Alex's Reflection
Social justice is the topic of choice for the English department this semester, because my parent taught me from a young age that equality is something that everybody deserves I had a very tough time choosing a topic to focus on. Eventually I picked violence against women as my topic, as a woman this was the topic that I felt the most connection with. As a woman it upsets me that other women are mistreated all over the world simply because of their gender. Every day women are bought and sold as modern day slaves, raped, beaten and their genitals mutilated; women are seen as no more than objects in some regions. I did not know just how often these kind of injustices occurred, the research that I have done has really opened my eyes.
While working on my adaptions I found myself outside of my comfort zone. Before this class any mention of visual creativity would make me break out into a cold sweat. How many people out there would be more interested in reading a report rather than say reading a comic or watching a video essay? I know that personally I would choose a visual based report over a written report every time. I chose to adapt the story of my research into a comic strip and my poem into a video essay. I chose the story of my research because it was Eve Ensler’s book The Vagina Warriors that first sparked my interest in violence against women activism. I think story behind the reason that we chose the topic that we chose helps readers to understand your work that much better.
In order for revision to be successful it must be a collaborative effort. Having multiple people with different perspectives look over your work is very important. It helps you get an idea of what is going to work for your readers and what is not going to. I chose to revise my profile that is about Eve Ensler, who happens to be the reason for my interest in the topic. The second major assignment that I chose to revise was my proposal. I thought that this would be a good addition to the magazine because in this paper I actually proposed an idea that could have a positive impact on the topic that I have been researching and writing about over the entire semester. My group did a great job of working together and fulfilling our individual roles. I was the research editor. This required me to read through everyone’s work to make sure that everything is properly cited in the paper as well as on the works cited page. I then had to communicate with my team members what need to be fixed.
Suggestions that I have for any future students taking this course are:
1.) You cannot communicate too much. For this group magazine project specifically, even if you have nothing new to say check in and see what is going on. I think that a lot of communication can be helpful not only because everybody will know what is going on but because it can serve as a reminder to your team members to stay motivated and on top of their responsibilities.
2.) Don’t put things off. The deadline for the major assignments will sneak up on you if you let it. Work on it a little bit every day. This allows you to take a fresh look at your work every day, without having to cram it all together the night before. This is something that has made my magazine group project go so smoothly, we didn’t leave it all for the last week.
3.) Get out of your comfort zone. After doing the adaptions for my magazine project I was able to see just how much power visual and audio can add to a project. I adapted my poem into an audio essay. The poem packed a greater punch when the words were heard aloud paired with pictures in a slide show.
While working on my adaptions I found myself outside of my comfort zone. Before this class any mention of visual creativity would make me break out into a cold sweat. How many people out there would be more interested in reading a report rather than say reading a comic or watching a video essay? I know that personally I would choose a visual based report over a written report every time. I chose to adapt the story of my research into a comic strip and my poem into a video essay. I chose the story of my research because it was Eve Ensler’s book The Vagina Warriors that first sparked my interest in violence against women activism. I think story behind the reason that we chose the topic that we chose helps readers to understand your work that much better.
In order for revision to be successful it must be a collaborative effort. Having multiple people with different perspectives look over your work is very important. It helps you get an idea of what is going to work for your readers and what is not going to. I chose to revise my profile that is about Eve Ensler, who happens to be the reason for my interest in the topic. The second major assignment that I chose to revise was my proposal. I thought that this would be a good addition to the magazine because in this paper I actually proposed an idea that could have a positive impact on the topic that I have been researching and writing about over the entire semester. My group did a great job of working together and fulfilling our individual roles. I was the research editor. This required me to read through everyone’s work to make sure that everything is properly cited in the paper as well as on the works cited page. I then had to communicate with my team members what need to be fixed.
Suggestions that I have for any future students taking this course are:
1.) You cannot communicate too much. For this group magazine project specifically, even if you have nothing new to say check in and see what is going on. I think that a lot of communication can be helpful not only because everybody will know what is going on but because it can serve as a reminder to your team members to stay motivated and on top of their responsibilities.
2.) Don’t put things off. The deadline for the major assignments will sneak up on you if you let it. Work on it a little bit every day. This allows you to take a fresh look at your work every day, without having to cram it all together the night before. This is something that has made my magazine group project go so smoothly, we didn’t leave it all for the last week.
3.) Get out of your comfort zone. After doing the adaptions for my magazine project I was able to see just how much power visual and audio can add to a project. I adapted my poem into an audio essay. The poem packed a greater punch when the words were heard aloud paired with pictures in a slide show.