Running Head: CURRENT HEALTHCARE
Current Healthcare Conditions of America
Michael Hwang
University of Texas at El Paso
Professor Gomez
English 1312
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Current Healthcare Conditions of America
America, the land of the free, the land of opportunity where the “American dream” can
become a reality, yet where healthcare is not available to all. The issue of healthcare has been an
ongoing debate in America with rising costs and diminishing quality of care. However, it has
remained on the backburner since the Clinton administration’s attempts, and ultimate failure, to
pass the Health Security Act of 1993. In recent years public attention has refocused on healthcare
with the controversial passing of ObamaCare, VA Hospital scandal, and contraceptive/abortion
issues. There are several views of what a well-functioning healthcare system should look like,
but what is clear is that the American healthcare system is full of problems that must be fixed in
order to better provide for its citizens.
Two different genres have been analyzed and compared for a deeper understanding of
public opinion on the current healthcare dilemma facing America. The first genre is an opinion
piece written by Leah Binder for Forbes entitled, “The Five Biggest Problems in Health Care
Today.” The second genre is a political cartoon by Scott Stantis for the Chicago Tribune.
Binder’s piece focuses on tracing the problems of the American healthcare system to five main
issues. Stantis’ cartoon is targeted at ObamaCare, highlighting the rocky rollout of the plan.
Audience and Purpose
The first genre, written by Binder, seeks to reach the general American public as an
informative piece, providing a clear outline of the main issues ailing the healthcare system. It
also seeks to spur the public to become active entities of change. The second genre, illustrated by
Stantis, is also intended at reaching a wide range of people. However, rather than informing and
persuading the public, it acts as an entertainment piece by comically portraying the widespread
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negative view of how terribly the ObamaCare registration website was administered. Although
the largest critics of ObamaCare stem from the Republican Party, this political cartoon is able to
appeal to those of all parties.
The differences in the two genre’s approaches and purposes are made clear when the
knowledge of the public is taken into consideration. Binder’s opinion piece covers issues that the
average American would not know. She states that the main problems are: 1) too much
unnecessary care, 2) avoidable harm to patients, 3) billions of dollars are being wasted, 4)
perverse incentives in how we pay for care, and 5) lack of transparency. Several of these facts
are not widely available to the public and so her approach is formal yet simple in its language.
The language is suitable for the average American to easily grasp the issues at hand. On the other
hand, Stantis’ political cartoon is conveying information that has already been publicized
through the media. It is informal in its approach by providing the image of a rundown ambulance
while highlighting the words “we’re good” and “ObamaCare.” Stantis is simply mirroring the
commonly held viewpoints of the public, as is the nature of political cartoons.
One of the significant similarities of the two genres is their appeal to the everyday citizen.
Their approach is casual and easily understood by the majority. They both are also focused on
key issues of the healthcare system. However the purpose of each genre seems to be the biggest
difference as genre 1 is more informative and persuasive while genre 2 is more entertainmentfocused. Another major difference is in the amount of time that the audience will spend with
each genre. The op-ed requires the audience to read the whole piece because it is introducing a
lot of new information while the political cartoon can be fully understood in the span of a few
seconds because it covers such a well-known issue.
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Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
The use of rhetoric is an effective tool utilized by both genres albeit in different ways and
to varying degrees. The first genre, although an opinion piece, is effective in garnering the
attention of the public by stating several statistics as well as referencing well-known
organizations to help support its claims. Additionally, Binder mentions her own organization,
Leapfrog Group, which has been an active proponent for healthcare reform. This gives greater
credibility to what she has written. On the other hand, the second genre has no real way to
establish credibility directly. Its approach is indirect by covering a well-known issue that has
been under scrutiny in a wide spectrum of other media.
Both genres are also able to evoke an emotional response through its content. Genre 1
seems to evoke emotion through its mortality and healthcare cost statistics. It is an effective
approach at seeking to stir the audience into disbelief and anger towards the current state of the
healthcare system. Genre 2 evokes quite a different emotion, amusement. As a political cartoon,
the second genre targets a controversial topic, but seems to strike a chord with its entire audience.
Regardless of people’s opinions on ObamaCare, both sides of the debate can agree that the
rollout of the Healthcare Marketplace was a failure. That is why the choice of genre is highly
effective in achieving its purpose with the audience.
The op-ed uses several statistics as evidence to support the claims that the American
healthcare system is full of problems that need to be changed. The political cartoon does not
have the luxury of directly showing evidence of its claims because it is limited in its presentation
of information. Therefore it depends on the audience to have the preexisting knowledge about
how ObamaCare struggled to sign people up for health insurance. Without a well-informed
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audience, the second genre would not be as effective, but this approach is appropriate for its
intended audience.
As words and pictures can reach an audience in very different ways, there seems to be
more differences than similarities between the two genres. Genre 1 is able to have more
rhetorical appeal through its use of logos, ethos, and pathos, but genre 2 is not really able to do
that. Although genre 2 is missing some of these components, it does not really affect the message
and its intended purpose. The second genre shows that a picture truly is worth a thousand words.
Structure and Delivery
The first genre is able to voice its viewpoints without the fear of being too subjective. Not
only is the reader given information on the issues of healthcare, but Binder is able to relate it to a
specific issue that she sees as a top priority, ending early elective deliveries. However, as part of
an opinion column, Binder still follows a typical news page format. The structure and division of
headings provides a clear progression for the reader to follow along with Binder’s views. This
type of genre is only really subject to the limitation of space because the reader expects an op-ed
to inform and make a clear case in so many words. Genre 1 is also organized very effectively by
providing an effective hook to draw in the readers. It also ends powerfully by challenging the
reader to do their part. There is not much use of communication features such as font or visual
variation, but the piece plays to its strengths through its humanistic appeal.
On the other hand, the second genre is able to create an effective visual through its use of
bright colors and creative symbolism with the broken ambulance representing the broken
ObamaCare system. These additional elements help to concrete the parallel that is seen widely in
the news regarding the issues of the healthcare system. This genre is highly constrained by space,
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layout, and even time because the audience will not spend as much time with a political cartoon
as they would a news article or op-ed. That is why the political cartoon must be obvious in its
purpose in order to effectively target a major issue while adding humor to it. The layout of this
piece was effective in achieving its purpose.
As an opinion piece and political cartoon, the two genres are allowed certain freedoms to
their approach in structure and delivery that other genres are not. The freedom to add such a
personal aspect to their piece is the biggest similarity between the two genres. The biggest
difference is that the op-ed focuses on words while the political cartoon uses pictures to stir up
the audience into provocation. However, both genres effectively play to their specific strengths
to effectively deliver their points of view on various health care issues.
Conclusion
To say that one genre was more effective than the other for this analysis would be
inadequate. For their respective genres, the two pieces were effective in their ability to fulfil their
intended purposes. The first genre was focused on informing and challenging readers to do their
part in advocating change in the healthcare system, which is typical of an op-ed piece. The
second genre solidified public opinion on the failings of the attempts for healthcare reform by
ObamaCare while instilling humor. In their own ways, each genre helped to support the view
that the current state of the American healthcare system is rife with problems, and that it has a
long ways to go. However, there is hope for change. The op-ed ends with a clear sense of
optimism, and even leaves the audience to do their part. The political cartoon does not directly
challenge the audience, but does so indirectly by choosing an issue that affects everyone. The
Running Head: CURRENT HEALTHCARE
two genres emphasize that the audience, as consumers of the healthcare system, have an
important role to play.
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References
Leah, B. (2013, February 21). The Five Biggest Problems In Health Care Today. Retrieved
September 1, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/02/21/the-fivebiggest-problems-in-health-care-today/
Scott, S. (2014, April 1). Political Cartoons on ObamaCare. Retrieved September 1, 2014, from
http://www.usnews.com/cartoons/healthcare-cartoons