The social issues we have chosen for our magazine project are Teen Pregnancy in Utah, Human trafficking, Bears ears National Monument and Natural Disasters. These topics, besides having in common financial and economic effects as a common ground, they also have emotions, tragedy, sadness, and disturbance effects involved. Our topics involve present problems that somehow affect us all as a society in one way or another.
Our main objective is to get into people’s hearts and awaken in them the desire to cooperate and support these types of issues when the opportunity comes. What our magazine is trying to accomplish by the articles we offer is touching subjects of social issues and Speak Out, letting our voice be heard and hopefully do something about it. Together, we can accomplish more. This is where the name of our magazine comes in place. According to Webster Dictionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/speak-out Speak Out means “an event in which people publicly share their experiences of/or views on an issue. Other definitions in the same Dictionary are: to speak loud enough to be heard and to speak boldly. Express an opinion frankly. Spoke out on the issues.”
Revision as part of the process of putting the magazine together was very helpful. By making suggestions about the articles, as well about the pages in the magazines. Researching on what will be the best site to use for our magazine and what projects will be the ones we will be adding into the magazine and how to arrange the pages and link them with each other was an interesting process. We revised in a way, knowing we will be sharing our thoughts and projects to the public in general.
We all included our persuasion effect project. It is a way we can invite the audience to cooperate and get involved in been a part of the solution rather than been part of the problem persuading the reader into the issue we are presenting. Also, annexing citations to the magazine and the way our articles were presented, offers credibility to the reader as a technique of ethos writing. We also added the Flash Memoir project which makes an excellent addition to the magazine because we consider the Flash Memoir project one of the key pieces to the magazine, it is sharing an experience based on true story. It adds a delicate touch that helps the reader see how the issues have been affecting people, and gets to the emotions what we call pathos writing. We also included informative articles to offer logic material to the audience such as graphs, data, statistics, etc. to support our statements fulfilling logos. As you can see, we integrated enough images to our magazine projects as well to help the reader get a broad imagination of our compositions.
At the beginning of the semester, we were advised to pick a social issue that meant something to us personally. We displayed those personal experiences in our Flash memoir projects. It gives the reader a little piece of ourselves. These Flash memoirs help the reader get to know us a little bit as well as a clear look into our motives for taking our positions on that particular problem. We all wanted to come up with pieces that were going to stand out and make a difference. We wanted them to be bold enough to get our audience’s attention but also keep it to the point so that the audience can easily understand. Our persuasion effect projects are the perfect representation of that. We are trying to give the audience the information they need to get involved and help in the solutions to these problems.
The projects that weren’t included in our online magazine were the profile projects. They are an important piece, but prioritizing our works, the profile projects were at the end of the list.
For us, the best way to organize our 'works cited' page in the magazine was by topic in alphabetical order all in one page, and link the article to the citation page and vice versa, the works cited to the article. We offer several options to the reader by linking the pages accordingly and keep them connected and interested in the magazine. We wanted this magazine to look nice and professional without being too cluttered and confusing. We stuck with minimal tabs and pages, not too many photos or crazy colors. All four of us did different mediums for our three projects to keep things interesting. I think they look presentable. It is easy to navigate throughout all pages and they link to each other to make it easy for the reader. The works cited page is a great addition because it gives our audience credibility of what they are reading. We weren’t just making this information up. We obtained the facts from credible sources. We displayed buttons on the 'home' page for each social issue page and an extra button to get to the ‘meet the team’ page; we felt, this will help the reader correlate which writer wrote each article.
We have always been taught to do drafts of our work in school. For some of us, this is the first time that we have done a collaborative project with collaborative revisions. Having the input from group mates helps us feel more confident about our projects. We have been upfront and honest with each other about the pieces that we have created and it has been monumental for this project. We worked hard this semester and it all comes down to this, this magazine that we should all be extremely proud of.
Kaili Black In this semester, this course, I feel like I have grown as a writer. This course has taught me to slow down and really think about what I am writing. I have learned many different mediums to which I can present my work to keep my audience interested. I feel like I could really make a difference with my writing. The process of doing all of my research was different. Having a research project that I was so passionate about made me work that much harder to make sure that I did the best job that I could possibly do. The issue that I picked that I am so passionate about is teen pregnancy in Utah. I picked it because I was a pregnant teen and I know the struggles that these teens face. It is a struggle like nothing else and I want to do what I can to prevent teen pregnancy so these kids can reach their highest potential. Since I have been in the position of having a child so young, I had an inside perspective. I know what it feels like to be judged and to struggle. Not only do I have the inside perspective, I am also on the outside looking in because I am now a grown woman with a family. I made it through the hard times and I have the experience to share with others. I originally wanted to go about my assignment in a way that put the resources for teens out there. In a sense, I still did that. Along the way, I realized that I didn’t just want to say “here, this is what help is out there for when or if you get pregnant as a teen,” I wanted to be a part of the solution of the bigger issue, preventing teen pregnancy altogether. I chose 3 different mediums to convey my message in this magazine. My favorite medium that I chose as was the infographic. I had never done one before so I was interested to try it. I was pleased with the way that it turned out. I was able to get my message across, as a persuasive piece, in a way that is easily understood and clear. I thought about doing a photo essay or a video but when I started a project with a photo essay, I didn’t like the way that it looked. I like having a still image so the audience can take their time reading it so they don’t feel rushed or miss anything. When presenting my perspective, I used ethos and pathos with the simple fact that I have lived through the topic that I chose. I am credible because I have experienced the struggles and that is what gives the emotional appeal (pathos), as well. When it comes to logos, reason, and kairos, the opportune moment, I believe that everyone could agree that stopping teen pregnancy is important and it is a good time to step up and do something now because the teen pregnancy rate in Utah is on the decline but we shouldn’t stop now. If we stop working to lower the number further, that is when it is going go back up. We are making so much progress, but there is still work that needs to be done. For my adaptation, I used my information effect project because that was the project that I was not as happy with how it turned out. It presented great information but the medium and the delivery wasn’t as appealing. I wanted a better way to put that information out there for my audience so I decided to go with a mind mapping technique to show how things are connected For this project, I enjoyed collaborating with others. I enjoyed receiving feedback from my peers. It gives me another perspective and it helps to have a fresh pair of eyes looking at my work to help me find flaws in my projects. I was the Managing Editor for this project which means I assist my peers with their responsibilities, set up meeting times, and turn in our work. It was important that I stayed in touch with my peers so that we are all on the same page. I also wanted to be there to help with anything that I could.
Allyson Secrest I would describe my journey of writing and research as a ladder. I started at the bottom with not much knowledge of this topic and now I am at the top of the ladder more educated and aware then I ever thought I was going to be. I knew a little about this topic but felt the urge to research and discover more. My perspective on this issue has changed a large amount. Learning everything that I have about this topic has made me more aware of human trafficking and what signs to look for around me. The one source that really affected me would be the Polaris Effect as well as The Ark of Hope. The information that these non-profit organizations provided was eye opening. The amount of human trafficking cases that are reported just shocked me. Some additional information that stuck with me from these sources were the age groups of the victims. I never realized how many adults are trafficked. My initial thought was mostly children were victims of human trafficking.
When writing my information effect project, I was able to choose medium.com. I choose this due to the amount on information and images I was providing to the reader. I didn’t want it to be boring or too overwhelming for them. In my persuasion effect project, I chose to do an image essay. In doing this I was able to find images to reflect what victims are going through and use images to leave the reader with that picture in their memory.
I feel I was able to create Kairos in my project. I was able to do this by using this project as a platform to educate and provide strong supported information about human trafficking. I feel like I didn’t shy away from the issue like the media doesn’t sometimes because, it is such a sensitive subject and not talked about much. I created more of interactive environment for the reader. It isn’t just a paper; my work goes beyond a normal paper.
As I have gone through this project and learning new mediums to display my words for my readers when it came to adaptation, I found it easy to find the perfect piece to adapt. I chose the notebook assignments I did because, I felt like putting the information that I learned through this class by these assignments, was something I wanted to share. I wanted to take those assignments that I felt influenced me the most through this research and make changes to them. Transforming them made me realize how far I have come from the very beginning of this class. I was able to make edits and add more to them to make them reader friendly and a better representation of my work.
My experience through this project with my group was good. I felt like we were all on the same page and we were all meeting the deadlines to stay on track. The revision process was great and there was feedback from everyone to better my work. I enjoyed reading and offering suggestions for edits for my group members. Everyone in my group worked well together and we all played a part at putting this magazine together and owning our roles that we were assigned. I tend to find group work to be difficult sometimes when you are not seeing each other in person and you communicate digitally, this group was not that case. This was a great group to work with and made this not stressful at all.
Taylor Davis My writing and research process was a lengthy one for this project. I had first started getting in to my subject roughly 7 months before I decided to write about my topic of Bears Ears National Monument. Attending protests as well as watching the events of the land being taken was something that was dear to me, due to my involvement in the land. My perspective was built off the times I had lived in Southern Utah and used the land that is being taken for drilling of oil. My perspective changed near the end of my project due to the real reason the land was taken and sold off to the highest drilling bidder. In all of my research this seemed to be the biggest blow. As I starred my research at the beginning of the semester I was very active about finding answers to my research. Attending protests at the Utah state capitol and reading in to the details of the Interior department gave me perspective to the bigger picture. After the United States Interior Department came out with their memo telling how oil was the main reason for the receding the boundary lines of the newly made National Monument. -https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/climate/bears-ears-national-monument.html The mediums I chose for my projects were a lot different than my last English class. I chose to use mediums that were interactive, as well and colorful and user-friendly. I found that writing a 2,000 word paper would make the reader have to take the time to read it, this was ineffective in getting my message across. In todays day in age I have found that people want fast information, so I did all of my research and found a way to get my point across in interactive presentations, audio, info-graphs. These mediums were also a lot more enjoyable to produce, rather than writing a huge paper. Using Prezi was actually my favorite, due to the highly interactive nature. Most of my work appealed to the reader’s pathos of emotion. I gave hints of ethos, but for the most part my work showed the derogation of a land that has been wild for so many years. Appealing to the pathos of the reader allowed me to write pieces with more emotion and appealing to native lands as well as locals who may have lived on the land for many years. -https://prezi.com/view/fziDlVJDq0d0fpsJF3qQ/ Integrating kairos into my work at times when there just seemed no other way to provide supporting detail that supported the land not being taken. My ability to want a different outcome of what the events unfolded in the news, with President Trump receding the land was difficult. Using an audio piece and changing one of my notebook pieces helped show the emotion and art of my pieces. -https://soundcloud.com/taylor-davis-886179907/dirt I wanted to help the reader understand that I knew that the changes that would take place would not be favorable to what I wanted to write about. This is why I chose to make a soundcloud for one of my pieces. In all of my pieces I wanted to give the reader as much background as possible on the issue of Bears Ears. Having lived on the land that was now being taken back was a slap in the face not only to me, but also to the state of Utah. Some Utah residents may not have felt this way, but looking at the evidence and the facts stacked up the reader had to really make their own judgment. I felt as if I gave the readers as much relevant information for them to make their own inferences, but at the end of the day I could only provide information. Having a very strong background in the subject I was on the side that wanted a victory for the people. Having done this project it has shown me that good story telling, as well as writing allows the reader to make their own decision no matter how passionate you may feel about the subject.
Alma Cynthia Phelon After all, it was a fun creative class. What made it fun was first, we got to choose the topic of our projects. Second, we learned as we researched the subjects that we were interested in knowing more about it. And third, the last project, the online Magazine project. Even though it was an adventure getting started with the project, it all worked out. Natural disasters are one of the things usually come unexpected, no time to prepare, no time to back out, and no option to say no. For instance, on an earthquake it takes only 5 to 10 seconds, to destroy a city (depending on how strong the earthquake is) leaving us with high-cost recovery and this recovery is time-consuming, as well. On the Flash Memoir, I shared one of the experiences I lived when I was a kid that impacted me for life. Since then, I have been always concern about situations such as natural disasters. On the news over the years I’ve been hearing various types of catastrophes affecting us in different ways; deaths, injured people, illnesses, destroyed homes, destroyed cities affecting the economy. As I was going over my research I found out an interesting thing on this website called “Protect the environment and Prevent Natural Disasters.” Published August 02, 2017. http://www.theenergyofchange.com/protect-environment-prevent-natural-disasters#comments about climate change affecting the environment promoting more frequent natural disasters. Also, our human daily activities affecting the environment promoting natural disasters. It was hard for me to decide which pieces were the ones I will select for the online magazine project, but something that helped me was thinking about and going over every genre and how it will impact the audience. I selected my Flash Memoir because is based on a true story that I, as the writer, am sharing. Is an experience that describes how detrimental is to live a situation such as this catastrophe, reflecting some Pathos writing on the emotional side. I also chose information effect project because it supports my statements on the issue and reflects Logic writing by adding the facts of the issue. And finally, I selected persuasion effect project "Natural Disasters Affecting the Economy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0_A_KNgxmY because I focused my project on proposal argument. The music, the lyrics of the song, the images, the written statements on the images, all these were a key part of how to persuade the audience to understand how important is to be a part of the solution in this issue. At the same time, after all this work, here at this point is where we can see the climax of all the projects. The objective is to help the audience feel connected and motivate them to help when the opportunity is in front of them. Is helpful to have an article in the online magazine that will encourage and motivate people to be inspired to do something and be part of the solution. Adding the citations and the language used and the tone of voice in this persuasive video offers credibility as part of the ethos writing. In this persuasive video, I felt reaching the climax of the whole project fulfilling Kairos. For adaptation, I chose the Flash Memoir to adapt it to a different medium. At first, I thought a Flash Memoir will be great on audio, but as I was getting into it, I didn’t feel it was the right medium for my Flash Memoir. I felt, adding some images that will illustrate part of the Flash Memoir along the story will work better. So I did. Revisions are an awesome tool that we must use in our essay to make it effective. I went over my Flash Memoir lots of times. I revised the persuasive video over and over so many times. And I did the same with the informative project, the flash memoir, and the online magazine until I felt more comfortable with them making sure that every single project had what it needed. As the visual editor, I was the one to put together the website for our Online Magazine project and after a lot of struggle putting things together for the website; the layouts, navigation Menu, pictures, citation page, linking the pages, buttons, etc. I can say I enjoyed working as the visual editor, it was a learning experience, as it has been this semester. I had feedback from the group and revised and made the corrections until the final work was accomplished.