Justin Honra WRD 103 Final Reflection 11/21/13 Coming into this class, I had the limited mindset

which thought that I would only learn things strictly related to scholarly papers. However, now I realize how writing passes the boundaries of the classroom and extends to the many aspects of life outside school. Everyone is a writer whether his or her writing be in the form of grocery lists, emails, texts, essays, music, etc. One only has to think critically as to how writing is applicable in his or her personal life. In class, I have learned how I can apply the concepts found in genre, audience, visual rhetoric, peer review, and Digication to my future career pursuits. Genre and audience come hand in hand when displaying effective use of rhetoric. Genre is a set of rules or conventions for how a text behaves within a particular context. The audience is the demographic that takes age, gender, educational background, occupation, etc. into consideration when one is trying to persuade or simply make whatever he or she is showcasing understandable. It is crucial to have knowledge in various genres and audiences in order to respond appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations. For my public document assignment, I chose to write a letter addressing the issue of solicitors on Chicagos public transit system to the Mayor, Rahm Emanuel. Having genre and audience in mind, I wrote analyses for both topics clearly labeled genre analysis and audience analysis which can be found under the public

document tab. The genre and audience I wrote in and for are considered to be a letter and an important political figure respectively. Writing in the form of a letter to Rahm Emanuel specifically shaped the way I presented my thoughts and myself. It made it so that I had to showcase it in a way that, aesthetically, it looks like a formal letter containing addresses, self-identification, and short but concise statements of the issue via facts or personal testimonies. I followed these guides in order to fulfill the letters purpose, to efficiently bridge my opinions with the power of Rahm Emanuel in order to create a compromise or resolution to the issue. Instead of using strictly words, visual rhetoric presents a clear and wellsupported argument by creating conversation among its graphic images, texts, fonts, colors, etc. We humans are very visually dominant, meaning that we react more to visual stimuli when compared to other senses. A visual representation may affect a person more greatly than just simple text. For those who do not have very active imaginations, seeing an image will make a message more understandable. I used visual rhetoric in my Six Word Essay as a visual representation of my letter to Rahm Emanuel. The color scheme of the image is black and white to portray a sense of seriousness and melancholy. Being able to see the peeling paint and decrepit state of the stairs that the woman is sleeping on should make it easier to sympathize with her situation. As for the text, I chose the word our to create a sense of connection between the image of the woman and the viewer. These multiple components in the image make it so the viewer can take in the message from multiple dynamics and perceive a deeper level of understanding.

Completing most of the assignments in WRD 103 involved participation during peer review. From these sessions, I learned to critique my own and others works by creating questions and adressing concerns about my own papers before the review. During the public document peer review, I asked the questions: Does it sound formal enough, is there enough detail in regards to my program proposal for someone else to understand, are there any sentences that sound awkward or out of place? I learned how to integrate my own ideas with those of others by hearing others suggestions and building on them to improve my public document. In my first draft of the letter, I was given the suggestion to add a personal experience in order to make myself seem more knowledgeable on the subject and to make my letter have a more sympathetic appeal. With that advice, I improved my letter by adding a story about a young homeless man with an injured foot that I came across during one of my own commutes. One of the most important things I have learned in class is how to correctly document and showcase my past and present work all the while displaying my progress. I learned this through creating an e-portfolio on Digication. The Editorial and Public Document tabs of my portfolio each have sections that show multiple drafts I created throughout my writing process. The Midterm Reflection and Final Reflection tabs in my portfolio identify some of the improvements I made as evidence of my growth as a writer. I plan on utilizing all of the skills I acquired in this class in the future. As for me, I am planning to major in public relations/ advertising and minor in graphic design and photography here at DePaul. I someday hope to establish a creative

career that entails integrating my ideas with others to collaboratively produce art, advertisements, programs, or whatever else the case may be. Effective communication is at the root of the advertising world. Choosing the genre and knowing the demographic of my target audience will constantly be a task for every advertising job I do. Advertising, graphic design, and photography all fall under visual rhetoric. I plan to continue expanding my knowledge on the elements of visual rhetoric to create better works of art and advertisements. The field I am going in also requires me to work collaboratively with others. I plan on improving the skills of critique and acceptance of suggestions I acquired from WRDs peer review exercises. I will always be creating new pieces of work throughout my career. The ability to create an impressive portfolio of those works will be vital in getting employment and new projects. WRD 103 has not only taught me how to create great scholarly papers, but also how to succeed in my future outside of class. I am very grateful to Miss Catherine Brown for instructing the first writing class of my college career. I never imagined gaining as much applicable skills as I did.