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Writing project 2 Final Portfolio

Calling a player a ball-hog may be an insult to most athletes because the term carries a

negative connotation, but not for Kobe Bryant. Instead, he took this criticism and proved himself

a relentless worker who led the Los Angeles Lakers to win five championship rings during his

career. However, the retirement of Kobe Bryant had a dramatic impact on Lakers basketball; the

team fell to the bottom of Western conference and making the playoff is unrealistic. While few

critics and fans doubt the future of Lakers basketball, not all sources share the same idea.

Specifically, Twitter and ESPN news articles reflect conflicting expressions. As each genres

utilize different formats and normal conventional forms to present the Lakers potential as a

young team, Twitters use of simplified structures better communicates Lakers basketball with

the general public more so than the ESPN news articles professional analyzation.

When searching for Lakers information, Twitter and ESPN news articles offer two

different contents. The news articles objective is to provide an overall analysis of Lakers

performance, which is illustrated when the author explains the strengths and the weaknesses of

three young players: Julius Randle, DAngelo Russell, and Brandon Ingram. While comparing

Rusells significant improvement to those of other players, Alamar writes, His efficiency,

rebounding and assist rates, and free throw opportunities have all increased Guards with

similar assist and defensive rebounding rates at the same point include Chris Paul, Magic

Johnson, and Kyrie Irving. This detailed analysis plays a significant role in persuading the

audience because it illustrates the authors profound knowledge in each players statistics. Using

this knowledge, he convinces the audience that there is still hope in the Lakers despite the recent

decline. Moreover, he assumes that the audience is familiar with the players and the terms listed

above, which reflects his purpose and the intended audience. Rather than connecting with the
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reader, the author utilizes professional diction and reliable data in lengthy paragraphs to inform

and obtain credibility. For example, while demonstrating Ingrams lack of experience, Alamar

states, A total of 21 forwards played at least 1,500 minutes as 19 year-olds. Within this group,

Ingram ranks 20th in true shooting percentage, ninth in assist rate, 16th in defensive rebound rate.

Once again, the author uses statistics to appeal to the audiences intellectual side. Statistics and

credible data appeal to their logic and persuade the critics and the fans that there is a slow, yet

steady improvement in Lakers performance. Overall, ESPN news articles successfully provide

specific analysis and an insight that are not obtainable from other sources.

Meanwhile, Twitter is one of the most popular social network platforms that provides an

online community for not only friends and family, but also for businessmen and movement

activists. Users are able to connect and interact through tweets which are short messages

limited to 140 characters. Because the maximum capacity is not enough for one to create a

convincing argument, tweets are usually short, personal commentaries and opinion-based posts.

People tweet using informal languages and slangs to express their ideas and engage in an online

community that share a common interest. Also, the use emoticons and informality is essential to

attracting an amiable community and presenting a welcoming environment. For example, a

frustrated Lakers fan tweeted, My Lakers are so horrible my goodness lol idk why I

keep watching the games. The informality in this tweet plays an important role in creating a

connection between the writer and the reader. Moreover, compared to ESPN news articles

professional and didactic approach to basketball, tweets focus on communicating with the

audience because they are designed to provoke responses from others. In this particular tweet,

the authors main objective is to expresses his opinion that are relatable to others, rather than

directly informing the audience. This method provokes emotional responses from the readers and
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leads them to agree with his tweet. The unique conventions of Twitter and ESPN news articles

convey two different approaches to Lakers basketball.

Because Twitter and ESPN news articles have distinct objectives, their audience is

different. Compared to tweets that are short and simple, ESPN news articles provide detailed

analysis of Lakers performance in a larger scale. Because these articles include lengthy

paragraphs and descriptive analysis, the audience is limited. One must read the entire article to

fully grasp the authors intention; therefore, the community that reads ESPN news articles is

more likely to be smaller than the community that has access to Twitter. Furthermore, the general

public do not read descriptive sports articles every day, and this form of writing attracts sports

enthusiast, professional athletes and critics. In contrast, Twitter attracts a broader community

because of its accessibility and simplicity. More People have access to Twitter and they may be

exposed to Lakers news despite their lack of interest. For example, a players name can be seen

in trending tweets when he makes a significant play, and people can easily access brief

information about his highlights. This accessibility is extremely effective in publicizing ones

argument; however, the credibility is often questioned because anyone can express his or her idea

without knowing the Laker.

In conclusion, each of these pieces utilize different conventions and methods that reflect

their genre. While, most Twitter posts present personal commentaries that connects with the

audience, ESPN news articles are credible sources that use details and sports lexicon to provide

an insight. Although both articles are designed to attract different communities, Twitter has a

greater advantage in popularity because of its simplicity and accessibility. If you are not a die-

hard Lakers fan and yet curious about their performance, ESPN news articles may not be a
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favorable choice although they successfully accomplish their job by providing an insight that

cannot be found in other genres.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18658770/is-los-angeles-lakers-young-core-

making-right-strides

https://twitter.com/XTREME323LA