Erica Mayer

Instructor Haak

English 1510

15 April 2019

Art and Music in High Schools

Weebly Link: https://ericaenglish1510.weebly.com

My topic I chose was Art and Music in High Schools. The argument is that art and music

classes should be included in high schools and the should not be cut from the curriculum. This is

slightly different than what I was doing earlier which was broader. I originally chose the topic of

electives in high school, but I decided to narrow it down to just art and music electives. I chose a

less broad topic, so it is clearer about what I am arguing for.

For my multimodal project I did a pamphlet. I chose to do a pamphlet because it is a

clear and to the point. I can also be easily handed out and distributed so a lot of people can get

my message. I chose against doing a Prezi because although I could put the same information on

you cannot hand them out to people and a pamphlet is able to be understood without a presenter,

but a Prezi commonly need a presenter to be understood. This is good because I am only

presenting my pamphlet to our class however if I choose to I can pass at my pamphlet and let

people see the message I am trying to tell people. I was earlier debating about doing a video,

however I chose against it because the video I was trying to make would have required more

time than I had available.

The construction of my multimodal project went fairly well after I decided against doing

a video my project went well. I first found a free pamphlet maker on the internet. I considered
using the pamphlet maker on word but decided against it because it would not be as interesting

as one on the internet. This was a quick and easy process because the internet provided a lot of

free and easy to use pamphlet makers. The pamphlet maker was also very similar to the internet

site that I used to make my info graphic, so I did not have to learn too much. I decided with the

slight change of my topic I needed a few different sources. I originally used all scholarly article

and kept two of my scholarly articles because they are trustworthy and builds by ethos that I

would choose a scholarly article. I picked some additional sources from the internet that I

deemed as trust worthy and came from a trust worthy website. I than decided how I wanted to

arrange my pamphlet, which I will explain later. Lastly, I went to the Athens’ printing shop and

printed out my pamphlets.

When picking a design for my pamphlet I chose one with not an overly about of words

and one with a lot of pictures. I intentionally chose a pamphlet design with not too much text

space because I know people can get bored and, in my opinion, having just enough text to get my

message across is better than having too much text and boring my audience. I also chose one

with a lot of pictures because I think it makes my pamphlet interesting to look at. The color

scheme I chose was fairly simple, but it is not too dull that it does not grab attention. The red in

my pamphlet is used to emphasis main points.

When you open my pamphlet at the center is my three main claims that I would like my

audience to see. After my three main arguments is my counter argument. I chose to but my

main claims in the middle because it is important that my audience know that I have reasons for

my argument that music and art should be in high schools. Having my claims in my pamphlet

and in the center of my pamphlet builds my logos.

 On the first side of my pamphlet I included information proving that it is a problem, a

catchy quote, and at the bottom my call to action. I included the main points in bright red text. I

included a lot of pictures for my audience to get nostalgia or to get a warm feeling that is usually

connected with art or music classes in high school.

I chose an audience of mostly parents and students although it would be great for more

than parents and students can read such as teachers, school officials, and even law makers. I

made sure that my pamphlet was fit for parents and students to read. For persuading my issue

there are many claims that I could have chosen, however I chose claims that parents and students

would be interested in. Also, my call to action fits the audience that I am trying to reach. My

call to action is for the reader to go to Board of Education meeting and to speak to your school

officials about continuing or starting funding for art and music programs in your schools. If my

audience was school officials for law makers my call to action would be very different, like it

might be giving more funding for art and music classes or changing how schools are funded. I

picked my audience because I thought the solution I had was a realist solution that might actually

work, however a solution such as changing how schools are funded my not be a realist solution

and may take a lot of persuading that how schools are funded is not right and that it should be

changed.

To be honest the peer review was not the most helpful because not everyone had enough

of their project done to comment on mine. Almost all of the comments that I received where

positive and where comments like, “Wow, you have a lot of your project done” or “Your projects

look really good.” There were some small comments like change the font style of all lowercase

on the first page to include upper case and I did change that.
 Overall, I think the construction of my project went well although, I had some road

bumps like deciding what I should do for my multimodal project. I made my pamphlet concise

and to the point, by not using too much text. I attempted to make it eye catching by using a lot of

pictures, a catchy quote and using bright red text when stating a main idea. I also made sure to

keep in mind my audience and make it appropriate and relevant to my audience.

 References

“Art for Education & Schools.” Great American Art, 2019,

http://greatamericanart.com/design/art-for-education-schools/

Henry, Tamara. “Study: Arts Education has Academic Effect.” USA Today, May 2002,

https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/2002-05-20-arts.htm

Major, Marci L. “How They Decide: A Case Study Examining the Decision-Making Process for

Keeping or Cutting Music in a K–12 Public School District.” Journal of Research in

Music Education, vol. 61, no. 1, Apr. 2013, pp. 5–25. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1177/0022429412474313.

Mehta, Aalok. “Art Education Opportunities, Achievement Gaps Remain, Survey Finds.” The

DANA Foundation, June 2009,

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_g

uide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html

Strauss, Valerie. “Report: Why We Need Arts Education (Not Only to Improve Test Scores).”

The Washington Post, May 2011, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-

sheet/post/report-why-we-need-arts-education-not-only-to-improve-test-

scores/2011/05/19/AFRuXT7G_blog.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3c315958596c

Strohmeyer, Beverly. “Arts Education Makes a Difference in Missouri Schools.” Missouri

Alliance for Arts Education, 2010,

https://www.missouriartscouncil.org/graphics/assets/documents/b657d9f1adfc.pdf

Weissbourd, R., and T. Dodge. “Senseless Extravagance, Shocking Gaps.” EDUCATIONAL

LEADERSHIP, no. 5, 2012, p. 74. EBSCOhost,

 proxy.library.ohio.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db

=edsbl&AN=RN307952900&site=eds-live&scope=site.

“Why Students Need Art Education.” Arts Ed NJ, 2009, http://www.artsednj.org/why-students-

need-arts-education/