RUNNING HEAD: FEAR OF SHARKS 1

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1 RUNNING HEAD: FEAR OF SHARKS 1 William Stevens The University of Texas at El Paso Fear of Sharks

2 FEAR OF SHARKS 2 Introduction It is a perfect day at the beach. The sun is shining, the water feels just right and there is not a cloud in the sky. It is as perfect as a trip to the beach can get. Suddenly the lifeguards stand up and blow their whistles urging swimmers to get out of the water. The theme song from the movie Jaws begins to play in the minds of the swimmers and at any second any of them could be eaten alive by the most feared marine mammal in the ocean if they did not exit the water quickly enough. However, that is not true. Just like humans, sharks are interested in learning what it is that is splashing around and screaming. Sure, it could be the shark s next meal, so why not go explore what it could be. Thanks to the many sharks depicted movies, along with the media it comes with no shock that people think that sharks are there to find a person, kill them and eat them. That is not true, though movies such as Jaws and The Reef have depicted sharks in such matter, the story of Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer whose arm was bitten off while surfing near her home in Hawaii, serves that sharks are not there to eat someone. They are simply curious creatures who may mistake a surfer for a sharks natural prey, a dolphin or take the splashing and screaming of beachgoers as a distress call from an injured, easy to eat animal. Just like humans, sharks are curious as to what is going on as well. INTRODUCTING THE GENRES In the two analysis, one being a Jaws movie poster and the other being an article from Discovery as to Why Sharks Attack the intended audience for both are in a way the same, but different. The intended audience for Jaws are individuals who have watched the movie Jaws and believe that there is a shark of tremendous size stalking them every time that he or she steps into the ocean, in other words, those afraid of sharks. While the article Why Sharks Attack has the intended audience of those who are afraid of sharks and want to know more as to what they

3 FEAR OF SHARKS 3 are and why they attack people. However, both are different. For example, the Jaws image is a poster with an attempt to draw the attention of an individual wanting to watch a movie. The poster is brought upon by a swimmer who is swimming in a deep area of the ocean with the giant shark lunging upwards for an attack Great Whites do lunge upward when going for an attack on prey along with one word in red, Jaws. Yes, the poster does seem appealing to the eye and Jaws is a great movie, however, the depiction of the shark is incorrect. The article as to why it is that sharks attack is meant as an informative piece of writing to inform a reader that sharks attack for such reasons. It is not meant to scare an individual away from sharks; it is mean to simply inform the reader. The picture at the start of the article is that of Bethany Hamilton, who as indicated earlier is a professional surfer whose arm was bitten off by an unprovoked shark attack. Though the shark did take Bethany s entire arm, she does not blame the shark for its attack and to this day still surfs and enjoys the ocean and all of its sea life. RHETORICAL ANALYSIS: ETHOS, PATHOS AND LOGOS Both sets of genres each have their own Ethos, Pathos and Logos to be talked about. In one, they are trying to give you the sense of fear of swimming with sharks, while the other is explaining to you the effects that people do to create a higher cause of a shark attack. For example, Jaws when an individual looks at the image, they automatically begin to feel a sense of nervousness because of the shark swimming to attack the swimmer in the photo. Which represents the Pathos of the poster. Now what about the Logos and the Ethos? In the Jaws poster, there is sincerely no credibility to it as it depicts a shark that is not in their natural behavior, which eliminates the Ethos to the poster. As for the Logos, the poster is represented well by the movie as it continuously shows continuous attacks on swimmers. The Why do sharks attack informative article provides Pathos through the emotional appeal of Bethany

4 FEAR OF SHARKS 4 Hamilton s story, on how she was attacked, but continued to succeed with surfing when she could have easily given it up. The article does provide Ethos as it has quotes from scientists and biologists who do specialize in sharks. Another form of its Ethos is the piece gives information on the number one leading cause of shark attacks provoking the shark along with ways to prevent a shark attack and unprovoked shark attack information, such as a hit and run attack where the shark grabs the victim, bites him or her and then flees the scene and not come back. This normally happens when a shark mistakes a human for its typical pray or the swimmer may have accidentally touched a shark below them, resulting in an attack as well. The consistency of this article remains the same throughout and the logic behind the story is to let the audience know how to prevent attacks. In both genres, the appeals of Ethos, Pathos and Logos play a huge part in any form of writing. Ethos provides the credibility of the piece of genre, Pathos provides the logical and consistent information needed and Logos gives the audience the emotional grasp to the audience. Through the movie poster for Jaws its purpose is to entertain moviegoers for anticipation for what they believe will be a good movie, however it gives the reputation of sharks its image that it has today, as man-killers. In contrast, the article for Why do sharks attack is to inform to the reader that while sharks do attack, sharks do not stalk humans like they do in Jaws. It allows the audience to see that the main reason sharks attack is because of provoked attacks, something completely preventable to every swimmer. It as well informs the audience steps on how to prevent themselves from being attacked by a shark. Follow most, or all of those steps and a shark attack will be prevented. CONCLUSION In conclusion, media has made the idea of sharks to be man-eaters who are craving for human flesh. Because of famous Hollywood movies, such as Jaws sharks have been given the

5 FEAR OF SHARKS 5 reputation that they have today. On average, sharks are responsible for ten human deaths a year a person has a better chance of getting killed by a cow than they do a shark and fisherman alone kill twenty to thirty million sharks a year, pushing shark species onto the brink of extinction. If movies such as Jaws or The Reef had never been made would sharks still have the reputation that they have today? Of course not. There would be no killer shark with intense piano music accompanying it. There would be more appreciation for them. Secondly, ways to prevent shark attacks according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are to swim in groups and never to swim alone as sharks are more likely to attack individuals. Never swim alone in peak feeding hours for sharks, such as early in the morning or late at night. If the water is murky do not go in, sharks are more likely to stay in murky areas. Of course, never swim at a beach that has been closed due to shark sightings. On the other hand, Why do sharks attack provides exceptional information as to why it is that sharks attack and ways to prevent an individual from being attacked, which has been listed above. Reading this article will give the audience a better comprehension to shark species and hopefully to give the audience a less fear of sharks than what many already do. Though the way media has greatly degraded sharks for what they are, they are not what they seem to be. Divers have swam with sharks, fed sharks straight from their hands and even hugged sharks, nothing happens to the diver or to the shark. Sharks have been given a bad name in todays society, however with the species beginning to disappear it is up to the audience fear of sharks or not to end the depopulation of sharks and to give sharks a name that is not that of a man-killer or a stalker. Sharks are curious creatures who, when swimmers enter their homes are curious as to what it is that is making a typical animal distress signal.

6 FEAR OF SHARKS 6 References Mislinski, P. (2014, July 15). Why Do Sharks Attack? Retrieved February 11, 2015, from jaws.jpg Retrieved February 11, 2015, from

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