Julian Serchion

Prof. Joy McDonald

English 102-14
February 8, 2016
Domestic Violence: Genre Analysis of an Essay and an Interview Domestic violence is
defined as acts of violence or abuse against a person living in ones household, especially a
member of ones immediate family. The issue of domestic violence has been a topic for
discussions for as far back as any of us can imagine, but it is an issue that not a lot of people are
brave enough to discuss. Domestic violence also affects the children of the household, whenever
people discuss domestic violence most people forget to include the after effects that the children
have of witnessing their parent being abused. Domestic violence only stays quiet as long as the
victim allows the offender to scare them, the act of domestic violence is more of a mental abuse
that develops into physical, emotional, and then even sexual abuse. The victims of domestic
violence are placed in a constant state of fear, so they are scared to go to someone for help.
The courageous few who are willing to share their story with the world do it mostly through
interviews and allowing others to write essays about domestic violence and use their story as a
frame of reference. These two genres are the most used portrayal of explaining the horrors of
domestic violence, because its through these genres that people can read or hear about the facts
of domestic violence through the victims testimony. Jim Axelrod is an anchor of the Saturday
edition of CBS Evening News. He interviewed a victim of domestic violence who shared her
story with the world. John Devaney wrote an essay titled, Male Perpetrators of Domestic
Violence: How Should We Hold Them to Account? Audience and Purpose The essay is directed
more towards teens and adults, because they are more likely the ones who actually understand,

more extensively, the horrors of domestic violence and are doing research on it to further people
trying to stop to this issue. The audience is more likely to know the facts that follow behind the
issue because it is around these ages where you start to hear about people who are brave enough
to express what has been happening to them. The audience is likely to expand their knowledge
about the issue and use their knowledge to help the victims find their peace of mind after their
abuser is convicted to the fullest extent of law, and help them get re-acclimated to society
without having to look over their shoulder whenever they make a move. If a person decides to
use essays in order to find research on these issues it is used as a point of reference for their own
research and to further extend their own knowledge of the topic.
The interview is geared more towards the older teens to adults, because they are more than likely
the ones who are looking for interviews that cover this topic for research and to show that this
issue is still around and they are trying to understand why the victim chooses to stay in that
predicament and also how do peoples relationship de-evolve into domestic violence. The
audience that looks for an interview about a certain issue are trying to get research from a very
strong source, for instance the case of domestic violence, an interview about this topic will most
likely involve a person who has personal experience with living in an abusive household, and has
come out to explain their pain that they went through.
The differences between these two genres are quite extensive, the essay portrays the acts of
domestic violence through the writers perspective, which is most likely through third person
point-of-view. Even though they have a decent knowledge of the issue they, mostly, do not have
the personal experience that they would get from the interview. The essay covers multiple
sources from all over the world, whereas the interview only has one perspective. The similarity
between the two genres are that both are extremely informational and also gives the audience

additional perspectives so that they can the story from another point of view.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos The essay, Male Perpetrators of Domestic Violence:
How Should We Hold Them to Account? has over 25 sources from collegiate professors and
world-renowned sociologists. Also this essay has been placed in The Political Quarterly, which
has explored the key issues of the day from a centre left perspective and promoted debate about
them. The essay comes from an ethos perspective, because it is written based on the facts and
credibility of other known authors. The ethos perspective is based off of the authors credibility,
the authors confidence in delivery, and also how they cite credible sources. The ethos
perspective is the most trusting/intellectual message portrayal, because in order for you to
properly use the ethos perspective you must follow everything that you say with facts from other
credible sources. This perspective is favorable to college students or adults in certain work forces
such as; a lawyer, a police officer, or a judge.
Jim Axelrods interview with the victim of domestic violence uses the pathos perspective based
on the emotion that is portrayed by the victim as they tell their story. The pathos perspective is
based off of the stories that are told, the vivid language used to tell their story, and also the
inspirational quotes that come from the story. The pathos perspective is usually the strongest
message portrayal, because you can see the emotion and passion behind everything that is being
said while they are telling their story.
Structure Male Perpetrators of Domestic Violence: How Should We Hold Them to Account? is
a smooth transitioning pyramid of information that starts at the base of all knowledge concerning
domestic violent facts and then proceeds to go into the individual facts that only a few people
know about. With the starting of the knowledge that everyone knows it leaves room for them to
absorb the new information as they get further into the essay. Also this structure gets all of the

common knowledge out of the way early in the process so they wont become bored with
learning the same stuff over and over and over again. The essay form of presentation only one
limitation, which is the fact that they could only do so much with the time that was given to them
to publish this essay.
The interview appeals to the emotional side of the audience, so that they feel like obligated to
finish and want to stop future occurrences. The interview also brings out the dark side of a topic
that cant be found in any paper or news article, because it is from the personal experience of the
victim of domestic violence. This is the only way to get an authentic portrayal especially if the
person writing about domestic violence has not experience with either being abused or lived in a
household where someone was being abused on a daily basis. Also this type of structure spreads
the secrets behind domestic violence faster and more efficiently. There are several limitations to
using the interview, one limitation is that since it is coming from the perspective of the victim,
they could either not recall all of the events that happened because they were blocked out, or they
could get so emotional about the subject that they no longer want to continue, or they dont
disclose certain information because they dont want their life to be a side story on the evening
news.
Both genres are strong in their ways of delivering information, but the one genre that
portrays the information the best would be the essay. The reason why is because the essay uses
information that is backed up by other authors who wrote about the same topic, but have far
more experience in this field of study and have titles that prove that they did their research very
well. The interview will appeal to the emotional people, and will tell an interesting story, but due
to how society is shaped today, then people can twist the word of someone brave enough to tell
their story and mix up their information which could confuse the victim. The essay will forever

be available for anyone to find whereas a video interview can be deleted at any point in time off
the interview. Even though a certain topic is a very strong, and widely known issue the portrayal
of it can make all the difference. The most effective perspective to present information is through
the ethos perspective because you are following up your findings with other peoples research
which further proves your research.

References
Devaney, John. "Male Perpetrators of Domestic Violence: How Should We Hold Them to
Account?" The Political Quarterly 85.4 (2014): 480-86. Web
Domestic Violence Victim: "I Was a Prisoner in My Own Home." Interview by Jim Axelrod. CBS
News. CBS News. Los Angeles, California, 17 May 2013. Television.