Sergio Ramirez

Mariel Aquino

Writing 2

1-29-19

Writing Project 1

I chose to write about the genres text messaging and news articles because, I know a lot about

text messaging and its format, however, I don’t know much about news articles and their

formats. By using these two genres, I will narrow it down to talk about the topic of

communication in our society. As well as, how each genre is used to reach out to people and

relay information from a public matter and from a private matter. Their effectiveness in their

individual settings where each genre is used. The only thing I found difficult was combining the

genres together and finding their similarities. Despite serving the same purpose, their formats are

very different and the information given to their audience is also different.
 1 second. That is how long it takes for the international space station to travel 7.7 km in

orbit. That is how long it takes for almost 2.4 million emails to be sent globally. But, that is also

how long a text message takes to be sent from 1 person to another. ​Transportation is as easy as

using a phone to get a stranger to drive you anywhere you need to go for a reasonable price or

using that same phone to contact someone across the planet in a matter of seconds. ​However,

there are many forms of communication nowadays such as text messaging and news articles.

One has been around since the 1600s and another has been used publicly since the 1990s. In

terms of effectiveness, news articles are presented to thousands or even millions of people. Their

formal format is understandable by almost everyone and their attention is directed at adults or

sometimes teenagers with a mature mindset. Despite their effective advantage, text messages are

still important in today's modern society as their conversations are meant for people’s private

matters.

There are some people who haven’t caught up to modern day tech whom might ask, what

is a text message? In general, it is a message given to anybody from a mobile phone to another in

a digital format. It could also be interpreted as an instant/direct message or fast email. Originally

text messages would be messages using the Short Message Service or SMS. Later, as they

became more developed, they became Multimedia Messages or MMS by including digital

photos, videos, and sound content. A text message in the modern day has many purposes, such as

arranging meetings, to promote propaganda, deliver an emergency or warning such as an

AMBER Alert, to greet someone, and many more. Text messaging is used by almost everyone in

the world who has access to a mobile phone, and they are most often used with private numbers

and for situations where voice calls are impossible or undesired. Even if it is hard to believe, the
age of people who text nowadays vary from elementary school kids to senior citizens. A text

today could be as important as a nuclear attack alarm in the 1950s since they could be sent to

everyone in a certain range of a city in a state of emergency.

Text messages could be made into many forms, whether they are formal or informal their

use varies with the age group. Teenagers from the age of 13 to 19 and even people in their early

20s have the biggest age group of people who text daily. Usually, this group texts to talk about

gossip and their formats are usually that of a free write where even spelling and grammar don’t

need to matter. As long as the message is received, then the details don’t matter. Over the years,

this age group has created their own language in texting. People have created words that mean

entire phrases or actions as well as acronyms that help give the user a faster way of delivering a

message. Some examples are “OMG” meaning Oh My God, “TTYL” meaning Talk to You

Later, “BRB” meaning Be Right Back, “LOL” meaning Laughing Out Loud, and “GTG”

meaning Got to Go. Most of the time, they send words that only involve letters that match the

sound instead of the full word. Something as simple as “Love” is converted into “Luv” or

“2Day” instead of “Today”. It is not uncommon for adults to try and stay hip by trying to text

like their kids or even talk to them as if they were using text lingo, however adults usually use

texting to have formal conversations within their household or their jobs to communicate with

their bosses and coworkers. However, many people have different relationships with the person

they are sending their messages to. For example, a conversation with a friend will not be the

same as a conversation with a parent or adult. With friends, one could have a conversation such

as, “Heyyy do u want 2 hang out l8tr?” as the friend replies “Hell yea! Come thru and lets do

sumtin!” Whereas with adults or parents, one could have a conversation like, “Hello my son,
How are you today?” and one would reply “I am doing alright dad, Thanks for asking.” Texting

has become a very common form of communication and almost everyone in the world uses it

daily. Whether it’s to say “Hello” or to reply “LOL” by reacting to a funny picture or video,

there are many ways to use text messaging in the modern day. Of course, not everyone uses the

short text lingo that is stereotypically used in examples however, it is an easy way to contact one

another and it only takes a couple of seconds to have an entire conversation.

Another way people receive information is with the use of newspapers and online news

articles. They are what gives the public the latest news, either domestically or internationally.

Since the invention of the weekly newspaper in 1605, its main purpose is to inform the public

about current and memorable events. As time went by, news articles developed one of the most

used genres of writing in modern day society. Whether it is made with ink or with digital code, a

news article writer presents a draft to the editor and he/she decides whether it is published or not.

There are also people who don’t have an editor and just write news however they see fit by

posting them online on a news website. One thing every newsarticle that has in common is that

there are no informalities when writing them. News articles always are, and always will be, a

formally structured genre of writing that delivers the latest information about current events.

Despite their common use and popularity, one could wonder, is there a greater purpose than to

just deliver news?

In the article “​Climate is the biggest risk to business (and the world)” by Ivana Kottasova.

Kottasova talks about how climate change is not only affecting the world physically but how

businesses now “​consider environmental risks, such as droughts and wildfires, to be even more

dangerous than turbulent markets, cyberattacks or geopolitical snafus”. One could think the
purpose Kottasova wrote this article is for the general public to be aware that climate change is

real, and it is affecting more than just our wildlife. So much so that corporations are starting to be

aware of the dangers to continue the industrial ways. By conveying this information, the general

public becomes aware that if big corporations, whom are generally the ones that usually cause

climate change over time with the emission of Carbon Dioxide from their factories, are aware of

the dangers and are starting to act to prevent or reduce any more damage, then everyone else

should be as well. These are the kinds of matters that makes the news article a news article.

Opinionated sentences and interesting or eye catching headlines that thrive on making an

argument for the people to agree, disagree, and/or agree to disagree.

Another article, “​How to Think About the Costs of Climate Change” by Neil Erwin, uses

the dangers of climate change to make the public become aware of the dangers and how we

should focus on preventing climate change to destroy our planet and to destroy humanity. “​There

is a big difference between costs that are high but manageable versus those that might come with

catastrophic events like food shortages and mass refugee crises.”, says Irwin when he asks, “how

permanent will the damage be?” The use of this question triggers an alarming sensation to the

general public in which not only scares them but delivers true facts in which should motivate

them to do something about it. News articles deliver the current events around the world to the

public, whether the news is good or bad. Climate change, being a major event happening in

every corner of the world, presents a perfect example that shows the strategies of the authors as

well as the effectiveness of the genre of writing. In some examples, such as the articles above,

news articles deliver terrifying facts in which are intended to warn everyone the effects and
dangers of certain events. News articles are an effective genre to deliver this information with

their easily accessible networks like CNN, New York Times, The Times, and many more.

These two genres of writing have a similar purpose in which both relay information to the

public. With texting, a person sends private text messages, as well as pictures videos and more,

to a select amount of people. On the other hand, news articles deliver information to the public.

Providing a service which involves warning the public about the latest wars and potential hazards

in certain areas or about a local hero who saved the life of a little kid from almost getting run

over in the street. Both genres also share platforms in which people could text a news article to

another or a news article talking about the latest tech in texting including the newest and fastest

way to text. Communication has never been as easy and as fast as it is today.
 Works Cited

Kottasová, I. (2019). ​Climate change tops World Economic Forum's global risk list ahead of
Davos​. [online] CNN. Available at:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/business/climate-change-global-risk-wef-davos/index.html

Irwin, N. (2019). ​Climate Change’s Giant Impact on the Economy: 4 Key Issues.​ [online]
NYTimes. Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/upshot/how-to-think-about-the-costs-of-climate-change.ht
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