the same age as the women at that point in time, which depending on
what events they are reminded of whether dreadful or marvelous, can be the difference between a
person that appreciates or detests the piece of history. For example the person who is viewing
the pictures may feel appreciative because they are reminded of the day they got married being
that the pictures are dated around the same time. Opposed to someone who may be viewing them
who lost a loved one at or around that time, they may not feel so fond of the pictures because it
may resurface old emotions from their loss.
Logos
Ramirez used logos through the multiple sources cited within her text. With all the
sources it maintained the thesis informative to help maintain the memory of Hotel Dieu. Among

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the types of sources from which she derived her information were personal interviews from the
nuns that worked within the hospital. The information is reliable since it came from firsthand
accounts of nuns that were there when this great monument was established. In the second
genre there was no use of logos. Although there was a caption with the photographs there were
no sources cited for them which takes away the reliability. This would leave a reader to make
their own conclusion for the images.
Structure and Delivery
The structure of each genre differed greatly, in the thesis she broke down her topics about
the history into chapters while the photographs contained only a mere caption, leaving the viewer
to make their own conclusions. While the thesis contains a lot of substantial information it is a
very long essay, one hundred and twenty three pages, to read which may make a person shy
away and view the pictures instead since it would take less time to view them and the content is
not as dry as reading an essay because they have visuals which they can interpret. Presentation of
the materials in both of the genres is fitted to each accordingly. The thesis is presented in
chapters which let the reader know what they will be reading about going along, while the
photographs are presented in a clear crisp quality which let the viewer clearly see the
photograph. Since these genres vary in their credibility one may be a more reliable source of
information for a reader while the other may leave the reader with their own interpretation of the
context.
Conclusion
Ultimately both genres give a history of Hotel Dieu. While the pictures are fun to view
and people enjoy seeing history visually as opposed to reading about it the pictures are hard to
say what is really going on leaving many people with different interpretations of the

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photographs. The essay on the other had contains an abundance of information that is linked to
credible sources leaving the reader with an accurate knowledge of the history of Hotel Dieu. For
this reason the thesis is more persuasive because a person is able to verify the information with
the sources cited. For this reason it leaves the photographs for a person to make their own
opinion, while the thesis is knowledge with all the information and accumulation of sources it
makes it difficult for a person to argue that the information is false.

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References

Long, T. (06 June 2012). El Paso history- tales from the morgue. Retrieved from
photos.elpasotimes.com/2012/06/06/archive-photos-hotel-dieu-school-of-nursing/#1
Ramrez, E. G. (1951). Brief history of the Hotel Dieu training school for nurses. Retrieved from
http://0search.proquest.com.lib.utep.edu/docview/301980380/fulltextPDF?accountid=712
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