Bloom Box Genre Analysis Draft

When analyzing two different genres, two different forms of discourse, it is important to

take into account of several aspects of each genre: the audience the genre in question is targeting,

the purpose of the genre, how the genre uses Ethos Pathos and Logos to create a sense of

reasoning and feeling with its audience, and how the style and structure of the genre help its

message. In this analysis, two different genres, a technology sites article and a news story from

the CBS program 60 Minutes will be analyzed in terms of all of the above aspects. The product

in question by both genres is a new form of renewable energy called the Bloom Box, which is by

the Start Up company Bloom Energy. It is on the fast track to nation wide adoption and is

critiqued by the news video and explained by the article.

First for analysis is the Bloom Box technology site’s article. The first thing that is noticed

is the fact that the audience that the article is directed towards is for people that are already

familiar with the product. It assumes that you know the fundamentals of how the Bloom Box

works, in terms of its basic operating principals. This could be the case because of several

reasons: first, the site from which the article is from is a technology site. Since the usual web

traffic going towards that site are people that are interested in becoming up- to- date in the

technology world, it is only logic to assume that they already have some basic knowledge for

most things tech. Also, since the people that visit tech-savvy sites are, in fact, tech-savvy, if they

do not understand a concept, they are capable of using the internet to better understand some

facts within a specific article such as the one mentioned above.

It is easy to assume that the general purpose of the article is to broaden the knowledge of

the reader on how the Box functions. This is achieved by explaining both the cost to profit ratios

and other aspects. For example, the article states that each Box is capable of producing 100 kW

of power and costs between $700,000 and $800,000. But as stated later, the Box “can pay for
 Bloom Box Genre Analysis Draft

itself in 3 to 5 years based on an energy cost of 8 to 9 cents per kW/ hour.” As for waste, “ "CO2

emissions when running on natural gas would be just under .8 pounds/kWh which compares

favorably to electricity from central station coal-fired plants (2 lbs/kWh) or natural gas plants

(roughly 1.3 lbs/kWh) and the national average for on-grid electricity (around 1.3-1.5 lbs/kWh)."

If the box runs on landfill gas or biogas, it produces net zero carbon emissions.”

The article makes use of Ethos in that it creates logical statements based on statistics, it is

a technology site so the corespondents that attribute to the site should be knowledgable about

technology in general, the statistics given are from either the Bloom website or another site

called “The Energy Collective” which deals with statistics of new energy sources. The article

makes no use of Pathos, it is clearly scientific and statistical that makes no attempt to incite

emotion. And as for Logos, the statistics stated are very solid. Some others about the Box include

how the Box is ideal when compared to the solar panel, its biggest competitor and the energy

source that is compared to it most of the time. It is expected that the Box “ generates electricity at

50% to 55% conversion efficiency. In comparison, solar generally produces power at between

10% to 15% efficiency. But unlike solar panels, the Bloom Energy Server produces CO2 as a

byproduct.... If the box runs on landfill gas or biogas, it produces net zero carbon emissions.”

Also, the diagram helps the reader understand more of how the Box works. Its the Box in a

nutshell:
 Bloom Box Genre Analysis Draft

Source: Bloom Energy

As for the style of the article, it is in three stages, a brief introduction, the diagram shown

above, and accompanying statistics. The article, assuming your knowledge of the Box, then

continues to explain how the Box uses fuel and oxygen to create a combust-less reaction that
 Bloom Box Genre Analysis Draft

produces a remarkable amount of energy, with little to no carbon emission, depending on the fuel

used.

It is not surprising to have this perception because it is a technology website, many of the

usual readers are technology savvy people, and most likely have prior knowledge of the Bloom

Box. The language is somewhat technical, explaining fuel cells and other scientific themes, but

makes best to keep it as simple as possible. The article is not formal in the sense that all other

news articles are, but again, does make use of mostly statistics and facts about the Box.

The 60 Minutes News Video is a slightly different story. The audience for the story is the

typical American that watches 60 Minutes on a Sunday evening. The purpose of the video was to

expose people to the Bloom Box, this is achieved by starting from square one. The product is

introduced, and its aspects are explained in Layman’s Terms. The video tried as much as possible

to keep the technical points as easy to understand as possible for the viewers watching back

home to not get lost or overwhelmed by the new technology. The other purpose of the video was,

as for all news stories, to be critical to the new advancement in technology. For example, the

news reporter was very skeptical when interviewing the founder of Bloom Energy and the

inventor of the Box. Also, the reporter interviewed other people related to the product: The

investor that funds the start up, and an economist that sees the Box as a for sure failure. But

based on all the aspects of the video, the reporter tries to keep neutral in the debate.

The video is credible because it is from CBS, which is one of the major news reporting

agencies in the United States, and the reporters that work for the long running 60 Minutes

program are award winning veterans of the Journalism field. As for Pathos, the viewer is

compelled to believe that the Box can be successful because the inventor is unbending to the fact

that his Box will change the whole world. And as for establishing Logos, the story uses much of
 Bloom Box Genre Analysis Draft

the same statistics as the article mentioned above, while adding that Billions of dollars were

poured into Bloom Energy from hopeful investors

The style of the video was typical of the news stories we see on television every day.

Introductions, interviews, and statistics. There was no special language used in the video, and it

has a moderate degree of formality because it is a legitimate news story, but lacks a lot of details

about the product and how it functions.

In the end, The 60 min news story was most effective because it was simple enough that

most people would understand, while complex enough that it intrigued tech savvy people to do

more research and find out more about the product. Also, it introduced people to the product in

the first place, so it broadened the base for which people know about the product as opposed for

the written article that expected people to know about the fundamentals of the box. It is arguable

that different genres cater to a different audience. The news article was for introductions, while

all the written stories that were found was based on prior knowledge. It seemed that the video

was a stepping stone for people that wanted to learn more about the product, from which they

will move the the internet and written stories and the bloom website to learn more.
 Bloom Box Genre Analysis Draft

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