Mraovich 1

Mary Beth Mraovich

Writing 2
Matt Wilson
11 March 2016
WP3
What do all genres have in common? What are they trying to do to the audience? Genres
use special features specific to them (Dirk 253) to persuade the audience. Emotion is one feature
that persuades the audience and makes them feel a connection to something. Due to the 2005
Pakistan earthquake, the academic article Oxfam experience of providing screened toilet,
bathing and menstruation units in its earthquake response in Pakistan examines the organization
Oxfam as respectful first responders to the disaster. Specific examples with distinct diction make
the audience feel many emotions. The audience may feel badly for those affected by the
earthquake, or proud in seeing the way Oxfam helps. The article appeals to the emotions of the
audience as they see that Oxfam is respectful and non-discriminatory. In translating this
academic article into an informational brochure, the most important aspect is maintaining the
emotions brought by specific examples through word choice that is not changed or lost.
Women and men need different accommodations after a natural disaster, especially being
in a third world country like Pakistan. To highlight Oxfams talents, making an informational
brochure is the most beneficial translation as the new mature audience is better suited. This
audience specifically identifies older people who have excess money to donate to nondiscriminatory organizations that help undeveloped communities affected by disasters. This
brochure gives information about Oxfam and shows how it is the best organization to support.

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As the audience is comprised of adults capable of understanding tough situations, they
are able to appreciate how Oxfam handles these situations. Oxfam makes the audience feel
emotions that certain word connotations give. Laura Carroll states using pathos, or emotion, is
effective in short period of time (Carroll 53), which is exactly what a brochure does. Since
brochures are short, the content needs to quickly persuade the audience to feel that Oxfam is the
most beneficial organization to donate to. With such phrases such as gender inequality and
patriarchal based giving negative connotations to other organizations, positive phrases that
promote Oxfam include respect the culture, communication, and safe and privacy (Nawaz,
Lal, Raza, and House). Phrases with negative connotations are simple yet very complex. For
example, patriarchal based shows how other organizations besides Oxfam put men in power,
therefore placing women in violent or sexually abusive situations, while Oxfam makes sure both
women and men are protected. The positive words Oxfam uses such as, safe and have privacy
represent the good Oxfam does on having gender equality and respecting the culture. The
audience sees the good Oxfam does for women and in turn donates. Using pathos through
specific diction is crucial to keep the indented emotion so that the audience will feel the need to
support Oxfam.
Keeping in mind that my audience is educated, not much word choice needed changing. I
searched for the main points and simplified them to make them shorter easier to read. As William
Zinsser argues that unnecessary words and phrases make an argument weaker (Zinsser), I wanted
to make sure that the new simplicity was strong and got my point across. Effective simplicity
protects the word choice and emotional attachment from getting lost.

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Highlighting the emotions of my audience is what makes me translation effective. I used
similar word choice to the article to effectively get the point across and make the emotional
impact last. This impact that causes the reader to make a change by donating to Oxfam is due to
the word choice I used. Keeping the word choice was vital to the informational tone of the
writing as Laura Carroll explains that having an appropriate tone in a piece of writing determines
the credibility (Carroll 54). As the informational tone transfers to the brochure, the audience
believes what is presented to them as the credibility shines through. If the credibility is lost, the
emotion does not transfer to the audience. This proves that having good credibility persuades the
audience to believe the information about Oxfam that emotions and word choice bring.
The main challenge when translating was finding the main ideas and deciding to present
them in similar or different ways. Each way had specific words that created different impacts. I
wanted a strong impact to make the audience feel that they can be the change and persuade them
to donate to Oxfam. To figure out how to make the audience feel the need to be the change, I put
myself in their shoes and thought What word would affect me the most? Making myself
become the audience made me make changes while rereading my brochure and making decisions
that have a major impact on the writing (Bunn 39). I was consciously making decisions as a
writer while reading and keeping in mind the effect word choice has on my audiences emotions.
In translating, the most important aspect is to make sure the emotion carries over to the
new piece of work. The reader needs to feel an emotional connection to the cause. Seeing how
other organizations have gender inequality and Oxfam does not causes emotions that are
important to carry over to the brochure. In order to connect the audience to the information, the
emotion that word choice brings along is the most important aspect of translating. Overall using
the audience emotion persuades them that Oxfam is the best organization to donate money to.

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Work Cited

Bunn, Mike. "How to Read Like a Writer." How to Read Like a Writer. Writing Spaces, n.d.
Web. 10 Mar. 2016. <http://writingspaces.org/bunn--how-to-read-like-a-writer>.
Caroll, Laura. "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Towards Rhetorical Analysis." Backpacks vs.
Briefcases: Steps Towards Rhetorical Analysis. Writing Spaces, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.
<http://writingspaces.org/essays/backpacks-vs-briefcases>.

Dirk, Kerry. "Navigating Genres." Navigating Genres. Writing Spaces, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.
<http://writingspaces.org/essays/navigating-genres>.

Jamila Nawaz , Shamma Lal , Saira Raza & Sarah House (2010) Oxfam experience of providing
screened toilet, bathing and menstruation units in its earthquake response in Pakistan, Gender &
Development, 18:1, 81-86, DOI: 10.1080/13552071003600067
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13552071003600067

Zinsser, W. 1980. Simplicity. In On writing well: An informal guide to writing nonfiction. New
York: Harper & Row. Copyright 1980 by William K. Zinsser. Reprinted by permission of the
author.