Julia Olivant

ENGL 15-026

1 October 2019

Script

Hello employees of Nielsen Media Research! My name is Julia Olivant, and I am a

student at Penn State Abington. I’m taking an English 15 course that has been teaching me about

the importance of rhetoric and textual genres. I was invited here today to share some of the

knowledge I have gained about effective and persuasive communication. This information will

help you understand reviews and create Nielsen ratings. I will be presenting this material by

deconstructing a specific textual genre that you are often exposed to reading. This genre is

“Dancing With the Stars” Premiere Rating Reviews.

To begin, we need to think about some conventions, or features, that make this textual

genre a genre. I’ve created a list of conventions that are typically seen in this genre. Each

convention listed has a different purpose that helps appeal to the appropriate audience. For

example, any statistical evidence, or logos, are shared through viewership and adult ratings.

Some video clips help the writer build up ethos, credibility. We also see how using pathos

through mentioning drama gets the audience to be intrigued in the review.

We can look more closely at these conventions through examples. Some of these

examples may lack conventions that others use more frequently. So, do you all think that these
lack of conventions will cause the review to lose its effectiveness? Well, from my class, I have

learned that it is fine to exclude some conventions to allow the writer to be unique. However,

some conventions are more effective than others. Here are a list of conventions I believe are the

most effective. The conventions highlighted in blue are important because they keep the

audience engaged in the article content. The ones highlighted in yellow are necessary because

they provide the audience with statistical evidence on the show’s success.

The first example is from a webpage called Variety. After reading through this review, I

found that it utilizes all of the most important conventions; therefore, this example will most

effectively communicate this genre to an audience such as this company. Looking at the next

example from Deadline, we see that it provides important statistics for an audience like you to

use, but lacks the necessary conventions to keep an audience engaged. This final example is from

GH and is the least effective. This review focuses on conventions that grab the audience’s

attention, but doesn’t provide information that a company like yourself would benefit to read.

When reading these reviews, we also need to be mindful of the rhetorical situations

presented. One important question to ask is what is the exigence, or the purpose for this genre to

be created? This genre was possibly made because of the public’s need to be knowledgeable

about a tv show before they devote time to watching it. The writer’s main goal when producing

this genre is to inform the audience on the ratings and reviews of this tv show.

When reading this genre, you should all be aware of the intended audiences. For these

reviews, the primary audience includes anyone interested in watching the show and learning

about the ratings and popularity of the show. This company is a good example because you use
these ratings to form audience measurements for Dancing with the Stars and other tv shows. But,

there is another audience that is not directly addressed. Some possible secondary audiences

include other tv channels that are competing with the show and companies that sponsor the show.

It is also important to focus our attention toward the affordances and constraints of this

genre because it helps the writer to directly focus the information to a specific audience, like this

company. The affordances include being able to quickly and easily access the information

online. This makes it efficient for an audience like you to gather this information. Some

constraints include access to internet connection and that the review doesn’t summarize the

entire show, so this audience would have to take time to watch the show.

Overall, understanding that each genre has unique conventions and rhetorical situations

can help all of you read and communicate this information more effectively into Nielsen ratings.

Thank you for having me, and I hope this information helps all of you to read these reviews more

carefully.

Genre: "Dancing With the Stars" Premiere Rating Reviews

Part 1: Deconstructing the Genre

Conventions: ​Variety​ ​Deadline​ ​GH

Bold Title yes yes yes

Author of Article yes yes yes

Time written yes yes yes

TV Show name yes yes yes

TV Show Season no yes yes

Time show premiered yes yes yes

Explains drama on show yes no yes

Pictures about social media no yes yes

Video clip from episode yes no yes

Other critics' view of show yes no yes

Number of viewers/viewership yes yes no

Compare to former year success yes yes no

Adult Ratings yes yes no

Compare to other shows yes yes no

List people on show yes no yes

Compare channels (NBC vs. ABC) yes yes no

Other Ads yes yes yes

Affordances: ​These ratings allow readers to get an overall view of how people felt about this
specific show. They are also provided with a quick review of how the premiere night went, and
how it compares with former years, other channels, and other popular tv shows. These
comparisons give the audience valuable feedback they can use to determine which shows to
watch. In addition, these reviews are usually able to be quickly and easily accessed after tv
shows because it is available online.

Constraints: ​The ratings and reviews may discourage people from watching this show, or could
alter their mindset on how to view the show. People might not want to rely on other people's
opinions as the determining factor on whether or not to watch the tv show. In addition, the
reviews don’t go into the details of the entire show, so the audience would have to watch the
show in order to know what happens or how it ends.
Organization/Structure: ​The tv show reviews begin with the overall basics about the tv show,
season, and time it is aired on tv. Then, they list the important ratings from people and the
amount of viewers who watched the tv show on the premiere. The tv show is then compared to
prior years and other tv listings on at the same time on the same channel or different channel. At
times, some dramatic events that occurred on the show may be discussed along with people on
the show. The review ends with an overall summary of how successful the premiere was
compared to other shows.

Stance/Tone: ​The tone varies between reviews and ratings, but for the most part, the author is
neutral on the subject and has an informative tone. Some articles may be biased if the writer is
passionate about the show or other shows it may be compared with.

Evidence: ​The writer uses mostly logos types of evidence by including statistics and providing
comparisons to other shows. This helps the writer keep an informative tone and influence their
audience with accurate facts about the tv show.

Part 2: Determining the Rhetorical Situation

Exigence: ​This genre was created because of the need people have to be knowledgeable about
something before they devote their time to it. People want to know how successful a show is or
how other people may have viewed it before they watch it themselves. It allows the audience to
gain more background information on what the show may be about, when the show is on tv, and
how many other people view the show and what these people might think of the show.

Writer: ​The writer on each review is different, and the audience may not always know much
about them or their credibility on the information they provide in the article. The name of the
writer is normally listed at the top of the article and they are most likely a writer for the website
that the article is found at. The writer's position is to inform the audience on the tv show and
provide facts.

Primary Audience: ​The intended audience for this genre is anyone interested in watching this tv
show and those who already watch the tv show and are interested in the ratings and popularity of
the show. The article is not addressed to a particular person, but an overall group of people who
show interest in learning more about this specific tv show.

Secondary Audience: ​A possible secondary audience would be any tv shows or channels that
may be trying to compete with this specific tv show by getting more viewers or higher ratings. It
will provide this audience with information on how competitors can improve their own
viewership for shows on their channels. Another secondary audience could be any companies
that sponsor the show. It provides this audience with how successful the tv show is and whether
they should continue to sponsor it or not.

Writer's Goal: ​The writer's main goal is to inform the audience on the ratings and reviews of
this tv show. The writer uses facts and statistics to communicate the information the audience
wants to know about this tv show compared to others. However, the writer is not always working
for the pleasure of it, they write to inform people in order to make money.

Context/Background: ​Some additional information necessary to understand this rhetorical

situation is to know the type of show that is being reviewed or rated. The audience must have
some type of knowledge on the basic format of the tv show. In addition, the audience must be
aware of the scale that the tv show is rated on, and what these ratings mean compared to other tv
shows. The fact that society is more focused on technology and devoted a large amount of time
to watching tv has shaped this type of text to be more valuable to an individual interested in this
tv show or a competitor who wants to earn more money.