Nailah Wright

English 102

Professor Wynne

February 17, 2017

Genre Analysis: Black History Month

Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Negro History Week spoke to Hampton Institute

students in the 1920s stating We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to

inspire us to greater achievements. Negro History Week transformed into Black History Month

in 1976. African Americans have been an extremely imperative part of American History. They

have been tortured, abused, mistreated and unappreciated but they have also created many

inventions, as well as technological and health advances. Other races, especially some

Caucasians do not agree with, understand nor appreciate Black History Month. They also wonder

why their race does not have a whole month of appreciation. After reading the article Why its

important to observe Black History Month and watching the video A World Without Black

History Month, these two genres present and showcase the explanation to the questions many

may wonder.

There are many similarities between this article and video. The first similarity deals with

the audience and purpose. Both genres inform people about Black History Month and why it is

so important. The audience already knows there is a Black History Month but many are curious

as to why African Americans are the only ones to have a whole month dedicated to them. Along

with similarities there are also some differences between each genres audience and purpose. One

difference being that the video is more entertaining and formal meanwhile the article is more
informative and informal. Culture, tradition, awareness and leaders are some of the repetitive and

specialized vocabulary presented throughout the article. This magnifies the formal language

throughout the article and shows that it is trying to present to the readers the importance of these

four things in Black History. Black inventors, inventions, and black history month are also some

imperative vocabulary used throughout the video, especially black history month.

Along with audience and purpose, the rhetorical issues should be acknowledged as well.

Starting with the video, the viewer can establish this is a creditable source because they can do

background checks on the information and see that it is in fact correct. One example being that a

black engineer helped invent the pace maker and the first successful open heart surgery was done

by a black surgeon. The emotions this video is trying to evoke from the audience is pride and

appreciation. While going through all the inventions African-Americans made and how life

would be without it, you can see the disappointment from the Caucasian man in the video. This is

meant to represent how every ethnicity would feel without the inventions made by black people.

In the end it is supposed to make the viewer feel prideful for there being a Black History Month

to celebrate these people and inventions. Also the reader should feel appreciative to have had

these African-Americans be alive to invent these things in which we use on a daily basis.

The article seems to be creditable as well, mainly because it is a scholarly article written

on a college website. College is a place of education and research as well so just by the article

being on a college website shows that it is creditable. Presented with the article is the name of

the author as well as the exact date it was published. Articles that are not creditable usually have

no date, author and are published on websites other than .com and .edu. This article speaks a lot

about the history of Black History Month, therefore it uses other credible sources to accomplish

this. For instance Carter G. Woodson was the sole individual responsible for creating Negro
History Week in Washington, D.C., in February 1926. This quote can be researched and you

will find many other scholarly articles that state the same thing. The emotions this genre is

attempting to evoke from the reader is sympathy and excitement. The last paragraph of the article

speaks about reflecting on the past of African-Americans and what they have been through which

provokes a sense of sympathy. The ending of the article also speaks about celebration of the

many things African-Americans have done as well as invented, ultimately creating a sense of

excitement for what has been done and what expected for the future.

The structure of anything is very important, it is imperative that you have a strong

foundation and structure. The overall structure of the article was good. At the beginning of each

new section there is a sub header in bold letters which topic will be next. An example of this

would be Celebrate with knowledge, as the reader dives into this paragraph there is much

discussion of the history of black history month, why it began and why it is so important. There

are a little bit of limitations put on this genre due to the fact that it is published on a school

website. In that case it needs to be approved and there are certain things you can and cannot say.

Although if it was an individual blog posted on the authors own website then there would be less

limitations. Along with the section headers, there is also a picture at the topic of the article that

states in bold letters Black History is American History which is a very relatable statement to

the purpose of this article. It shows that black history also effects other nationalities therefore it

should not be ignored, discouraged or unappreciated.

The structure of the video is highly unique and even a little complex. During the video

the two main characters travel back in time. This is to show the viewers how different life would

be without the involvement and inventions of African Americans. Along with this, the video is

setup in a way of a question and answer style. As they travel back in time the Caucasian male
may ask a question pertaining to a certain type of music, invention or setting. This is representing

what many other ethnicities may wonder but in a more interactive and comedic way. After the

Caucasian answers, the African-American woman answers the question with facts about the

inventions and involvement of African-Americans that allowed the certain music, healthcare,

settings and much more come into play. There are not as many restrictions on this genre because

it is more of an entertaining genre which allows the writer and director to have more freedom in

expressing their vision. This structure facilitates its purpose by taking the readers back and time

and showing them how life would be without African-American involvement. The visuals

definitely has a big impact on the viewer which will stick in their mind every time someone asks

why black history month is important.

In the final analysis, the video A World Without Black History is a more effective genre

than the article Why its important to observe Black History Month. Both of these genres have

similarities in there audience and purpose. Yet the video has unique way of capturing the

audiences attention and keeping the information store in their minds. It informs the audience of

why black history month is so important and should be acknowledged by all races. The video

adds a sense of entertainment to the topic at hand and gives the viewer a great understanding of

how different and difficult life would be without African-Americans. Overall the video had a

very unique structure and message that got across to the viewer in an entertaining and

memorable way.
 Works Cited

"The History of Black History Month | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." The

History of Black History Month | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. N.p., n.d. Web.

12 Feb. 2017.

"Why it's important to observe Black History Month." The Fox Call. N.p., 05 Feb. 2015. Web. 10

Feb. 2017.

YouTube. YouTube, 03 Feb. 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.